scholarly journals Red deer synchronise their activity with close neighbours

Author(s):  
Sean A Rands ◽  
Naomi Terry ◽  
Hayley Muir

Models of collective animal behaviour frequently make assumptions about the effects of neighbours on the behaviour of focal individuals, but these assumptions are rarely tested. One such set of assumptions is that the switch between active and inactive behaviour seen in herding animals is influenced by the activity of close neighbours, where neighbouring animals show a higher degree of behavioural synchrony than would be expected by chance. We tested this assumption by observing the simultaneous behaviour of paired individuals within a herd of red deer Cervus elaphus. Focal individuals were more synchronised with their two closest neighbours than with the third closest or randomly selected individuals from the herd. Our results suggest that the behaviour of individual deer is influenced by immediate neighbours. Even if we assume that there are no social relationships between individuals, this suggests that the assumptions made in models about the influence of neighbours may be appropriate.

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean A Rands ◽  
Naomi Terry ◽  
Hayley Muir

Models of collective animal behaviour frequently make assumptions about the effects of neighbours on the behaviour of focal individuals, but these assumptions are rarely tested. One such set of assumptions is that the switch between active and inactive behaviour seen in herding animals is influenced by the activity of close neighbours, where neighbouring animals show a higher degree of behavioural synchrony than would be expected by chance. We tested this assumption by observing the simultaneous behaviour of paired individuals within a herd of red deer Cervus elaphus. Focal individuals were more synchronised with their two closest neighbours than with the third closest or randomly selected individuals from the herd. Our results suggest that the behaviour of individual deer is influenced by immediate neighbours. Even if we assume that there are no social relationships between individuals, this suggests that the assumptions made in models about the influence of neighbours may be appropriate.


1931 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 213-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas W. M. Cameron

During the examination of an abnormal specimen of the Scottish Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) in the winter of 1930, my colleague, Mr. W. C. Miller, M.R.C.V.S., discovered several specimens of a bursate nematode lying on the connective tissue between the latissimus dorsi and the external intercostal muscles. Struck by the unusual habitat of such a worm, search was subsequently made in similar situations in other deer, and in two animals the same parasite was found.


1998 ◽  
Vol 244 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Long ◽  
N.P. Moore ◽  
T. J. Hayden

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARCO MASSETP ◽  
BRUNO ZAVA

During the nineteenth century, scientific literature and official reports recorded the occurrence of a population of red deer, Cervus elaphus, on the island of Lampedusa (Pelagian Archipelago, Italy). Osteological specimens collected by the zoologist Enrico Hillier Giglioli towards the end of the century confirmed these references. Since cervids are not found among the fossil fauna of the island, the red deer must have been introduced by man although we do not yet know precisely when. The former existence of the species on Lampedusa is discussed by comparison of literary material and bone evidence. The population's probable origins and its taxonomic relationships with other Mediterranean red deer populations are also analysed.


Reproduction ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Fisher ◽  
B. McLeod ◽  
D. Heath ◽  
S Lun ◽  
P. Hurst

Reproduction ◽  
2000 ◽  
pp. 387-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
KJ Demmers ◽  
HN Jabbour ◽  
DW Deakin ◽  
AP Flint

The role of interferon in early pregnancy in red deer was investigated by (a) measuring production of interferon by the conceptus, (b) testing the anti-luteolytic effect of recombinant interferon-tau in non-pregnant hinds, and (c) treatment of hinds with interferon after asynchronous embryo transfer. Blastocysts were collected from 34 hinds by uterine flushing 14 (n = 2), 16 (n = 2), 18 (n = 8), 20 (n = 13) or 22 (n = 9) days after synchronization of oestrus with progesterone withdrawal. Interferon anti-viral activity was detectable in uterine flushings from day 16 to day 22, and increased with duration of gestation (P < 0.01) and developmental stage (P < 0.01). When interferon-tau was administered daily between day 14 and day 20 to non-pregnant hinds to mimic natural blastocyst production, luteolysis was delayed by a dose of 0.2 mg day(-1) (27.3 +/- 1.3 days after synchronization, n = 4 versus 21 +/- 0 days in control hinds, n = 3; P < 0.05). Interferon-tau was administered to hinds after asynchronous embryo transfer to determine whether it protects the conceptus against early pregnancy loss. Embryos (n = 24) collected on day 6 from naturally mated, superovulated donors (n = 15) were transferred into synchronized recipients on day 10 or day 11. Interferon-tau treatment (0.2 mg daily from day 14 to 20) increased calving rate from 0 to 64% in all recipients (0/11 versus 7/11, P < 0.005), and from 0 to 67% in day 10 recipients (0/8 versus 6/9, P < 0.01). The increased success rate of asynchronous embryo transfer after interferon-tau treatment in cervids may be of benefit where mismatched embryo-maternal signalling leads to failure in the establishment of pregnancy.


Author(s):  
Sorin Geacu

The population of Red Deer (Cervus elaphus L., 1758) in Tulcea county (Romania) The presence of the Red Deer in the North-western parts of Tulcea County is an example of the natural expansion of a species spreading area. In North Dobrogea, this mammal first occurred only forty years ago. The first specimens were spotted on Cocoşul Hill (on the territory of Niculiţel area) in 1970. Peak numbers (68 individuals) were registered in the spring of 1987. The deer population (67 specimens in 2007) of this county extended along 10 km from West to East and 20 km from North to South over a total of 23,000 ha (55% of which was forest land) in the East of the Măcin Mountains and in the West of the Niculiţel Plateau.


Author(s):  
В. Зинько ◽  
V. Zin'ko ◽  
А. Зверев ◽  
A. Zverev ◽  
М. Федин ◽  
...  

The seismoacoustical investigations was made in the western part of the Kerch strait (Azov sea) near Kamysh-Burun spit. The fracture zone with dislocated sedimentary rocks layers and buried erosional surface was revealed to the west of spit. Three seismofacial units was revealed to the east of spit. The first unit was modern sedimentary cover. The second ones has cross-bedding features and was, probably, the part of early generation of Kamysh-Burun spit, which lied to the east of its modern position. The lower border of the second unit is the erosional surface supposed of phanagorian age. The third unit is screened by acoustic shedows in large part.


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