Aerial application of management tools can provide a cost‐effective means to conserve or control wildlife populations at the landscape scale. Large spatial scales, however, present difficulties when assessing in situ reliability and integrity of the devices themselves. We demonstrate application of a distance‐sampling density estimation approach to assess the performance of a newly developed toxicant

An accurate understanding of harvest trends is required for effective wildlife management. Trapper harvest data represent valuable long‐term data for evaluating patterns and trends for wildlife species at broad spatiotemporal scales. Inferring accurate trends from harvest data, however, first requires identifying and controlling for confounding factors that vary independent of abundance. We investigated

A number of social animals produce food-associated calls, which have been interpreted as informative and referential about the quality or quantity of food accessed by the caller. In chimpanzees, however, some behavioural patterns have remained unexplained by this model, suggesting that food-associated calls have a more generalized social function beyond attracting others to food, such as promoting

Within promiscuous mating systems, copulation often functions as more than a means of fertilization, and copulation durations can vary widely. Copulating for prolonged durations can enhance both female and male reproductive success, but can also result in costs: females of some insect species experience increased fecundity and fertility through male-provided nutrition during prolonged copulations,

The expected effect of interrupting the light that signals the to-be-estimated fixed Interval in a peak procedure is a shift rightward of the peak time. Nevertheless, it has not been studied the effect of inserting a distractor using a peak procedure in pigeons. In this experiment, two lights of different intensities were used as distractors (i.e., 10 and 50 luxes). They elapsed for 5 s, during a to-be-estimated

We investigated individual variation in diet in relation to age-sex class and kin relationship in 28 of 40 members of a small group of wild Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). We used stable isotope ratios from hair as an index of individual dietary profiles, genetic relatedness as an index of kin relationship, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotype as a marker of being an immigrant or native member

Ubiquitin-like with plant homeodomain and really interesting new gene finger domains 1 (UHRF1) is a multi-domain nuclear protein that plays an important role in epigenetics and tumorigenesis, but its role in normal ovarian follicle development remains unknown. Thus, the present study evaluated if UHRF1 mRNA abundance in bovine follicular cells is developmentally and hormonally regulated, and if changes

A fundamental question in biology is how diversity evolves and why some clades are more diverse than others. Phenotypic diversity has often been shown to result from morphological adaptation to different habitats. The role of behavioural interactions as a driver of broad scale phenotypic diversity has received comparatively less attention. Behavioural interactions, however, are a key agent of natural

Careful design of a wildlife population monitoring strategy is necessary to obtain accurate and precise results whether the purpose of the survey is development of habitat suitability models, to estimate abundance, or assess site occupancy. Important characteristics to consider in survey design are sources of elevated variability, particularly within‐subject variability, which increases the amount

The weaning period for gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus ) calves is important for maternal instruction and learning. We examined observational and acoustic data from a foraging site for evidence of calf development and mother‐young information transfer. Site survey data demonstrated an initial prioritization of calf protection by using shallow shoreline areas. Foraging in more open water was only

Parrots are highly social birds that are recognized for their primate-like cognitive abilities but their way to express emotions remain overlooked. Herein we explored potential facial indicators of emotions in cockatoos. We predicted that facial feather ruffling is an indicator of a cockatoo’s emotional state and hypothesized that specific facial feather positions would be present more during positive

We examined the effects of the presence and absence of punishment on the resurgence and renewal of extinguished operant behavior with zebrafish. With resurgence, food deliveries reinforced target responding in Phase 1 was exposed to shock punishment plus extinction (PUN + EXT) versus extinction alone (EXT) while introducing alternative reinforcement in Phase 2. All contingencies were discontinued in

Extensive research has been dedicated to the study of resurgence following extinction and differential reinforcement of alternative behavior. Less is known about the effects of punishment on resurgence. This study extended previous research by examining whether the magnitude of response cost punishment affects resurgence of human operant behavior. College students engaged in a computer task using the

