Social status of male Iberian rock lizards (Lacerta monticola) influences their activity patterns during the mating season

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (7) ◽  
pp. 1105-1109 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Martín ◽  
Pilar López
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Mating Season

Social status of male Iberian rock lizards (Lacerta monticola) influences their activity patterns during the mating season

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (7) ◽  
pp. 1105-1109 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Martín ◽  
Pilar López
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Thermal Conditions ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Mating Season ◽  
The Social ◽  
Body Mass Changes

Not all individual lizards in a population are simultaneously active even when thermal conditions are suitable for activity. We examined inter-individual variability in activity levels of male Iberian rock lizards (Lacerta monticola) in a seminatural enclosure during the mating season, and analyzed whether social status affects their activity levels, time budgets, and body-mass changes. Activity levels of lizards varied significantly with time of day. However, activity levels of individual males were significantly correlated with their rank in the social hierarchy. When the males were active, their status did not influence the time spent basking, resting, or moving, but males with a higher status spent more time in social activities. Higher activity levels were costly, causing males to lose more body mass, although this could have been mainly due to the costs of maintaining a higher social status. We conclude that because attaining a higher status may require a male to be more active and more involved in agonistic encounters, subordinate individuals decrease their activity in order to decrease the costs of social behavior.

Foraging ecology of the night-active bull ant Myrmecia pyriformis

2013 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel F. Reid ◽  
Ajay Narendra ◽  
Robert W. Taylor ◽  
Jochen Zeil
Keyword(s):  
Visual System ◽  
Foraging Ecology ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Colony Founding ◽  
Liquid Food ◽  
Mating Season ◽  
Wild Populations ◽  
Ecological Information ◽  
Light Levels ◽  
Nest Activity

Here we report on the nocturnal bull ant Myrmecia pyriformis, a species whose activity to and from the nest is mainly restricted to the dawn and dusk twilight respectively. Recent research on M. pyriformis has focussed on its visual system, the timing of activity patterns, and the navigational strategies employed by individuals while foraging. There is, however, a lack of basic ecological information about this species. The present study describes the behaviour and foraging ecology of wild populations of M. pyriformis. We find that most foragers make only one foraging journey per night, leaving the nest at dusk twilight and returning during dawn twilight. Individuals who make multiple trips typically return with prey. We provide evidence that foragers imbibe liquid food while abroad and likely share these resources via trophallaxis once within the nest. Activity during the night varies with moon illumination, and we postulate that this is due to changes in light levels, which influence navigation to and from the nest. This hypothesis is supported by observations of activity during overcast conditions. Finally, we also describe some aspects of colony founding, colony demise and the behaviour of reproductive individuals during the mating season.

Differences in plasma testosterone levels related to social status are more pronounced during mating than nonmating season in the tropical bat Saccopteryx bilineata (greater sac-winged bat)

2011 ◽  
Vol 89 (12) ◽  
pp. 1157-1163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Greiner ◽  
Martin Dehnhard ◽  
Christian C. Voigt
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Social System ◽  
Seasonal Pattern ◽  
Mating Strategies ◽  
Plasma Testosterone ◽  
Tropical Species ◽  
Female Group ◽  
Mating Season ◽  
Saccopteryx Bilineata ◽  
Parasite Infestation

Testosterone (T) concentrations often covary strongly with mating activities in temperate-zone vertebrates. Recent studies suggest that males of tropical species experience lower and year-round constant T levels. Here we studied plasma T concentrations in a tropical mammal with a seasonally invariant social system, the greater sac-winged bat ( Saccopteryx bilineata (Temminck, 1838)). Colony composition remains almost stable throughout the year, although mating is restricted to only a few weeks each year. Males follow one of two mating strategies: they either defend a territory with a female group (harem) or live peripheral without females. First, we compared T within the same individuals between seasons, asking whether T levels are higher during mating season. Second, we tested whether T levels are related to social status, and third, whether T correlates with parasite infection because of an immunosuppressive effect. We found high individual T variations. Testosterone was elevated during the mating season only in harem males and was, on average, higher than in peripheral males. We found no correlation between T and parasite infestation. Although reproduction is seasonal in S. bilineata, T concentrations showed no pronounced seasonal pattern, probably because colony members form long-term relationships and live in a year-round stable social system.

