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Primates are notable for the widespread presence of long-term female-male associations which go beyond the mating context. However, little attention has been given to the factors that affect within-species variation in female-male relationships, especially among New World primates. Although detailed accounts of heterosexual relationships in Cebus species are scarce, a few studies have suggested the occurrence of strong associations between adult females and high-ranking males. This study explores affiliative relationships between females and the alpha male during the nonbreeding season in wild tufted capuchin monkeys ( Cebus apella nigritus). Affiliative relationships were explored through female-male patterns of spatial proximity and grooming. By adopting a social network approach, we analyzed: (1) whether the alpha male is the preferred male partner for females and, (2) whether variation (if any) in female-alpha male affiliation can be explained through both female individual characteristics and social network metrics. Our results showed that alpha males were the favorite male partner for adult females in the proximity networks, but this did not hold true in the grooming networks. In addition, female-alpha male interaction patterns showed considerable variation, with only some females being strongly associated with the alpha male. Our results suggest that such a variation can be explained by female dominance rank, level of centrality (the quantity and intensity of spatial connection with other females) and prestige (the quantity of grooming received by other females) in female-female social networks. Taken together, these findings highlight two aspects of female-alpha male relationships in tufted capuchin monkeys: the alpha male represents the most socially integrated male in the group, and females with high dominance ranks and high centrality in both proximity and grooming networks show stronger relationships with the alpha male. Am. J. Primatol. 73:812-820, 2011. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social network analysis offers new tools to study the social structure of primate groups. We used social network analysis to investigate the cohesiveness of a grooming network in a captive chimpanzee group ( N = 17) and the role that individuals may play in it. Using data from a year-long observation, we constructed an unweighted social network of preferred grooming interactions by retaining only those dyads that groomed above the group mean. This choice of criterion was validated by the finding that the properties of the unweighted network correlated with the properties of a weighted network (i.e. a network representing the frequency of grooming interactions) constructed from the same data. To investigate group cohesion, we tested the resilience of the unweighted grooming network to the removal of central individuals (i.e. individuals with high betweenness centrality). The network fragmented more after the removal of individuals with high betweenness centrality than after the removal of random individuals. Central individuals played a pivotal role in maintaining the network's cohesiveness, and we suggest that this may be a typical property of affiliative networks like grooming networks. We found that the grooming network correlated with kinship and age, and that individuals with higher social status occupied more central positions in the network. Overall, the grooming network showed a heterogeneous structure, yet did not exhibit scale-free properties similar to many other primate networks. We discuss our results in light of recent findings on animal social networks and chimpanzee grooming. Am. J. Primatol. 73:758-767, 2011. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To better understand how individual relationships influence patterns of social foraging in primate groups, we explored networks of co-feeding in wild desert baboons ( Papio ursinus). To minimize the risk of aggression and injury associated with contest competition, we expected that individual group members would choose to co-feed with those group-mates that are most likely to show tolerance and a willingness to share food patches. We tested two alternative hypotheses about who those group-mates might be: the 'social bonds hypothesis' predicts that preferred foraging partners will be those with whom individuals share strong social bonds, indexed by grooming, whereas the 'kinship hypothesis' predicts that preferred foraging partners will be relatives. We also investigated and controlled for the effects of dominance rank, given that competitive ability is known to shape foraging patterns. Social network analyses of over 5,000 foraging events for 14 adults in a single troop revealed that baboon co-feeding was significantly correlated with grooming relationships but not genetic relatedness, and this finding was also true of the female-only co-feeding network. Dominant individuals were also found to be central to the co-feeding network, frequently sharing food patches with multiple group-mates. This polyadic analysis of foraging associations between individuals underlines the importance of dominance and affiliation to patterns of primate social foraging. Am. J. Primatol. 73:768-774, 2011. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. The study investigated the effects of providing sight barriers in breeding pens on pheasant mortality, feather damage and behaviour. 2. Data were collected from 11 conventional pens (control) and 11 pens with additional sight barriers (barrier) over the course of a ten week breeding season. Each pen contained 8 males and 56 females at the beginning of the season. 3. There was a higher rate of mortality in males (6·25%) than females (2·11%) that was unaffected by treatment. 4. Feather damage increased over the breeding season and both male and female pheasants showed better feather condition in the pens with barriers at the end of the season. 