Chinese red panda (Ailurus styani) has stable individual-level laterality of anogenital rubbing

Behavioural laterality was widely discovered in both vertebrates and invertebrates. However, reports of behavioural laterality in scent-marking are scarce and focused on limb preference during scent-marking. In this study, we observed another scent-marking behaviour, anogenital rubbing, which involved whole-body movement, in zoo-housed Chinese red pandas. We recorded the moving direction of the buttocks when initiating anogenital rubbing. Our results showed that three of our subjects were explicitly left-biased when initiating anogenital rubbing and the other one showed more left initiation although there was no statistical significance. Besides, the laterality was consistent across the whole observational period. This is the first report of laterality in anogenital rubbing, perhaps indicating hemispheric specialization for chemical communication in the Chinese red panda.

The role of training in student examiner rating performance in a student-led mock OSCE

Introduction Peer assessments are increasingly prevalent in medical education, including student-led mock Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE). While there is some evidence to suggest that examiner training may improve OSCE assessments, few students undergo training before becoming examiners. We sought to evaluate an examiner training programme in the setting of a student-led mock OSCE. Methods A year‑2 mock OSCE comprised of history taking (Hx) and physical examination (PE) stations was conducted involving 35 year‑3 (Y3) student examiners and 21 year‑5 (Y5) student examiners who acted as reference examiners. Twelve Y3 student-examiners attended an OSCE examiner training programme conducted by senior faculty. During the OSCE, Y3 and Y5 student examiners were randomly paired to grade the same candidates and scores were compared. Scores for checklist rating (CR) and global rating (GR) domains were assigned for both Hx and PE stations. Results There was moderate to excellent correlation between Y3 and Y5 student examiners for both Hx (ICC 0.71–0.96) and PE stations (ICC 0.71–0.88) across all domains. For both Hx and PE stations, GR domain had poorer correlation than CR domains. Examiner training resulted in better correlations for PE but not Hx stations. Effect sizes were lower than the minimum detectible effect (MDE) sizes for all comparisons made. Discussion Y3 student examiners are effective substitutes for Y5 student examiners in a Y2 mock OSCE. Our findings suggest that examiner training may further improve marking behaviour especially for PE stations. Further studies with larger sample sizes are required to further evaluate the effects of dedicated examiner training.

The scent world of cats: where to place a urine scent mark to increase signal persistence?

Scent-marking is a predominant form of communication among felids, with urine spraying having a key role. Detectability and longevity of scent marks are recognized as crucial for efficiency of scent-marking, but there is limited research that has tested scent persistence with respect to various environmental factors. We used an experimental framework to measure human-perceived strength of felid urine smell and determine the effects of substrate, tilt and aspect of marked surfaces on persistence of the simulated scent marks. We used area under the curve (AUC), calculated for the scent strength of each scent-marked surface over time, as a proxy for urine scent preservation. Thereafter, we used ANOVA, followed by analysis of differences of interest between the marking sites, to assess the effect of environmental factors on human-perceived scent mark persistence. Odour persisted significantly better on rough surfaces, surfaces covered with moss and on surfaces with overhanging tilts, while there was no significant difference between the northerly- and southerly-oriented surfaces. The results are generally in accordance with the use and selection of marking sites previously reported for wild felids throughout the world, confirming that in their marking behaviour felids strive to prolong the persistence of scent marks. This knowledge will help researchers in interpretation of data on scent-marking and to evaluate the adaptive significance of this behaviour.

On the Behavioural Biology of the Mainland Serow: A Comparative Study

Comparative behavioural studies help reconstruct the phylogeny of closely related species. In that respect, the serows Capricornis spp. occupy an important position as they have been assumed to be the closest forms to the ancestors of Caprinae. In spite of that, information on the behavioural repertoire of the mainland serow Capricornis sumatraensis is exceedingly poor. In this paper, we report data on the activity rhythms and social behaviour of rutting mainland serows in captivity (Central Thailand, January 1986; January–February 1987). Activity was bimodal with peaks in mid-afternoon and late night. Resting and ruminating peaked at noon and twilight. Four patterns of marking behaviour were observed out of a total of 1900 events. Males and females were found to use different marking sites and frequencies. A total of 33 social behaviour patterns were observed: 18 patterns concerned agonistic behaviour, whereas 15 patterns were relevant to courtship behaviour. A comparison across Caprinae species with unritualised piercing weapons (i.e., Capricornis, Naemorhedus, Rupicapra, Budorcas, and Hemitragus) has shown that inter-sexual direct forms of aggressive behaviour are used significantly more often than indirect ones, but for chamois, confirming Rupicapra spp. as the most advanced genus among them in terms of an early ritualisation of weapons. Conversely, horns of the goral Nemorhaedus spp. and the serow lie on the same plane of the frontal bones, thus making possible the usage of a dominance display through frontal pushing.

The Bayesian superorganism: externalized memories facilitate distributed sampling

A key challenge for any animal (or sampling technique) is to avoid wasting time by searching for resources (information) in places already found to be unprofitable. In biology, this challenge is particularly strong when the organism is a central place forager—returning to a nest between foraging bouts—because it is destined repeatedly to cover much the same ground. This problem will be particularly acute if many individuals forage from the same central place, as in social insects such as the ants. Foraging (sampling) performance may be greatly enhanced by coordinating movement trajectories such that each ant (walker) visits separate parts of the surrounding (unknown) space. We find experimental evidence for an externalized spatial memory in Temnothorax albipennis ants: chemical markers (either pheromones or cues such as cuticular hydrocarbon footprints) that are used by nest-mates to mark explored space. We show these markers could be used by the ants to scout the space surrounding their nest more efficiently through indirect coordination. We also develop a simple model of this marking behaviour that can be applied in the context of Markov chain Monte Carlo methods (Baddeley et al . 2019 J. R. Soc. Interface 16 , 20190162 ( doi:10.1098/rsif.2019.0162 )). This substantially enhances the performance of standard methods like the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm in sampling from sparse probability distributions (such as those confronted by the ants) with only a little additional computational cost. Our Bayesian framework for superorganismal behaviour motivates the evolution of exploratory mechanisms such as trail marking in terms of enhanced collective information processing.

Neutering Effects on Social Behaviour of Urban Unowned Free-Roaming Domestic Cats

The “trap, spay/neuter, and release” programs to manage unowned free-roaming cat populations are diffused worldwide and they are largely advised even in countries where the suppression of unowned cats is enforced by law. Despite the massive neutering campaigns in the world, there is little information on the influence of neutering on individual cat behaviour, as well as on the social structure of cat colonies. The aim of this study is to verify such effects. Before neutering, the group consisted of 17 free-roaming domestic cats, who were totally unrestrained. After neutering it consisted of 16 individuals. Data on the outcomes of aggressive, submissive, affiliative, and territorial behaviour were collected, using classic ethological methods (“focal animal”, “all occurrences”, and “1/0” sampling methods) (735 h of observation before and 537 h after neutering). The dominance hierarchy did not change after neutering. On the other hand, the frequency of aggressive, territorial behaviour as well as proximity among individuals decreased significantly. Affiliative behaviour has been observed among neutered adult males that never performed it before neutering. The results of this study suggest that, after neutering: (i) The group of free-ranging cats was stable over time; (ii) the hierarchical structure of the cat social group did not change; (iii) the general level of activity, decreased; (iv) urine spraying marking behaviour almost disappeared; (v) the level of social proximity among group members decreased, although it tended to increase in some male–male dyads. The most obvious effect of neutering, detected on individual behaviour, was that cats were less active.