Dogs Prefer Winners over Losers

A study was conducted to analyze canine spectators and their reaction to the winner and the loser of the competitive match. In the study a human and a dog playfully competed with each other while two other spectator dogs watched. The human acted like a dog and used playful non-threatening movements while engaging in games with the dog, such as tug-of-war. The human got down on all fours and imitated playful movements of the dog such as bows, playful, non-threatening lunges, and feet shuffling. At the end of the game the spectator dogs excitedly ran towards the victor, wanting to interact with him.

A second study was conducted where the spectators were not able to view the game, but were able to hear it. Even though the spectators could not see who won, they still rushed over to the winner after the game. The dogs were able to tell either by listening to the game, or by having other unknown cues that identified who the winner was.

A third study was conducted where the human and dog competed without playful movements. In this case the spectator dogs did not approach the winner of the match. The other dogs most likely felt threatened by the winner of a real competition.

By watching the animals compete, the dogs seem to gain information about the animal's social status. Nicole Rooney, a researcher at the Anthrozoology Institute at the University of Bristol said, "I believe that within the context of a game dogs prefer winners because they are likely to be fun and effective partner with which to play." Dogs enjoy competitive play to test their competitive ability and learn from the other partner, which means that a dog will learn more from playing with a partner at either an equal or superior level than it would from playing with a partner of an inferior level. Dogs especially love to win the playful competitions. In related research it was found that winning improves dogs social skills and playing behavior.

Posted by ALT (4)

The relationships between predator and prey have played a major role into how these organisms survive and live. Many organisms have a common enemy and have developed corresponding survival tactics to these agitators. Some common examples include the variety of colors on tortoise shells, butterflies, lizards, and etc. The colors of these creatures are often depicted in a way that would help suit them for survival and increase their likelihood of reproduction. But how much of a role does these corresponding relationships actually play? One can say that it really pushed the development of hereditary phenotypes. I’m sure that the probability of tortoise shells being multicolored to match their corresponding environment since its existence were not very high. Their had to be a reason why these shells started changing colors to match the environment. This can also be applied to butterflies, reptiles, amphibians, etc. It is a defensive mechanism developed over time, a product of evolution against the enemy. But in hindsight, the predators would and should have developed a form of catching their prey. Physical or new behavioral attributes. Again it’s because of the need to survive and reproduce, a product of evolution developed against the prey.

In a fairly recent article, Scientists Discover An Ancient Predator Prey Relationship, it explains the recent discovery of the predator prey relationship between two ancient species. The article went in depth about how the hederellid, which happens to be at least 380 million years old, react to attacks by a yet unknown predator. These colonial extinct animals are known to make tube-like skeletons which were preyed on by the unknown predators. The tube-like skeletons were being drilled through by these assailants. Recent evidence has showed that the hederellid reacted to these attacks by patching the aforementioned holes which were secreted by internal tissues. The scientists went about discovering this by the usage of an optical microscope and the examination from about 350 hederellid colonies from paleontological collections. The predators attacked from the top as signified by the incomplete drilling holes and damaged the living hederellid. The resulting responses ended up being patch like repair to the holes. It was said to be one of the earliest examples of selective predation and the subsequent development of defense for it.

The predator and prey relationship does play a big role in the development of these organisms and many physical and behavioral attributes may be given credit to it. In fact, it probably increased the development of these attributes. In the case of this particular article, the hederellid developed a defense mechanism. In more today examples, the tortoise with its camouflage type shell to blend in with the environment, and insects that look like branches (Indian Walkingstick).

posted by JP21

Sex Changing Tendencies

The black sea bass (Centropristis striada) is best known for their ability alter its sex. According to this issue of Copeia from 1981, the sea bass species undergoes gonadal changes to produce secondary males. These sex changes occur throughout the year. As described here, there is a drop in the number of individuals undergoing sex change during the spawning season. This is most likely linked to the sea bass's energy cycle. It would make sense if they need to conserve energy to reproduce. Sex is definitely an energy drainer. On the other hand, there is a peak in the number of individuals in transitional phases. As a result of theses peaks and troughs in their sex change cycle there has been little success in the aqua culturing this over fished population of sea bass in New England according to David Berlinsky of the University of New Hampshire.