5. The pheasants spent most of their time walking or standing. Providing barriers increased perching, but reduced preening. 6. The provision of sight barriers had no effect on the incidence of courtship and mating, but did reduce aggressive interactions such as pecking and chasing. 7. The study provides baseline data on the behaviour of breeding pheasants under these husbandry conditions, and suggests that barriers may improve pheasant welfare by reducing potentially harmful aggressive interactions, without affecting activity patterns or reproductive behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Birds may allocate a significant part of time to comfort behavior (e.g., preening, stretching, shaking, etc.) in order to eliminate parasites, maintain plumage integrity, and possibly reduce muscular ankylosis. Understanding the adaptive value of comfort behavior would benefit from knowledge on the energy costs animals are willing to pay to maintain it, particularly under situations of energy constraints, e.g., during fasting. We determined time and energy devoted to comfort activities in freely breeding king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus), seabirds known to fast for up to one month during incubation shifts ashore. Methodology/Principal Findings: A time budget was estimated from focal and scan sampling field observations and the energy cost of comfort activities was calculated from the associated increase in heart rate (HR) during comfort episodes, using previously determined equations relating HR to energy expenditure. We show that incubating birds spent 22% of their daily time budget in comfort behavior (with no differences between day and night) mainly devoted to preening (73%) and head/body shaking (16%). During comfort behavior, energy expenditure averaged 1.24 times resting metabolic rate (RMR) and the corresponding energy cost (i.e., energy expended in excess to RMR) was 58 kJ/hr. Energy expenditure varied greatly among various types of comfort behavior, ranging from 1.03 (yawning) to 1.78 (stretching) times RMR. Comfort behavior contributed 8.8-9.3% to total daily energy expenditure and 69.4-73.5% to energy expended daily for activity. About half of this energy was expended caring for plumage. Conclusion/Significance: This study is the first to estimate the contribution of comfort behavior to overall energy budget in a free-living animal. It shows that although breeding on a tight energy budget, king penguins devote a substantial amount of time and energy to comfort behavior. Such findings underline the importance of comfort behavior for the fitness of colonial seabirds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Feather maintenance behaviors, particularly preening and bathing, are nearly universal in birds, though their expression and function vary across species. Based on the rain-bathing style of wild Amazon parrots, parrots were sprayed with water to simulate rainfall, and subsequent bathing behavioral parameters were recorded as well as behavioral states accounting for activity budgets 1h pre- and post-spray. When parrots were sprayed on Day 0 and next sprayed 2, 4 or 6 d later, it took more than 4 d for bathing bout length, bathing latency and number of birds bathing to return to values comparable to Day 0. Across three different times of the day (morning, midday, afternoon) all but one parrot bathed in the morning while fewer parrots bathed in the midday and afternoon time periods. Bathing duration in the morning was 10.8±1.7min and decreased significantly in later time periods while latency-to-bathe time in the morning was 1.4±0.3min and increased thereafter. Further, there were no significant effects of bathing on resting and feeding across the day but significant effects on preening were evident, with preening dropping to negligible levels after bathing; this is consistent with a motivational relationship between bathing and preening. Captive parrots displayed several postures and a general sequence of postures that resembled those of wild rain-bathing parrots. When other parrots in the same room were sprayed, non-sprayed parrots performed sham-bathing, possibly reflecting social facilitation of bathing. Results show that captive Orange-winged Amazon parrots have a bathing bout length of ∼10min, with a refractory period of >4 d and a tendency to bathe in the morning. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In insects, cleaning (grooming) of tarsal attachment devices is essential for maintaining their adhesive ability, necessary for walking on a complex terrain of plant surfaces. How insects obtain information on the degree of contamination of their feet has remained, until recently, unclear. We carried out friction force measurements on walking beetles Gastrophysa viridula (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) and counted grooming occurrence on stiff polymer substrata with different degrees of nanoroughness (root mean square: 28–288 nm). Since nanoscopically, rough surfaces strongly reduced friction and adhesion without contaminating feet, we were able to demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, that friction force between tarsal attachment pads and the substrate provides an insect with information on the degree of contamination of its attachment structures. We have shown that foot grooming occurrence correlates not only with the degree of contamination but also with the decrease of friction force. This result indicates that insects obtain information about the degree of contamination, not statically but rather dynamically and, presumably, use mechanoreceptors monitoring either tensile/compressive forces in the cuticle or tensile forces between leg segments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well established that cholinergic over-stimulation can interfere with memory processes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of tacrine, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, on recognition memory