Ungulates (mainly Cervidae and wild boar Sus scrofa) are considered among the most problematic wildlife suffering on roads and causing the largest material losses due to high densities of ungulate populations, spatial and temporal movement patterns, and body size of these animals. Roe deer–vehicle collision (RDVC) as the most usual cause of ungulate fatality on roads may be applied as an appropriate

Lower Miocene outcrops from Patagonia (Gaiman Formation, Burdigalian) may reveal more clues for the yet unknown aspects for this period in the evolution of odontocetes. Here, we present the first toothless platanistoid dolphin from the lower Miocene of Patagonia, Dolgopolis kinchikafiforo, gen. et sp. nov. The specimen includes an incomplete skull, with no mandibles or earbones, but sufficiently different

Variation in the dentition yields insight into the evolutionary history of Mammalia. However, to date, there has been limited research on the dental variation in Pteropodidae, a family of bats found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. Most species are large, diurnal, non-echolocating, and eat fruit or nectar. Pteropodids are of significant concern in conservation due to rapidly

Using data from a survey of Italian birdwatchers, we examined whether recreation specialization affects birders’ travel intention through a two-dimensional framework based on the “behavior” and “skills, knowledge, and commitment” constructs. The model was estimated through a partial least squares structural equation “spread” model. We implemented a second-stage analysis, using a seemingly unrelated

Exoprosopini is one of the largest tribes of bee flies (Diptera: Bombyliidae). It is divided into 21 genera of which only Ligyra has a cosmopolitan distribution. The genus Ligyra s.l. has 111 species, 20 of which have been recorded in the New World. A cladistic analysis was implemented with aims to establish the phylogenetic relationships of Ligyra species and to test the monophyly of the genus. A

To date there are few quantitative studies investigating the evolution of tooth shape and function in aglyphous snakes in relation to diet. A considerable evolutionary decrease in body size is observed in whip snakes of the genus Dolichophis and their sister-group Eirenis. This was coupled with a considerable shift in diet from a regime consisting mainly of prey with endoskeleton to prey bearing a

The study was conducted to determine the effects of high levels of phytase on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, phytate breakdown and expression of mucosal tight junction and nutrient transporter genes in weanling pigs. A total of 128 barrows were penned in groups of four and used in a randomized completely block design and assigned to four treatments for a 28-day study. A 2-phase feeding

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Data on calving ease (CE) and birth, weaning weight (WW), and yearling weight (YW) were obtained from the American Simmental Association (ASA) and included pedigree and performance information on 11,640,735 animals. Our objective was to quantify differential response from selection for high CE vs. low birth weight (LBW) in first-calf Simmental heifers. We hypothesized that direct selection for CE should

Abstract The appearance of white striations over the breast of chicken and turkey meat is considered as a recent emerging and growing problem. The aim of this research is to investigate the ability of visible-near infra-red (VIS/NIR) spectroscopy to predict the quality traits of different levels of white striping (thickness of white striations, moderate < 1 mm and severe ≥ 1 mm) defects in turkey breast

Abstract This study was conducted to determine the effects of diet supplementation of laying hens with Ligustrum lucidum (LL) on egg production, egg quality and caecal microbiota. A total of 360 72-week-old Hy-Line Brown laying hens were divided into three groups with four replicates of 30 birds each. The laying hens were fed with basal diet (control group), basal diet + 1% LL (group I) and basal diet

Abstract The combined use of somatic cell count (SCC) and differential somatic cell count (DSCC), which is the ratio of neutrophils plus lymphocytes to total milk SCC, represents a novel approach to define cow’s udder health status, as it allows to identify healthy animals (those with low SCC and DSCC), cows susceptible to mastitis (those where an immune response has begun, so that there is an increase

Kathleen Anderson at her beloved Wolf Trap Hill Farm, May 11, 2019 (photograph by Shawn P. Carey).

Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus ) are widely hunted throughout western North America and are experiencing population declines across much of their range. Consequently, understanding the direct and indirect effects of hunting is important for management of mule deer populations. Managers can influence deer mortality rates through changes in hunting season length or authorized tag numbers. Little is known

Interior Alaska, USA, is the least‐studied region in Alaska for breeding shorebirds because of challenging accessibility and expectations of low densities and abundances. We estimated lowland and upland shorebird population sizes on 370,420 ha of military lands in interior Alaska boreal forest from May–July 2016 and 2017. We modified the Program for Regional and International Shorebird Monitoring (PRISM)

The present study aimed to establish the effect of time of the day on habituation in the open-field test, one of the most elementary forms of non-associative hippocampal-dependent learning. Open-field test was performed in young adult male Wistar rats at the beginning (08:30-10:00 h; defined as Zeitgeber time (ZT) ZT0.5-2), mid-time (13:00-14:30 h, ZT5-6.5) and at the end (18:30-20:00 h, ZT10.5-12)

Diet is important for understanding the ecology and evolution of populations. When examining animals’ diets, the lowest taxonomic rank (i.e., species level) is generally used. However, it is questionable whether dietary description varies with respect to the plant taxonomy or with the extent of plant species diversity in landscapes. We studied the diet of the Alpine mountain hare (Lepus timidus varronis)

The adaptations for a particular locomotor type (e.g., fossorial or saltatorial) could affect limb bone morphology throughout ontogeny. We explore how the measurements of the forelimbs and functional indices change along the postnatal ontogeny of 92 specimens of sigmodontines belonging to four genera (Akodon, Eligmodontia, Oligoryzomys, and Oxymycterus) with different locomotor types (ambulatory,

Glucocorticoids (GCs) induce the activation of the central adenosine 5′-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathway in birds. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of corticosterone (CORT) supplemented in diet on the central AMPK signaling pathway in broilers. Average daily gain (ADG) was reduced by CORT treatment, and average daily feed intake (ADFI) remained unchanged

External colouration in animals depends on the interaction of several different factors including the genetics and epigenetics processes that underlie the colour expression, the mechanisms of colour perception, and the general mechanisms controlling colour evolution and function. Among all, camouflage from predators and conspicuousness are of particular interest since pose animal to choose between

Phoretic copulation is a type of reproductive strategy in which a winged male carries a wingless female during mating through a complex system of genital-locking structures present in both sexes. During flight, the female is suspended from the genitalia of the male and stays in that position during much of the copulation. This kind of mating allows, in addition to the transfer of gametes, the dispersal

Wild great apes build beds for sleeping by combining tree branches or other vegetation, but the development of this behavior is poorly understood. We investigated the development of bed-building behaviors by conducting complementary cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of captive chimpanzees. In the cross-sectional study, we created an ethogram of behaviors related to bed-building by observing

Behavioral responses to light of early life stages provide insights on the development of photosensitivity in nocturnal species such as Stichopus cf. horrens. In this study, the onset of nocturnal feeding behavior, growth, and survival during early juvenile development (0.56 ± 0.16 cm; 47 days post-settlement) of the species were investigated for 30 days, in the presence (S) or absence (W) of artificial

Female mammals often demonstrate a rapid initiation of maternal responsiveness immediately after giving birth, as a result of neuroendocrine changes that occur during pregnancy and parturition. However, fathers and virgins of some species may display infant care similar to that performed by mothers but without experiencing these physiological events. In biparental species, in which both mothers and

Many species possess warning colourations that signal unprofitability to predators. Warning colourations are also thought to provide prey with a ‘predator-free space’ and promote niche expansion. However, how such strategies release a species from environmental constraints and facilitate niche expansion is not clearly understood. Fossoriality in reptiles imposes several morphological limits on head

A new genus of ectoparasitic marine annelids living on ctenophores, Ctenophoricola gen. nov., is described and its feeding behaviour, reproduction and developmental stages are discussed. Its unusual morphology challenged its placement within the known marine families. However, analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data showed the new genus as member of the Alciopini, a group of holopelagic

The geographic distribution of a species can provide insights into its population size, ecology, evolution, and how it responded to past (and may respond to future) environmental change. Improving our knowledge of the distribution of threatened species thus is a high priority in assessing their conservation status. However, there are few data available for many recently described yet understudied and