According to the same Science Daily article, much of the aquaculture capital goes into buying black sea bass thoroughbreds. Due to the sex change phenomenon, most of that capital is wasted as new females must be bought to compensate for the offset male to female ratio.

Funded by the New Hampshire Seagrant, assistant UNH zoology professor Berlinsky along with GreatBay agriculture discovered that temperature triggers the sex change in black sea bass. The partnership was successful in also discovering that female sea bass were more likely to undergo the sex transformation when there was a lack of males in the artificial environment. The opposite scenario would occur when the tanks are crowded; the females would turn into males.

Currently, further hormonal research is being done to see if estrogen and 11-ketotestosterone levels can control these sex altering happenings in the black sea bass aquaculture community. If successful, the black sea bass will become a worthwhile investment for aqua culturist as well as a more affordable meal for consumers.

Posted by T2 (4)

Abusive Parenting Spans Generation in Monkeys

Rhesus monkeys are known for their sometimes violent behavior toward their offspring. It is common to see a rhesus monkey mother regularly hit, kick, bite, and brutalize their babies. Now, a new study reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that females subjected to abusive behavior as infants, often grow up to be abusive parents themselves.

Primatologist Dario Maestripieri of the University of Chicago states that being abused as an infant outweighs any genetic factor that might be responsible for abusive parenting. His argument is based on two main observations. First, females born to abusive mothers, who are raised by non-abusive adoptive mothers, uniformly become nurturing parents. Second, rhesus mothers frequently mistreat their offspring after being raised by abusive (either biological or adoptive) mothers.

Maestripieri’s study consisted of four groups of rhesus monkeys, living in an outdoor research facility in Georgia. The first group consisted of six infants born to abusive mothers, who were given to unrelated non-abusive mothers as newborns. The second group was eight infants born to non-abusive mothers, and adopted by abusive mothers. The third group was eight infants born to abusive mothers raised by them. The fourth group was nine infants born to non-abusive mothers and raised by them.

The monkeys were tracked into adulthood and observed for at least three months after they gave birth. Nine of the sixteen females raised by abusive mothers (four of which were born to non-abusive mothers) abused their own babies. Also, none of the fifteen females raised by non-abusive mothers became abusive themselves.

It is already know that in people; roughly 30 percent of abused children become abusive parents. These results prove to be a good non-human model for the study of child abuse. This study may open the doors for further insight into why child abuse occurs in humans, and may prove to be useful in preventative strategies.

Posted by DJF (4)

New Issue of the Tangled Bank is Online

The Indian Cowboy has compiled the latest addition of the Tangled Bank.

Posted by PWH

Sweet-tooth Mutated Right Out of the Cat's Mouth

Anybody who's a cat owner has noticed their complete indifference to sweets. Wave a chocolate bar, sugar cube, or even a gummi fish under their nose and all you get is the classic feline ho-hum. What explains this strange behavior - or more accurately this lack of behavior? For an answer, with great illustrations and analogies, check out P.Z. Myer's post over at Pharyngula.

The short of it is that the TAS1R2 gene which codes for the TAS1R2 taste receptor, which just happens to bind to, you guessed it, sugar, has a deleterious mutation in felids that makes them incapable of even perceiving sugar.

Poorrr, poorrr, kittykat.

Posted by PWH.

How Rational is a Rat?

Just how clever is that rat? Is he a lazy, sneaking creature who will swipe any easy snack or is he a virtuous hard worker who will toil until he earns his just rewards? Perhaps a similar quandary has faced you: do you enroll in school and live on limited funds in the hope of later prosperity or do you get a job and enjoy life's rewards now. Moral judgments of work aside, the Discovery's channel's "Animal Planet" website reports on the work a group of researchers has come up with a relatively simple test apparatus to address this question in the rat. It consists of a simple maze shaped as a "T". If the rat goes in one direction it will quickly find a small treat - a single sugar cube. If the rat travels the other way, he will have to do some work, but will get a larger number of sugar cubes.