scholarly journals Activity patterns in the reintroduced Pyrenean brown bear population

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 435-444
Author(s):  
Aida Parres ◽  
Santiago Palazón ◽  
Ivan Afonso ◽  
Pierre-Yves Quenette ◽  
Antoni Batet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ursus Arctos ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Brown Bear ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Mating Season ◽  
Intraspecific Interactions ◽  
Management Interventions ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Time Selection

Abstract Mammals usually adjust behavioral patterns when exposed to disturbances. Elusiveness and low-risk time selection may reduce their stress in periods of highest risk. In Europe, brown bears (Ursus arctos) coexist with humans in densely populated and modified landscapes and, consequently, are exposed to human-caused disturbances during the daytime hours. Furthermore, intraspecific interactions might also influence their behavioral responses, especially during the mating season. Activity patterns of several large carnivores have been thoroughly studied; however, research is scarce for relocated populations. Here, we report the activity patterns in the reintroduced brown bear population in the Pyrenees. We expected the bears to reduce their activity depending on the type and level of disturbances. We analyzed individual behavior of both sexes (males, solitary females, and females with offspring) and age groups (adults and subadults) using camera-trap surveys under different types of intraspecific and anthropogenic disturbances. In general, bears were more active during the night (2200–0600 h) and avoided peaks of human activity (1000–1800 h). Furthermore, with the increasing nocturnal disturbance of adult males during the mating season, females with offspring and subadults were more active during daylight. This suggests that vulnerable individuals showed high tolerance for human presence. These results contribute to improve our knowledge of how a threatened and relocated bear population behaves in a human-modified landscape of southern Europe. Further research on this population will be crucial to establish optimal management interventions during translocations, and the prevention of human-bear encounters and conflicts.

scholarly journals Social Experience Regulates Endocannabinoids Modulation of Zebrafish Motor Behaviors

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen A. Orr ◽  
Sungwoo Ahn ◽  
Choongseok Park ◽  
Thomas H. Miller ◽  
Miki Kassai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Escape Response ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Endocannabinoid System ◽  
D1 Receptor ◽  
Brain Gene Expression ◽  
Motor Behaviors ◽  
Motor Activities ◽  
Nervous System Function

Social status-dependent modulation of neural circuits has been investigated extensively in vertebrate and invertebrate systems. However, the effects of social status on neuromodulatory systems that drive motor activity are poorly understood. Zebrafish form a stable social relationship that consists of socially dominant and subordinate animals. The locomotor behavior patterns differ according to their social ranks. The sensitivity of the Mauthner startle escape response in subordinates increases compared to dominants while dominants increase their swimming frequency compared to subordinates. Here, we investigated the role of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in mediating these differences in motor activities. We show that brain gene expression of key ECS protein pathways are socially regulated. Diacylglycerol lipase (DAGL) expression significantly increased in dominants and significantly decreased in subordinates relative to controls. Moreover, brain gene expression of the cannabinoid 1 receptor (CB1R) was significantly increased in subordinates relative to controls. Secondly, increasing ECS activity with JZL184 reversed swimming activity patterns in dominant and subordinate animals. JZL184 did not affect the sensitivity of the startle escape response in dominants while it was significantly reduced in subordinates. Thirdly, blockage of CB1R function with AM-251 had no effect on dominants startle escape response sensitivity, but startle sensitivity was significantly reduced in subordinates. Additionally, AM-251 did not affect swimming activities in either social phenotypes. Fourthly, we demonstrate that the effects of ECS modulation of the startle escape circuit is mediated via the dopaminergic system specifically via the dopamine D1 receptor. Finally, our empirical results complemented with neurocomputational modeling suggest that social status influences the ECS to regulate the balance in synaptic strength between excitatory and inhibitory inputs to control the excitability of motor behaviors. Collectively, this study provides new insights of how social factors impact nervous system function to reconfigure the synergistic interactions of neuromodulatory pathways to optimize motor output.