as well as the associated hepatotoxicity in juvenile (20-day-old) and adult (100-day-old) ICR male mice. Recognition memory was assessed by open-field test and step-through task without footshocks for three sessions between 08:00 and 13:00, with a 24-hr retention interval. Tacrine (10 or 40 μmol/kg) or vehicle was administered (s.c.) 20 min. prior to the first session. During the acquisition session, tacrine suppressed the open-field behaviours, including locomotor activity, rearing, grooming and defecation (by 77-100%) in mice of both ages. During the recall (observable in both ages) and re-recall (observable in juvenile mice) session, the locomotor activity and rearing number were significantly increased, indicative of impairment in recognition memory, in mice treated with tacrine 40 μmol/kg. During the training trial, tacrine decreased the step-through number in mice of both ages. In contrast, during the retention and re-retention trials, the step-through number was increased (by 92% and 93%, respectively), indicative of impairment in step-through memory, in juvenile but not adult mice treated with tacrine 40 μmol/kg. Tacrine 40 μmol/kg elevated the serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity (by 135%) in juvenile mice, but reduced the ALT activity (by 42%) in adult mice. The results indicated that 20-day-old mice seemed to be more sensitive than 100-day-old mice to tacrine-induced impairment in recognition memory and the associated liver damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We tested predictions following from the biological market paradigm using reciprocated grooming sessions among the adult females in a sooty mangabey, Cercocebus atys, group with 35 females (Ivory Coast) and in two groups of vervet monkeys, Chlorocebus aethiops (South Africa) with four and seven females, respectively. Closely ranked females often groomed frequently. The exchanges within such dyads were generally characterized by time matching, but the subordinates groomed for longer than their dominant partners. The reciprocal nature of over 90% of the grooming sessions allowed us to investigate ‘partner control’ strategies such as ‘parcelling’ and ‘raising the stakes’. Females of both species neither parcelled nor gradually invested more grooming in the course of sessions. Rather, the longer bouts of a grooming session were usually at the beginning of the session and the length of the first bout reliably predicted the length of the whole session for frequently grooming partners. Furthermore, we compared potential trust-building behaviour (or ‘strategies’) in frequent and infrequent grooming partners. We found that infrequent groomers of both species showed no signs of trust building and that the first bout they invested in a grooming session did not predict the session length. We conclude that each female has a good knowledge of her value as a grooming partner within each dyad and knows how much she has to invest to receive a satisfactory amount of grooming within the same session. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Microorganisms have been shown to play an important role in shaping the life histories of animals, and it has recently been suggested that feather-degrading bacteria influence the trade-off between parental effort and self-preening behavior in birds. We studied a wild breeding population of great tits ( Parus major) to explore habitat-, seasonal-, and sex-related variation in feather-degrading and free-living bacteria inhabiting the birds' yellow ventral feathers and to investigate associations with body condition. The density and species richness of bacterial assemblages was studied using flow cytometry and ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis. The density of studied bacteria declined between the nest-building period and the first brood. The number of bacterial phylotypes per bird was higher in coniferous habitat, while bacterial densities were higher in deciduous habitat. Free-living bacterial density was positively correlated with female mass; conversely, there was a negative correlation between attached bacterial density and female mass during the period of peak reproductive effort. Bacterial species richness was sex dependent, with more diverse bacterial assemblages present on males than females. Thus, this study revealed that bacterial assemblages on the feathers of breeding birds are affected both by life history and ecological factors and are related to body condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Contemporary trends in obesity mean that research into whether unbalanced diets could impact on behavioural traits became increasingly important. The timing of exposure to obesity is particularly important, as sensitive periods during development have been identified where dietary extremes play a critical role in determining adult risk of physiological dysfunction. To this end, female Wistar rats were fed on chow or cafeteria diet (CD) for 8weeks from weaning until mating. Half of the mated animals within each group were crossed-over to the alternative diet. This generated four treatment groups, differing in their pre-gestational and gestational diets. After birth, offspring of dams from each of the 4 pregnancy groups were further divided into groups, either being fed chow or CD throughout lactation. Anxiety-related behaviour and exploration in the offspring were tested in the Elevated Plus Maze (EMP) and the Open Field (OF) at 10weeks of age. Maternal obesity significantly reduced the EPM locomotor activity in male and female offspring and grooming in males. Lactational CD had an anxiolytic effect in male offspring as shown in the EPM (increased entries into and more time on open arms) and the OF (shorter latency to enter the centre). In both sexes, lactational CD reduced grooming upon exposure to the EPM and the OF. Post mortem analysis revealed a stimulant effect of lactational CD on adipose tissue growth. The present study demonstrates that pre-gestational, gestational and lactational maternal CD programme behaviour in the offspring with lactational CD reducing anxiety in the male offspring. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Hygienic self-grooming is a behavioral adaptation for removing litter particles and pathogenic agents from animal fur and skin. We studied contribution of brain serotonin system into mechanisms regulating hygienic behavior in intact mice and mice with LPS(lipopolysaccharide)-induced sickness. A spot of fluorescent dye was applied on the back of a mouse, and the decrease in its fluorescence served as an index of fur cleaning efficiency estimated using original classifier algorithm. Agonist of 5-HT1A receptor (8-OH-DPAT) or 5-HT2A/2C receptor (DOI) attenuated fur cleaning at a dose of 1mg/kg but not of 0.2mg/kg. MAO-A inhibitor clorgyline decreased hygienic self-grooming at a dose of 10 but not of 5mg/kg. SSRI paroxetine had no effect while fluoxetine diminished hygienic behavior at the higher dose used (20mg/kg). Inhibitory effect of LPS treatment (50μg/kg) on fur cleaning was not altered by administration of p-MPPI (5-HT1A receptor antagonist, 1mg/kg) or DOI (1mg/kg) while 8-OH-DPAT (1mg/kg) produced additive effect. The results suggest the involvement of 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A/2C brain serotonin receptors and MAO-A in the inhibition of hygienic behavior in mice. However, LPS-induced depression of fur cleaning appeared to be mediated via different mechanisms and enhanced by 5-HT1A receptor activation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Parasites can cause extensive damage to animal societies in which many related individuals frequently interact. In response, social animals have evolved diverse individual and collective defences. Here, we measured the expression and efficiency of self-grooming and allo-grooming when workers of the ant Formica selysi were contaminated with spores of the fungal entomopathogen Metarhizium anisopliae. The amount of self-grooming increased in the presence of fungal spores, which shows that the ants are able to detect the risk of infection. In contrast, the amount of allo-grooming did not depend on fungal contamination. Workers groomed all nestmate workers that were re-introduced into their groups. The amount of allo-grooming towards noncontaminated individuals was higher when the group had been previously exposed to the pathogen. Allo-grooming decreased the number of fungal spores on the surface of contaminated workers, but did not prevent infection in the conditions tested (high dose of spores and late allo-grooming). The rate of disease transmission to groomers and other nestmates was extremely low. The systematic allo-grooming of all individuals returning to the colony, be they contaminated or not, is probably a simple but robust prophylactic defence preventing the spread of fungal diseases in insect societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: There is a wide variation in the external eye morphology across species in primates, which is considered to reflect adaptation to ecological factors such as body size and habitat type. However, little attention has been paid to the contribution of social factors to the evolution of primate eye morphology. To explore this, we analyzed correlations among eye morphology, social factors (neocortex ratio and group size) and other factors (habitat type and body mass) in 30 living primate species including humans, using phylogenetically independent contrasts. The results indicated that parameters of primate eye morphology correlate with group size and neocortex ratio (Study 1). Further analysis of behavior indicated that the proportion of scanning with eyeball movement alone per total scanning correlated with group size and neocortex ratio (Study 2). The results support the view that the scanning with independent eyeball movement and its morphological basis is an adaptation to larger social groups. Communicative functions of the gaze signal other than the expression of aggression, observed in some primate species, may be based on features related to eye morphology. Furthermore, the evolution of a contact-free, social grooming function of gaze, especially predominant in humans, may reflect one extreme case of this kind of adaptation, which we call the “gaze-grooming” hypothesis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Currently, testosterone (T) replacement therapy is typically provided by oral medication, injectable T esters, surgically implanted T pellets, transdermal patches and gels. However, most of these methods of administration are still not ideal for targeting the central nervous system. Recently, therapeutic intranasal T administration (InT) has been considered as another option for delivering T to the brain. In the present study, the effects of 21-day InT treatment were assessed on open field behavior in gonadectomized (GDX) rats and intact rats. Subcutaneous injections of T at same dose were also tested in GDX rats. A total of 12 behavioral events were examined in GDX groups with or without T and in intact groups with or without InT. Significant decreases in open field activity were observed in rats after GDX without InT compared to sham-operated rats. The open field activity scores for most tests significantly increased with InT treatment in GDX rats and in intact rats compared with the corresponding GDX rats and intact rats. Intranasal administration of T improved the reduced behaviors resulted from T deficiency better than subcutaneous injection of T, demonstrating that T can be delivered to the brain by intranasal administration. Our results suggest that intranasal T delivery is an effective option for targeting the central nervous system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Adult female macaques (Macaca nemestrina) in the laboratory with alopecia from known or suspected overgrooming were subjects in a study evaluating effectiveness of a grooming device. The