The researchers, lead by Ruud van den Bos of Utrecht University in The Netherlands, wanted to know about the decision-making process of the rat, not just whether he was lazy or slothful. What they did was to vary the "hard road" in two ways. First they varied the size of the reward by changing the number of sugar cubes. Second, they changed just how hard it was to get to the bigger reward by changing the height of the wall the rat had to climb.

What they discovered was that there was a critical point at which the rat would abandon the harder route and go for the reward and that this critical point was based both on the size of the rewards and on the height of wall to be scaled. What the researchers claim that this shows is that the rats were conducting a "cost-benefit analysis, rather than basing their decision on a single factor such of labor or reward. This cost-benefit analysis turns out to be relatively sophisticated. It is claimed that this is the first time that non-human animals have been shown to make decisions using a mathematical relationship called an "internal constant standard" which is an individual's ratio of effort to reward.

Full details of the research will be published in the journal Behavioral Brain Research. (Correction: The article is available in the August 2006 issue of Behavioral Brain Research.) Readers interested in finding out more about van den Bos's other research relating to motivation in rats without waiting can also check out a draft chapter of a book van den Bos is contributing to (Go up one directory level to get some commentary.).

As interesting as this research was, there was no investigation of what other species might do in the same circumstances. An interesting question here is whether the rat's rational approach is rare or common in the animal kingdom. Given the relative simplicity of the experiment it would have been easy to do for other animals, including humans. (Humans have been shown to be highly motivated by sugary snacks, so recruiting volunteers should not be too hard.) It would be interesting to measure the "internal constant standard" of various people put in the maze with sugary snack and compare the results to life choices, such as pursuing training that will lead to higher income or to measures of depression.

Posted by Jonathan Caplan (3)

Update 9/26/2006

The "Marshmallow Studies," mentioned by one of my commenters, had so much online writing about them without any sources cited and so much conflict about facts of the study that I began to wonder if it the study was, in fact, an urban myth. The original studies were real, though, and conducted by Walter Mischel at Stanford from 1968 to 1974 (Journal of Social Psychology 1970, 1975), with later follow-ups. (Science 1989, 244, 933-938.) Most of the reports got the basic idea right with an amusing diversity of details. Here's how it really went down: First, the children could choose the reward they prefered - usually a two marshmallows instead of one or a five pretzels instead of two small cookies. Second, the kids, age 3 to 5 were told that they could choose to eat the snack immediately and then ring a bell or wait ~15 minutes for the researcher returned from his "errand" and receive the greater reward. Results were obtained in follow-up studies over decades of a group of ~500 people. First, it was observed that the kids who were able to wait did so by not focusing on the reward using strategies such as singing to themselves or covering their eyes. These kids were using strategies rather than pure willpower. Later when they were 10 years old the kids who waited for greater reward had fewer behavioral problems. In high school, they had higher SAT scores and at age 32, they had fewer drug problems. On the other hand the kids who wanted the immediate reward handled stress more poorly, got into more fights and had higher incarceration rates. One thing that these studies did not address, though was whether the kids who choose the immediate result were making rational choices based on their life experience. Perhaps those kids had parents or caregivers who often did not follow through on promises and learned that the best strategy for succeeding in their environment was to get what you could as soon as it was available. The rats may have had the advantage of consistant behavior in their overseers.

As to my other commenter, I too wondered about adults, though more about individual circumstance than issues of culture. I'm not sure what you meant about a mathematical equation for rat foraging. Perhaps one could attempt to derive one from the experimental results or from an analysis of what whould be optimal in a given natural environment. They were certainally shown to have a ratio of work to reward that they employed in their choices in the experiment.

-Jonathan Caplan

Snakehead Terror!!!!

Invasive species have become a commonplace event in any exploration of the outside world. They take many forms; for example the plants Purple Loosestrife, Hogweed, and Japanese Knotweed, the insects Africanized Honeybees and Red Fire Ant, and the aquatic ecosystem destructors like Zebra Mussels and Chinese Mitten Crab. However, no other introduced species has garnered as much hype as the Snakehead fish (Channa argus).