Reduction of spermatogonia and testosterone in rat testes flown on space lab-3

1986 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 248-249
Author(s):  
Delbert E. Philpott ◽  
W. Sapp ◽  
C. Williams ◽  
T. Fast ◽  
J. Stevenson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Physiological Response ◽  
Social Rank ◽  
Reproductive Function ◽  
Testicular Development ◽  
Organ Weights ◽  
Reproductive Maturation ◽  
Metabolic Activities

Space Lab 3 (SL-3) was flown on Shuttle Challenger providing an opportunity to measure the effect of spaceflight on rat testes. Cannon developed the idea that organisms react to unfavorable conditions with highly integrated metabolic activities. Selye summarized the manifestations of physiological response to nonspecific stress and he pointed out that atrophy of the gonads always occurred. Many papers have been published showing the effects of social interaction, crowding, peck order and confinement. Flickinger showed delayed testicular development in subordinate roosters influenced by group numbers, social rank and social status. Christian reported increasing population size in mice resulted in adrenal hypertrophy, inhibition of reproductive maturation and loss of reproductive function in adults. Sex organ weights also declined. Two male dogs were flown on Cosmos 110 for 22 days. Fedorova reported an increase of 30 to 70% atypical spermatozoa consisting of tail curling and/or the absence of a tail.

Predicting spatial activity patterns in a neural map from a probabilistic atlas of 3-D reconstructed neurons

1995 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 812-813
Author(s):  
G. Jacobs ◽  
F. Theunissen
Keyword(s):  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Sensory System ◽  
Neural System ◽  
Probabilistic Atlas ◽  
Uniform Sample ◽  
Dimensional Reconstruction ◽  
The Time Domain ◽  
And Function ◽  
Visualization Techniques

In order to understand how the algorithms underlying neural computation are implemented within any neural system, it is necessary to understand details of the anatomy, physiology and global organization of the neurons from which the system is constructed. Information is represented in neural systems by patterns of activity that vary in both their spatial extent and in the time domain. One of the great challenges to microscopists is to devise methods for imaging these patterns of activity and to correlate them with the underlying neuroanatomy and physiology. We have addressed this problem by using a combination of three dimensional reconstruction techniques, quantitative analysis and computer visualization techniques to build a probabilistic atlas of a neural map in an insect sensory system. The principal goal of this study was to derive a quantitative representation of the map, based on a uniform sample of afferents that was of sufficient size to allow statistically meaningful analyses of the relationships between structure and function.

Adolescent Voice Quality Aberrations: Personality and Social Status

1968 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 576-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Muma ◽  
Ronald L. Laeder ◽  
Clarence E. Webb
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Personality Characteristics ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Peer Evaluations ◽  
Adolescent Voice

Seventy-eight subjects, identified as possessing voice quality aberrations for six months, constituted four experimental groups: breathiness, harshness, hoarseness, and nasality. A control group included 38 subjects. The four experimental groups were compared with the control group according to personality characteristics and peer evaluations. The results of these comparisons indicated that there was no relationship between voice quality aberration and either personality characteristics or peer evaluations.

Inducing Unconscious Stress

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 192-201
Author(s):  
Melanie M. van der Ploeg ◽  
Jos F. Brosschot ◽  
Markus Quirin ◽  
Richard D. Lane ◽  
Bart Verkuil
Keyword(s):  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Physiological Changes ◽  
Implicit Measures ◽  
Prime Word ◽  
Student Sample ◽  
Priming Task ◽  
Subject Design ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Stress And Health

Abstract. Stress-related stimuli may be presented outside of awareness and may ultimately influence health by causing repetitive increases in physiological parameters, such as blood pressure (BP). In this study, we aimed to corroborate previous studies that demonstrated BP effects of subliminally presented stress-related stimuli. This would add evidence to the hypothesis that unconscious manifestations of stress can affect somatic health. Additionally, we suggest that these findings may be extended by measuring affective changes relating to these physiological changes, using measures for self-reported and implicit positive and negative affectivity. Using a repeated measures between-subject design, we presented either the prime word “angry” ( n = 26) or “relax” ( n = 28) subliminally (17 ms) for 100 trials to a student sample and measured systolic and diastolic BP, heart rate (HR), and affect. The “angry” prime, compared to the “relax” prime, did not affect any of the outcome variables. During the priming task, a higher level of implicit negative affect (INA) was associated with a lower systolic BP and diastolic BP. No association was found with HR. Self-reported affect and implicit positive affect were not related to the cardiovascular (CV) activity. In sum, anger and relax primes elicited similar CV activity patterns, but implicit measures of affect may provide a new method to examine the relationship between (unconscious) stress and health.

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