The objective of this study was to examine differences in feeding behavior patterns of steers with divergent phenotypes for residual feed intake (RFI). Three trials were conducted with 508 Angus-based composite crossbred steers (BW = 309 ± 57 kg) fed a high-concentrate diet in pens equipped with electronic feed bunks (GrowSafe® System). Initial and final carcass ultrasound measurements (intra-muscular

Monitoring annual change and long‐term trends in population structure and abundance of white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus ) is an important but challenging component of their management. Many monitoring programs consist of count‐based indices of relative abundance along with a variety of population structure information. Analyzed separately these data can be difficult to interpret because of

Abstract The present experiment was conducted to examine the effects of threonine supplementation in low-protein diets on growth performance, jejunum morphology, and mucin-2 gene expression in meat-type Japanese quails. A total of 800 broiler quails were assigned to 8 dietary treatments based on a factorial arrangement (2 × 4) across 1-35-day period. Experimental treatments consisted diets with 180 g/kg

Consistent among-individual variation in behaviour, or animal personality, is present in a wide variety of species. This behavioural variation is maintained by both genetic and environmental factors. Parental effects are a special case of environmental variation and are expected to evolve in populations experiencing large fluctuations in their environment. They represent a non-genetic pathway by which

Beginning in the early 1900s, poly‐factorial, poly‐microbial pneumonia was identified as a disease affecting bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis ) and it continues to threaten bighorn populations, posing an ongoing management challenge. In May and June 2013, a pneumonia outbreak linked to the pathogen Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae led to an all‐age die‐off of desert bighorn sheep (O. c. nelsoni ) at Old Dad

The age of an animal, determined by time (chronological age) as well as genetic and environmental factors (biological age), influences the likelihood of mortality and reproduction and thus the animal’s contribution to population growth. For many long-lived species, such as bats, a lack of external and morphological indicators has made determining age a challenge, leading researchers to examine genetic

Natural cycles of light and darkness shift the balance of risks and gains for animals across space and time. Entrainment to photic cycles allows animals to spatiotemporally adapt their behavioural and physiological processes in line with interplaying ecological factors, such as temperature, foraging efficiency and predation risk. Until recently, our understanding of these chronobiological processes

Dietary tryptophan (Trp) is a precursor for serotonin, a neuromediator involved in stress responses. Tryptophan competes with other large neutral amino acids (LNAA: tyrosine, isoleucine, leucine, valine, and phenylalanine) to cross the blood-brain barrier, therefore regulation of circulating LNAA can influence Trp availability in the cortex and serotonin biosynthesis. The hypothesis examined in this

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AbstractUnderstanding the relationship between sow and piglet characteristics that are associated with stillborn rate and preweaning mortality is beneficial as litter size continues to increase. Two experiments were previously conducted to evaluate prefarrowing nutrition regimens on sow and litter characteristics. These two datasets (experiments 1 and 2) were then used to identify sow and piglet characteristics

AbstractThe effects of two feed levels offered during two estrous cycles before insemination were evaluated on the reproductive performance of gilts. A total of 93 gilts (PIC Hendersonville, TN) were individually housed and manually fed twice a day with 2.1 or 3.6 kg/d of a corn and soybean meal-based diet (3.15 Mcal ME/kg and 0.64% standardized ileal digestible lysine), during two estrous cycles before

An experiment was conducted during the winter of two consecutive years to evaluate the effects of feeding green-chopped cool-season forages on digestibility, ruminal fermentation, and blood parameters in beef steers. Nine ruminally cannulated Angus crossbred steers (year 1: 359 ± 79 kg; year 2: 481 ± 105 kg) received ad libitum green-chopped forages from pastures planted with one of the following mixtures:

Forty pigs [10.7 ± 1.2 kg initial body weight (BW) at 6 wk of age] were used in a 21-d study to evaluate the effects of supplemental xylanase (Hostazym X 100, Huvepharma, Inc., Peachtree City, GA) in nursery diets on digesta viscosity, nutrient digestibility, health of the small intestine, and growth performance when supplemented with corn distillers’ dried grains with solubles (DDGS). Pigs were individually