Snakeheads were introduced either intentionally, by people who wish to use them for a food source (they are supposed to be very tasty), or unintentionally by aquarists whose fish had outgrown their aquarium and they set them free. The snakehead rapidly became a fish of legend, mainly because of it's ability to exist outside the realm of water, it has retained a plesiomorphic lung allowing it to breathe air out of an aqueous environment, and also can move on land (if the ground is wet) although how far they can "walk" is unknown. Other caveats to the snakehead is it's voracious appetite ( it can rapidly become the top predator of any freshwater body directly affecting the sportfishing industry), and amazing fecundity (50,000 eggs per female/breeding season). Other interesting facts are, despite what the Sci-Fi channel says, they can only reach lengths of 3-4 feet maximum, and they can eat birds and small mammals. The snakehead also protects its eggs and young (a rarity in native fishes), allowing for a higher survival rate. Once, they are present they are there to stay. The snakehead reproductive population is centered in three states Florida, Hawaii and Maryland. Although, snakeheads have been found in many other states including Massachusetts.

Why I selected this topic is that there is still much to be learned from the snakehead, and there is research going on right now that I have had the opportunity to assist in. The Potomac River has a significant population of snakeheads and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife (headed by John Odenkirk) has begun research on snakehead migration patterns using radio tagging and telemetry (of which I trained the crew). They have already discovered that the snakeheads have a distinct home range, they travel out to feed but return to a home base. The research team has also discovered a mass exodus of the fish during times of high water levels after a storm event. There is other research performed by the Smithsonian National Zoological Park involving tracking the genetic line of captured snakeheads to determine the reproduction line and spread of snakehead populations in the Potomac, as well as their genetic diversity.

There is still much to learn about these fish including studying their amazing ability to make sounds (very few freshwater species do this) when foraging for food, and perhaps at other times such as breeding and socializing. Invasive species, once established, will become a significant threat to the delicate balance of the ecosystem, and the only seminal control of such a threat will be through detailed knowledge of the behaviors and biological activities. There is a need for scientists to pursue research on any number of invasive species across the US.

Submitted by BEK

Humans And Leeches Aren't So Different After All...

Don’t worry; leeches aren’t any more threatening than our childhood camp scares in the ponds and lakes, but apparently we share some of our familial tendencies with our slimy friends. According to a recent Observatory article in The New York Times (free subscription required), a few Australian researchers have discovered sibling rivalry among Helobdella papillornata, a snail eating leech. The rivalry centers around the appropriation of food…something to which those of us in large families can definitely relate.

Headed by Dr. Martin Burd (full article not available w/o subscription), the Aussie research team noticed that there was a bias in the amount of food that the baby leeches, which attach to their mother’s underside in groups of up to 60, got their ‘hands’ on based on aggressiveness. With the more common smaller-opening snails, only a certain number of baby leeches can fit their heads in at a given time. The more aggressive ones will crowd out the others and get the first servings every time. Dr. Burd and associates tracked this competition by weighing the leeches, with the most aggressive gaining more weight. What is interesting about this specific case of sibling rivalry is that there is no need for it. Baby leeches can spend as long as they want hanging on their mother without having to feed right after hatching, allowing for the unrealized possibility of staggered maturity and dispersal. Despite this, further research shows the competitive behavior to be wide spread amongst this species.

Another species that is more commonly studied for their sibling rivalry behavior is the Perisoreus infaustus, or Siberian jays. Birds, unlike the leeches, actually have a need for rivalry since they need to feed immediately after hatching. However, these birds have found a way around their particular predicament. The birds vary the ages at which the leave the nest leaving time for the weaker birds to catch up after the stronger have left. Therefore, the rivalry persists without interfering in the survival of all of the offspring.

All in all the leeches may have to take some pointers from the Siberian jays. Otherwise, this competition may hinder their ability to grow in population size…but, most campers and lake swimmers will agree, this may not be a bad thing.

Commented response added as last comment.

Posted by LD (3)

Primates that Care about Each Other

An important part of living in a group is taking care of each other. Many animals will protect each other, share food and help in finding suitable means of shelter. Among all animals, primates characteristically are very social animals and live in community settings. In times of need primates such as baboons and chimpanzees will display great amounts of compassion and guidance towards others in their group.

