scholarly journals Conserved abilities of individual recognition and genetically modulated social responses in young chicks (Gallus gallus)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Versace ◽  
Morgana Ragusa ◽  
Virginia Pallante
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Individual Recognition ◽  
Average Distance ◽  
Gallus Gallus ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Social Responses ◽  
Adaptive Ability ◽  
Socially Motivated

AbstractThe ability to recognise familiar individuals and the motivation to stay in contact with conspecifics are important to establish social relationships from the beginning of life. To understand the genetic basis of early social behaviour, we studied the different responses to familiar/unfamiliar individuals and social reinstatement in 4-day-old domestic chicks (Gallus gallus) in three genetically isolated breeds: Padovana, Polverara and Robusta. All breeds showed a similar ability to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar individuals, staying closer to familiar individuals. Social reinstatement motivation measured as the average distance between subjects, latency to the first step and exploration of the arena (a proxy for the lack of fear), differed between breeds. More socially motivated chicks that stayed in closer proximity, were also less fearful and explored the environment more extensively. These results suggest that modulation of social behaviour shows larger genetic variability than the ability to recognise social partners, which appears to be an adaptive ability widespread at the species level even for very young animals.

scholarly journals The variability of song variability in zebra finch ( Taeniopygia guttata ) populations

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 190273
Author(s):  
Allison L. Lansverk ◽  
Katie M. Schroeder ◽  
Sarah E. London ◽  
Simon C. Griffith ◽  
David F. Clayton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Zebra Finch ◽  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Genetic Factors ◽  
Individual Recognition ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Taeniopygia Guttata ◽  
Major Goal ◽  
The Difference

Birdsong is a classic example of a learned social behaviour. Song behaviour is also influenced by genetic factors, and understanding the relative contributions of genetic and environmental influences remains a major goal. In this study, we take advantage of captive zebra finch populations to examine variation in a population-level song trait: song variability. Song variability is of particular interest in the context of individual recognition and in terms of the neuro-developmental mechanisms that generate song novelty. We find that the Australian zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata castanotis ( TGC ) maintains higher song diversity than the Timor zebra finch T. g. guttata ( TGG ) even after experimentally controlling for early life song exposure, suggesting a genetic basis to this trait. Although wild-derived TGC were intermediate in song variability between domesticated TGC populations and TGG , the difference between domesticated and wild TGC was not statistically significant. The observed variation in song behaviour among zebra finch populations represents a largely untapped opportunity for exploring the mechanisms of social behaviour.

scholarly journals Proximity-based vocal networks reveal social relationships in the Southern white rhinoceros

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Jenikejew ◽  
Brenda Chaignon ◽  
Sabrina Linn ◽  
Marina Scheumann
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Communication Networks ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Group Living ◽  
White Rhinoceros ◽  
Southern White Rhinoceros ◽  
Social Associations ◽  
High Level

Abstract Vocal communication networks can be linked to social behaviour, allowing a deeper understanding of social relationships among individuals. For this purpose, the description of vocal dyads is fundamental. In group-living species, this identification is based on behavioural indicators which require a high level of reactivity during social interactions. In the present study, we alternatively established a proximity-based approach to investigate whether sex-specific differences in vocal communication reflect social behaviour in a species with rather loose social associations and low levels of reactivity: the Southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum). We performed audio- and video recordings of 30 captive animals from seven groups. Vocal networks for the four most common call types were constructed by considering conspecifics at close distance (≤ 1 body length) to the sender as potential receivers. The analysis of the resulting unidirectional structures showed that not only the sex of the sender but also the sex of the potential receiver, the quality of social interactions (affiliative or agonistic) as well as association strength predict the intensity of vocal interactions between group members. Thus, a proximity-based approach can be used to construct vocal networks providing information about the social relationships of conspecifics—even in species with loose social associations where behavioural indicators are limited.

The effect of breed on the expression of adverse social behaviour in pigs

2002 ◽  
Vol 2002 ◽  
pp. 33-33
Author(s):  
K. Breuer ◽  
M.E.M. Sutcliffe ◽  
J.T. Mercer ◽  
K.A. Rance ◽  
V.E. Beattie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Contributory Factor ◽  
Current Experiment ◽  
Tail Biting ◽  
Pig Farms ◽  
Breed Differences ◽  
Genetic Makeup ◽  
Social Behaviours

The performance of tail biting and other harmful social behaviours is a common problem on pig farms. Many risk factors relating to tail biting have been identified, but the problem remains intractable. One contributory factor may be the genetic makeup of pigs but, as with most pig behaviour, there has been little research into the genetic basis of its expression. The aim of the current experiment was to investigate the genetic component of harmful social behaviours, such as tail biting, by assessing breed differences in the predisposition to perform these behaviours.

