scholarly journals African elephants ( Loxodonta africana ) recognize visual attention from face and body orientation

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 20140428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna F. Smet ◽  
Richard W. Byrne
Keyword(s):  
Visual Attention ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Loxodonta Africana ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Body Orientation ◽  
Visual Perspective ◽  
African Elephants ◽  
Intended Audience ◽  
Communicative Signals ◽  
To Receive

How do animals determine when others are able and disposed to receive their communicative signals? In particular, it is futile to make a silent gesture when the intended audience cannot see it. Some non-human primates use the head and body orientation of their audience to infer visual attentiveness when signalling, but whether species relying less on visual information use such cues when producing visual signals is unknown. Here, we test whether African elephants ( Loxodonta africana ) are sensitive to the visual perspective of a human experimenter. We examined whether the frequency of gestures of head and trunk, produced to request food, was influenced by indications of an experimenter's visual attention. Elephants signalled significantly more towards the experimenter when her face was oriented towards them, except when her body faced away from them. These results suggest that elephants understand the importance of visual attention for effective communication.

Where’s Wally? Audio–visual mismatch directs ocular saccades in sensory substitution

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (0) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas D. Wright ◽  
Jamie Ward ◽  
Sarah Simonon ◽  
Aaron Margolis
Keyword(s):  
Visual Attention ◽  
Thermal Imaging ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Sensory Modality ◽  
Visual Field Loss ◽  
Field Of View ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Sensory Substitution ◽  
Covert Visual Attention ◽  
Small Image

Sensory substitution is the representation of information from one sensory modality (e.g., vision) within another modality (e.g., audition). We used a visual-to-auditory sensory substitution device (SSD) to explore the effect of incongruous (true-)visual and substituted-visual signals on visual attention. In our multisensory sensory substitution paradigm, both visual and sonified-visual information were presented. By making small alterations to the sonified image, but not the seen image, we introduced audio–visual mismatch. The alterations consisted of the addition of a small image (for instance, the Wally character from the ‘Where’s Wally?’ books) within the original image. Participants were asked to listen to the sonified image and identify which quadrant contained the alteration. Monitoring eye movements revealed the effect of the audio–visual mismatch on covert visual attention. We found that participants consistently fixated more, and dwelled for longer, in the quadrant corresponding to the location (in the sonified image) of the target. This effect was not contingent on the participant reporting the location of the target correctly, which indicates a low-level interaction between an auditory stream and visual attention. We propose that this suggests a shared visual workspace that is accessible by visual sources other than the eyes. If this is indeed the case, it would support the development of other, more esoteric, forms of sensory substitution. These could include an expanded field of view (e.g., rear-view cameras), overlaid visual information (e.g., thermal imaging) or restoration of partial visual field loss (e.g., hemianopsia).

scholarly journals Emotional States of African Elephants (Loxodonta africana) Kept for Animal–Visitor Interactions, as Perceived by People Differing in Age and Knowledge of the Species

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 826
Author(s):  
Ilaria Pollastri ◽  
Simona Normando ◽  
Barbara Contiero ◽  
Gregory Vogt ◽  
Donatella Gelli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Free Choice ◽  
Loxodonta Africana ◽  
Procrustes Analysis ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
African Elephants ◽  
Daily Routines ◽  
Video Clips ◽  
Behavioral Expression ◽  
Degree Of Separation

This study aimed to investigate how three groups of people of differing ages, and with differing knowledge of the species, perceived the emotional state of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) managed in captive and semi-captive environments. Fifteen video-clips of 18 elephants, observed during three different daily routines (release from and return to the night boma; interactions with visitors), were used for a free choice profiling assessment (FCP) and then analyzed with quantitative methods. A general Procrustes analysis identified two main descriptive dimensions of elephant behavioral expression explaining 27% and 19% of the variability in the children group, 19% and 23.7% in adults, and 21.8% and 17% in the expert group. All the descriptors the observers came up with showed a low level of correlation on the identified dimensions. All three observers’ groups showed a degree of separation between captive and semi-captive management. Spearman analyses showed that stereotypic “trunk swirling” behavior correlated negatively with first dimension (free/friendly versus sad/bored) in the children’s group; second dimension (agitated/confident versus angry/bored) amongst the adults; and first dimension (active/excited versus agitated/bored) amongst the experts. More studies are needed to investigate other potential differences in assessing elephants’ emotional states by visitors of different ages and backgrounds.

Home range and space use by African elephants ( Loxodonta africana ) in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liberty Mlambo ◽  
Munyaradzi Davis Shekede ◽  
Elhadi Adam ◽  
John Odindi ◽  
Amon Murwira
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
National Park ◽  
Space Use ◽  
Loxodonta Africana ◽  
African Elephants ◽  
Hwange National Park

scholarly journals The structure of the cushions in the feet of African elephants (Loxodonta africana)

2006 ◽  
Vol 209 (6) ◽  
pp. 781-792 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. E. Weissengruber ◽  
G. F. Egger ◽  
J. R. Hutchinson ◽  
H. B. Groenewald ◽  
L. Elsässer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Loxodonta Africana ◽  
African Elephants

Estrous synchrony in a group of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) under human care

2009 ◽  
Vol 113 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 322-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole M. Weissenböck ◽  
Harald M. Schwammer ◽  
Thomas Ruf
Keyword(s):  
Loxodonta Africana ◽  
African Elephants ◽  
Estrous Synchrony ◽  
Human Care

Something Different: the Articulatio Genus of African Elephants (Loxodonta africana)

2005 ◽  
Vol 34 (s1) ◽  
pp. 56-57
Author(s):  
G. E. Weissengruber ◽  
G. Egger ◽  
G. Stanek ◽  
G. Forstenpointner ◽  
K. Janach
Keyword(s):  
Loxodonta Africana ◽  
African Elephants

Thermal windows on the body surface of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) studied by infrared thermography

2010 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 182-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole M. Weissenböck ◽  
Christoph M. Weiss ◽  
Harald M. Schwammer ◽  
Helmut Kratochvil
Keyword(s):  
Infrared Thermography ◽  
Body Surface ◽  
Loxodonta Africana ◽  
The Body ◽  
African Elephants

scholarly journals Foot pressure distributions during walking in African elephants ( Loxodonta africana )

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. 160203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Panagiotopoulou ◽  
Todd C. Pataky ◽  
Madeleine Day ◽  
Michael C. Hensman ◽  
Sean Hensman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Body ◽  
Loxodonta Africana ◽  
Centre Of Pressure ◽  
Mass Peak ◽  
Foot Care ◽  
African Elephants ◽  
Foot Pressure ◽  
Pressure Distributions ◽  
Foot Morphology ◽  
Peak Pressures

Elephants, the largest living land mammals, have evolved a specialized foot morphology to help reduce locomotor pressures while supporting their large body mass. Peak pressures that could cause tissue damage are mitigated passively by the anatomy of elephants' feet, yet this mechanism does not seem to work well for some captive animals. This study tests how foot pressures vary among African and Asian elephants from habitats where natural substrates predominate but where foot care protocols differ. Variations in pressure patterns might be related to differences in husbandry, including but not limited to trimming and the substrates that elephants typically stand and move on. Both species' samples exhibited the highest concentration of peak pressures on the lateral digits of their feet (which tend to develop more disease in elephants) and lower pressures around the heel. The trajectories of the foot's centre of pressure were also similar, confirming that when walking at similar speeds, both species load their feet laterally at impact and then shift their weight medially throughout the step until toe-off. Overall, we found evidence of variations in foot pressure patterns that might be attributable to husbandry and other causes, deserving further examination using broader, more comparable samples.

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