Jennifer Viegas, of Discovery News, wrote an article on chimpanzees’ behavior when it comes to dangerous encounters. In West Africa, a group of chimpanzees attempt to cross a man-made road that cuts through their forest habitat. These chimpanzees prove that you don’t need orange vests or big red stop signs to be a crossing guard. To accomplish this task the alpha male in the group first makes sure that the road is clear of all pedestrians, bikes and motor vehicles. Then he uses arm motions to signal the rest of the group to cross in an orderly line. This example displays the chimpanzees’ ability to take care of each other and show concern.

Another example of primate’s behavior in regards to their community can be seen in a different article, also written by Viegas. This article is entitled, Grieving Baboons Comforted by Friends, on Animal Planet News. The baboons that are grieving are described as being withdrawn from the group and experiencing high levels of stress hormones. The baboon community reacts by showing concern in their mourning for the loss of a group member. They also show concern for the well being of each other through comforting actions such as grooming. Comforting one another is again a display of primates taking care of those closest to them.

Expressing concern for each other in a community seemed to be a prominent theme in Viegas’ articles. Chimpanzees proved that at times they will take on leadership roles and guide the group to safety. Baboons on the other hand, expressed concern in a more compassionate way.

Posted by TML (3)

Spatial Landmarks for Foraging Columbian Ground Squirrels

We’ve all seen these cute little creatures scurrying through the grass or jumping the trees to find food for winter, but how is it they seem to know exactly where the food is that they want? How are they able to tell which food will be the most nutritious and essential for survival? Many experiments have been done in labs to answer these questions, but there is always the chance the results are due to unnatural conditions that are not the same as out in the wild. In the January 2006 edition of Animal Cognition, Anna Vlasak published her findings from a study done with Columbian Ground Squirrels. She tested the global and local spatial landmarks they used to find food in a natural location.

In her study nine identical platforms were evenly spaced in a meadow in Alberta, Canada surrounded by a forest. Results were concluded from fourteen adult free-range females that completed both the training and the tests. Experiments were done to test if squirrels responded to local landmarks (vegetation pattern, burrows, rocks, bushes), global landmarks (forest edge, the outline of the mountains), both local and global, or a familiar route to find the platforms with the correct food. To rule out olfactory all platforms were made to smell the same, the only differences were the landmarks around the platforms. Artificial landmarks (flags, ball, log) were put out to serve as local landmarks so they could be easily manipulated. After training the squirrels on the platforms six trials were done. Trials 1-4 were used to test the manipulation of artificial landmarks and trials 5 and 6 were used to test the importance of natural landmarks. After trials 1-4 were complete the data showed that squirrels seemed to ignore the local artificial landmarks and had memorized the food location by a mixture of natural and/or global landmarks. Even when the artificial landmarks had been moved the squirrels were still able to find the correct platform. When trials 5 and 6 were complete fewer squirrels were able to find the correct platform because the platforms were shifted in a way to change the global landmarks. However, the fact that some squirrels were still able to find the correct platform proves that they also use a familiar route when finding food. Vlasak concluded “that squirrels disregarded information provided by artificial local landmarks when a familiar route, natural local, and global landmarks were available to them.” She also found that “when known global landmarks were not present, animals seemed to be able to refer to the spatial arrangement of the [platforms].”

This idea of spatial recognition has been tested on other animals and found to be true. Foraging honeybees are able to find more sugar feeders when visual cues are given with scent cues. There have also been tests on the results of animals that have had their memories impaired. A study by Annabelle Belcher and her colleagues was done on adult male Sprague-Dawley rats and the effects of methamphetamine (mAMPH) on their memory. Scent cues seem to play a role in animal recognition, but an animal’s spatial recognition seems to be the most important factor for an animal’s survival.

Posted By REC (3)

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures...but just how desperate are these hungry polar bears? Read on to find out.