Development of selective responses to individual maternal vocalizations in young Gallus gallus

1972 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 777-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger M. Evans ◽  
Mark E. Mattson
Keyword(s):  
Visual Stimulus ◽  
Individual Recognition ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Gallus Gallus ◽  
Biologically Relevant ◽  
Domestic Chicks ◽  
Locomotor Ability

One-day-old domestic chicks responded selectively to individual maternal clucks that had previously been presented in association with a familiar visual stimulus. These results are interpreted as evidence that familiar visual stimuli can mediate the development of auditory discriminations between biologically relevant adult vocalizations. Further, such discriminations occur at a time when individual recognition of parental vocalizations is thought to be important for maintaining family units which are threatened with potential disruption after the development of locomotor ability in the precocial young.

Individual recognition and social relationships

1981 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 589-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Breed ◽  
Marc Bekoff
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Individual Recognition

scholarly journals Mother–infant bonding and the evolution of mammalian social relationships

2006 ◽  
Vol 361 (1476) ◽  
pp. 2199-2214 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.D Broad ◽  
J.P Curley ◽  
E.B Keverne
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Individual Recognition ◽  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Considerable Degree ◽  
Association Cortex ◽  
Social Reward ◽  
Hormonal Priming ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Gender Specific

A wide variety of maternal, social and sexual bonding strategies have been described across mammalian species, including humans. Many of the neural and hormonal mechanisms that underpin the formation and maintenance of these bonds demonstrate a considerable degree of evolutionary conservation across a representative range of these species. However, there is also a considerable degree of diversity in both the way these mechanisms are activated and in the behavioural responses that result. In the majority of small-brained mammals (including rodents), the formation of a maternal or partner preference bond requires individual recognition by olfactory cues, activation of neural mechanisms concerned with social reward by these cues and gender-specific hormonal priming for behavioural output. With the evolutionary increase of neocortex seen in monkeys and apes, there has been a corresponding increase in the complexity of social relationships and bonding strategies together with a significant redundancy in hormonal priming for motivated behaviour. Olfactory recognition and olfactory inputs to areas of the brain concerned with social reward are downregulated and recognition is based on integration of multimodal sensory cues requiring an expanded neocortex, particularly the association cortex. This emancipation from olfactory and hormonal determinants of bonding has been succeeded by the increased importance of social learning that is necessitated by living in a complex social world and, especially in humans, a world that is dominated by cultural inheritance.

scholarly journals Do human screams permit individual recognition?

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e7087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan W. M. Engelberg ◽  
Jay W. Schwartz ◽  
Harold Gouzoules
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Nonhuman Primates ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Individual Recognition ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
The Social ◽  
Abundant Evidence ◽  
Adaptive Ability ◽  
Evolutionary Continuity

The recognition of individuals through vocalizations is a highly adaptive ability in the social behavior of many species, including humans. However, the extent to which nonlinguistic vocalizations such as screams permit individual recognition in humans remains unclear. Using a same-different vocalizer discrimination task, we investigated participants’ ability to correctly identify whether pairs of screams were produced by the same person or two different people, a critical prerequisite to individual recognition. Despite prior theory-based contentions that screams are not acoustically well-suited to conveying identity cues, listeners discriminated individuals at above-chance levels by their screams, including both acoustically modified and unmodified exemplars. We found that vocalizer gender explained some variation in participants’ discrimination abilities and response times, but participant attributes (gender, experience, empathy) did not. Our findings are consistent with abundant evidence from nonhuman primates, suggesting that both human and nonhuman screams convey cues to caller identity, thus supporting the thesis of evolutionary continuity in at least some aspects of scream function across primate species.

scholarly journals To be or not to be emotionally aware and socially motivated: How alexithymia impacts autism spectrum disorders

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigi Pastore ◽  
Sara Dellantonio ◽  
Claudio Mulatti ◽  
Gianluca Esposito
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Social Motivation ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Autistic People ◽  
The Social ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Socially Motivated

AbstractAutism often co-occurs with alexithymia, a condition characterized by no or diminished awareness of emotions that significantly impacts an individual's social relationships. We investigate how the social motivation of autistics would be eroded by comorbidity with alexithymia and why this diminished motivation would be difficult for non-autistic people to perceive and reciprocate.

scholarly journals KoT: an automatic implementation of the K/θ method for species delimitation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yann Spöri ◽  
Fabio Stoch ◽  
Simon Dellicour ◽  
C. William Birky ◽  
Jean-François Flot
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Species Delimitation ◽  
Population Genetic ◽  
Average Distance ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Species Boundaries ◽  
Fasta File ◽  
Genetic Theory ◽  
Putative Species ◽  
The Impact

K/θ is a method to delineate species that rests on the calculation of the ratio between the average distance K separating two putative species-level clades and the genetic diversity θ of these clades. Although this method is explicitly rooted in population genetic theory, it was never benchmarked due to the absence of a program allowing automated analyses. For the same reason, its application by hand was limited to small datasets of a few tens of sequences. We present an automatic implementation of the K/θ method, dubbed KoT (short for "K over Theta"), that takes as input a FASTA file, builds a neighbour-joining tree, and returns putative species boundaries based on a user-specified K/θ threshold. This automatic implementation avoids errors and makes it possible to apply the method to datasets comprising many sequences, as well as to test easily the impact of choosing different K/θ threshold ratios. KoT is implemented in Haxe, with a javascript webserver interface freely available at https://eeg-ebe.github.io/KoT/ .

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