State-dependent decisions in long-term fasting king penguins, Aptenodytes patagonicus, during courtship and incubation
Using an automatic identification and weighing system, we investigated changes in adult body mass in relation to reproductive behaviour during courtship and incubation in free-living king penguins. Despite stressful nutritional conditions and variability of fast length, the majority of pairs incubated successfully by accumulating large body reserves before fasting, which provided flexibility in fasting strategies. […]
Habitat Use and Structural Preferences of Captive Western Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla): Effects of Environmental and Social Variables
Exhibit naturalism has become the architectural standard for new zoo exhibits, yet our scientific understanding of how animals interact with naturalistic environments is very limited. Given the expense incurred in building new exhibits, it is essential that more information on animal-environment interactions be obtained and that it be incorporated at the outset into exhibit designs. […]
The link between metabolic rate and body temperature in galliform birds in thermoneutral and heat exposure conditions: The classical and phylogenetically corrected approach
Three galliform species (grey partridges, ring-necked pheasants, and king quail) were involved in body temperature and resting metabolic rate measurements over a broad range of ambient temperatures (20-45 degrees C). At thermoneutrality, inter-species differences in colonic temperature, as well as in metabolic rate, were observed. During heat exposure, all species reacted by elevating their body […]
The effect of food quality and relative abundance on food choice in fallow deer
The diet choice of large herbivores is influenced by the presence of nutrients and toxins in available plants. It is generally assumed that herbivores ingest food that contains higher amounts of nutrients and lower amounts of toxins than the average of the food available. We studied the effects of quality and relative abundance on food […]
A possible role of habituation in the sexual behaviour of male mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis Baird & Girard)
“Separation/Abandonment/Isolation Trauma:” What We Can Learn From Our Nonhuman Primate Relatives
Building upon my prior work exploring the impact of childhood abandonment and isolation on chimpanzees and humans, this article discusses the relevance of nonhuman primate research to our understanding of this phenomenon in children. Both laboratory research and naturalistic studies have confirmed the strong commonalities in parenting between our 2 species and have reached similar […]