In 1999, scientists from the Canadian Wildlife Service published a study on the recent effects of global warming on a population of polar bears in the Hudson Bay area. What they found is relatively old news to us now. The arctic ice caps were melting, forcing the bears back to land much sooner, and shortening their hunting seasons. Hungry polar bears, which prefer to eat ringed seals at sea, were beginning to wander closer inland in search of food. During this year officials had reported 36 encounters with polar bears trying to rummage through trash, 16 more than in the previous year. The scientists had also observed decreasing weights in both male and female polar bears, resulting in fewer cubs, but no significant decline in population.

Fast forward seven years. Arctic sea ice melted at record levels in 2005 and again this year. This means that polar bears are spending even more time on land than in previous years, leading to many more human encounters. The bears are seeking trash as their food, not humans. However, if a bear in any way threatens a human, it is legal to kill the animal. Also a problem is that residents in northern Canada are led to believe that the increase in encounters with polar bears means that the population is also increasing, when in fact, it’s just the opposite. Numbers have dwindled from 1,200 in the Hudson Bay area in 1989 to approximately 950 in 2004. That’s a staggering 22% drop...definitely a reason for concern. Another major concern that had been initially addressed in the 1999 study is weight loss. In the 1980's, female polar bears weighed approximately 650 lbs. Recent surveys shows them weighing in at only 510 pounds. With female weights on the decline and fewer cubs being born each year, the population is sure to continue to fall as well.

Yet another factor that could contribute to a decreasing polar bear population is an extremely alarming phenomenon for this species: cannibalism. While some bears will often kill and sometimes partially eat other bears in fights over territory or female mates, polar bears will not hunt other bears for prey. In 40 years of studying polar bears of northern Alaska and Canada, researchers had never observed this behavior. In 2004, they witnessed it three times. While it is possible that this behavior has been going on unobserved for some time, researchers believe that it is caused by extreme hunger created by the melting ice. They also believe that it is very likely that this phenomenon occurred more than 3 times, and will continue in following years.

Posted by KEM

Empathy Behavior Observed in Mice

Humans are able to understand other people’s feelings, and it seems like animals do, too. Studies have shown over the years that animals, such as chimps, can sense what other animals of the same species are experiencing. Recent studies with mice support this idea as well.

In a study published in the June 2006 edition of Science magazine, Jeffrey Mogil at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, conducted several experiments with mice. Researchers injected a weak acetic acid solution into the mices' abdomens. They reported that when mice were put alone in a cage, mice had a writhing behavior as a common response to the injection. But when two or more mice were confined together and had previously met, they spent more time stretching their legs and twisting than isolated mice. In another study led by Mogil, researchers repeated the experiment and measured the time it took mice to respond to a higher concentration of acetic acid. Researchers noticed that mice would withdraw their feet when in pain, and reported that when mice were responding from the acetic acid injection, other mice would withdraw their feet faster even though they had not been injected with the solution. Finally, Mogil and his team conducted another experiment in which mice were injected with a formalin solution in one paw. It was observed than when a mouse was injected with a low dose and paired with a mouse given a high dose, the low-dose mouse licked their paws more than if it was paired with a low-dose mouse.

Can this be considered signs of empathy in mice? Researchers have different opinions. For example, Tania Singer, a cognitive neuroscientist at University of Zurich, Switzerland, has studied human behavior, and says that empathy is expressed only if you have consciousness. On the other hand, Mogil says his study implies that mice can sense in a general way. However, Singer and Mogil agree that these findings are signs of a very rough form of empathy behavior in animals.

Posted by MIS (2)

The Latest Issue of the Tangled Bank is Up.

The Hairy Museum of Natural History has published the latest compilation of bioscience blog posts. You'll find links to some great posts at this week's edition of the Tangled Bank.

An entry that caught my attention was one at Walking the Berkshires that explores the creation of conservation areas by default and not by design. The post reminded me that locally, Westover Airforce Base in Chicopee has the highest population of endangered Upland Sandpipers in Massachusetts. The base maintains strips of mowed vegetation along the margins of the runways where the birds nest. They've agreed to mow the grassy areas only after the sandpipers and other grassland birds nesting in the area have fledged their young.

Posted by PWH.

Flight of Fancy

Ah, the signs of fall. Trees change their coats, hideous noises emanate from our clocks at obscene hours of the morning, and in the skies great Vs of birds wing their way to more favorable climes. The last of which poses a question: sure, we’d all rather be someplace a little less arctic than New England come winter, but why come back in the summer? Flying such long distances must consume a large amount of energy, so why bother? A September 11, 2006 article (free subscription required) in the Washington Post describes how one group of scientists is attempting to answer that question.

The first question when studying bird migratory patterns is, of course, where do the birds go, and from whence do they come? A deceptively simple question, but how does one actually track a bird? One couldn’t, at least until recently that is. With the constant advance of technology, radio transmitters have continued to get smaller, and now there are examples small enough to be strapped to a bird and not greatly inhibit their flight. Scientists Adrian H. Farmer and Bridget Olson of the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service respectively have been using this method to study the migratory patterns of the marbled godwit, a species of small shorebird that has been disappearing from some of its historic territory. Their data shows that these birds’ migrations are extensive, covering the territory from Baja California to Alberta Canada. Also, importantly, the study showed that protected areas were used by the birds as stopping points along the way, demonstrating the importance of such land.

The second question: why do the birds migrate? The answer is, well, no one knows. Theories have been forwarded suggesting that the migrations may have started as small journeys to nearby locales where feeding might have been better during certain seasons, and then gradually expanded as following generations of birds found favorable conditions further and further away. A logical explanation, but the only way to find out for certain is for people like Farmer and Olson to do the science.

The work also has current ramifications. Many species of migratory birds, including the marbled godwit, are disappearing. These bird species are possibly more susceptible to human incursions because they rely on more than one area’s condition. If a population of birds summers in one area, winters in another, and stops at places in between during migration, then disruption of the habitat in any of those three locations can threaten the viability of the population. This is why it is important to understand where these birds go so that we can ensure that the destinations are still habitable.

Posted by RWS (2)

Updated on 9/18/06

Just thought I’d add some things in response to the uhh…responses this has gotten. Firstly, I didn’t actually have any information regarding loss of migratory stopover habitat apart from what the article itself mentions and my own extrapolation of the long-term meaning of such loss, which is why I didn’t have a link to something specific there. It seemed to me that this was the greatest immediately actionable aspect of the research, which is why I expanded it more. That said, these people are the conservation group specifically mentioned in the article and seem to be a good demonstration of the kind of multinational commitment required due to the length of these birds’ migrations. As for theories regarding why they migrate, I’ve heard a few, but none that feel particularly definite. A few have to do with physical space, simply put there is less land mass near the equator so the birds migrate north in order to have more space to lay their eggs and forage for food. Another related theory that helps explain the seasonal return is that all birds originated in the tropics and began migrating for the same restricted landmass reason as above. I can see some logic in these ideas. A huge number of birds migrate to tropical regions in the winter; the concentration of birds and therefore competition for resources in these areas must be incredibly high at these times, perhaps high enough to make the energy expenditure of migration worthwhile.

Posted By RWS

Chronicles of a Drunken Monkey

In the course of your college career, the chances are good that at some point you’ll come into contact with drunk people, and perhaps even *gasp* get drunk yourself. The behaviors exhibited by a drunk person are as varied as the people who drink; some binge drink, some drink during stressful times, and some just like to throw a few back and socialize. Now, if you were to head to The Monkey Bar in Amherst, you wouldn’t expect to see any actual monkey’s ordering gin and tonics at the bar; according to some recent studies about monkeys however, we aren’t the only species that likes to get sloshed and make fools of ourselves.

A study published in the journal Methods, explores the common ground shared by humans and primates in terms of our alcohol consumption, reaction, and abuse. The monkeys in the study showed patterns of alcohol consumption increase during the work hours of the facility that they are housed in.

"It was not unusual to see some of the monkeys stumble and fall, sway, and vomit," Chen added. "In a few of our heavy drinkers, they would drink until they fell asleep."

The study also concluded that those monkeys that were individually housed were likely to drink significantly more than monkeys housed in social groups. These are also similar to symptoms of human alcoholism. Another study conducted at McGill University in Montreal concluded that the majority of monkeys that consumed alcohol fell into four categories, "binge drinker, steady drinker, social drinker, and teetotaler." These monkeys also displayed some hilarious familiarity to the behavior see at many houses in Amherst, any weekend night.

"A cage full of drunken monkeys is like a cocktail party. Your have one who gets aggressive, one who gets sexy, one who thinks everything is funny and one who gets really grumpy. The binge drinkers gulp down the alcohol at a very fast rate and pass out on the floor. The next day they do it all over again."

Although I too was giggling hysterically and planning a trip to the local monkey dealer, I quickly found that these boozed up chimps aren't all fun and games. A news report out of India relates an attack by a group of monkeys that helped themselves to some alcohol conveniently left out in the open for them. No one in the village was killed... thankfully the monkeys couldn't swing straight.

Studying the behavior of our closest ancestors is key to understanding more about our own species' behavior. Hopefully these studies will spawn research in the realms of human alcohol addiction. The chance to study the process of alcohol addiction and the myriad social factors that it results from, in a controlled environment, is a great opportunity for scientists. As I see it, everybody wins, researchers get their data, and the monkeys get to party like they're animals.

Posted by Adam Stackhouse

My Nerdometer Score is Higher then I Expected.

I was surfing some science blogs tonight after finishing work on tomorrow's assignment and I was looking over Tara Smith's, Etiology Blog, a very cool place, and I ran into a link for the"Nerd" test.

I took the test thinking I can't be that much of a nerd. I play guitar, I don't have a pocket protector for my pens, and I love getting my daughter involved in team sports like soccer and baseball. I really really do like my power tools. If I score a 60%, I'd consider that high.

My score is an impressive 87% nerdiness.

I don't understand why I could have been in such denial? I am surfing science blogs at 11:oo pm. That's a sign of something. Maybe I should rethink my life and embrace my inner nerd?

Go ahead. Take the test and share your score in the comments. I dare you!

Posted by PWH.

Barking Whales and Traffic Jamming Elephants.

Most of us are used to the idea of hearing a parrot mimic a person's words, another animal's sounds, or even non-animate sounds like a creaking door. But if someone told you they had a cat, dog, or hamster that could do this you might wonder what they had been smoking. That is because outside of primates and bats there are no credible reports of other mammals imitating the sounds of other animals. That is until recently.

In the August 22nd issue of Biology Letters researchers report an observation of killer whales (Orcinus orca) mimicking the sound of sea lion barks. Young killer whales grow up in pods of family members and learn the vocalizations of their group. When two adolescent killer whales were separated from their pod-mates, the sounds of their vocalizations started to diverge from those of their family. With no other whales to copy in their new hood, they learned to talk like the sea lions around them.

Go take a listen to the sound clips of a whale imitating a sea lion bark and a sea lion barking.

It seems that African elephants are also part of this exclusive mammalian club. Joyce Poole, who has worked on elephant vocalizations for several decades, reports that elephants have been observed mimicking the low rumble of traffic and the species distinct calls of Asian elephants.

What is the common thread among these mammalian vocal mimics? They all live in highly complex social groups in which vocal learning is important for social interactions.

Posted by PWH.

Welcome to the Fixed Action Pattern Blog

I am teaching an upper-level course on Animal Behavior in the Biology Dept. at UMASS, Amherst. I've set up this blog for student posts and my posts. It is my intention to get students to look around the web at popular sources of articles on animal behavior, and to provide short descriptions/links to these articles. I hope to get my students used to exploring the world of science as a matter of daily, or at least weekly habit, to get them used to interacting with others on the web in a constructive manner, and to learn how to communicate something that they've learned in clear and concise writing.

Each week several students will be selected to submit a post, but any student can submit as many posts as often as they like. In addition, each week several students will be selected to post comments on three recent blog entries.

This site is visible to the entire blogosphere and we welcome comments from folks outside of the course. I ask any one posting to keep a positive tone. Constructive critiques are welcome, however abuse or obscene language will not be tolerated.

Have fun here at the FAP blog.

Posted by PWH.