intervention evaluated was a paint roller on a metal bar hung on the cage, replaced weekly for 6 weeks. In a within-subjects design, 6 monkeys were randomly assigned to first experience the paint roller (PR) and later the control (C) condition (roller bar only); 6 monkeys were randomly assigned to C followed by PR. Coat condition scores quantifying alopecia were taken cageside weekly. During PR, PR use was scored 3 times a week based on wear. Alopecia scores during PR did not differ significantly from C. Although all the monkeys used the paint rollers, PR use scores did not correlate significantly with improvement in coat condition. Paint rollers do not appear to be an effective intervention for alopecia from overgrooming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grooming behaviour of the race Apis meHifera carpatica in relation to Varroa destructor was studied in an experimental apiary. There are two behaviors of the honey bee related to Varroa mite: hygienic behavior and grooming behavior. Studies have shown that Apis meHifera carpatica colonies remove worker brood infested with Varroa destructor mites from the nest (hygienic behavior), and groom the mites off themselves and from other adult bees (grooming behavior). Preliminary research revealed the connection between the treatments against Varroa with an organic product based on oxalic acid and an increased level of grooming behaviour of the honey bee under these circumstances. Three different types of parasitic mite chitin lesions have been observed by laboratory exams. This paper presents these three types of Varroa mite lesions and their natural causes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents research which examined the impact of potential intergroup conflict on intragroup affiliation in groups of breeding green woodhoopoes (Phoeniculus purpureus). The researcher recorded the beginning and the end of each allopreening and self-preening bouts between the members of the groups. He found that self-preening does not trigger or improve the conflict among the subjects.

The behaviors that surround copulation are characterized as sociosexual behaviors. These behaviors displayed by males that are directed at females may include allogrooming, wrestling, chasing, approach, and time spent together. The data supported the hypothesis that the duration of sociosexual behaviors differs during the pre-copulatory, peri-copulatory, and post-copulatory phases of the mating bout in meadow voles. Voles spent more time approaching conspecifics during the pre- and peri-copulatory phases than during the post-copulatory phase. Voles spent more time allogrooming, wrestling, and chasing during the pre-copulatory phase than during the peri- and post-copulatory phases. Voles spent similar amounts of time together during the pre-, peri-, and post-copulatory phases. The data suggest that sociosexual behaviors displayed by males may be involved in setting the pace and temporal components of the mating bout. During the pre-copulatory phase particular behaviors by male voles may attract females, during the peri-copulatory phase some of these behaviors may stimulate or motivate the female to mate, and during the post-copulatory phase certain behaviors may prepare the male to mate again [Current Zoology 57 (1): 43-49, 2011]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Many cats that are rendered to a shelter fail to find a new home. Older and other less desirable cats may face a significant amount of time in the shelter prior to adoption. Therefore, the present study compared the behaviour of domestic cats subjected to different lengths of time, room density (RD) and sex ratio in a shelter. Forty-six cats from a local shelter (Porto, Portugal) were included in the study. All subjects lived in group housing enclosures. Each cat''s behaviour was recorded during 5min, on every other day and on three separate occasions. During each session the observer was present in the room and the following behaviours were investigated: grooming; inactivity; eating/drinking; friendly interactions; negative encounters and active behaviour. A significant greater time spent in inactivity (TSI) and time spent in negative encounters (TSNE) were found (P =0.035 and P =0.026, respectively) in cats that remained in the shelter for 7 years or longer relative to those that were housed for a shorter period of time. Time spent eating (TSE) was significantly (P =0.048) shorter in cats that spent at least 7 years compared to those that lived in the shelter for a shorter period of time. Eating frequency (EF) was significantly greater in cats sheltered for less than 1 year, relative to those in confinement for a minimum of 7 years (P =0.044). Grooming frequency (GF) and time spent grooming (TSG) were significantly greatest in cats housed in rooms with a F/M ratio of 1–2, followed by a F/M ratio greater than two and lastly a F/M ratio smaller than 1 (P =0.036 and P =0.035, respectively). TSI was shortest in rooms containing 1–2 females per male when compared to rooms with a F/M ratio of less than one (P =0.006) and larger (P =0.014) than two. TSI was significantly greater in RDs above 0.5cats/m2 (P =0.046). It is therefore possible that lengthy periods of time spent in the shelter may be associated with decreased activity levels, eating behaviour and a greater tendency towards agonistic interactions. To our knowledge this is the first study to compare the behaviour of group housed cats with the sex ratio among enclosures. Further research concerning the influence of group composition on behaviour will likely contribute to improve the welfare of cats in confinement. This study also emphasizes the need for early adoptions and improvement of the quality of life of cats that are forced to spend long periods of time in a rescue shelter. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The appropriate stocking density for broiler chickens is a much discussed topic in animal welfare. To determine at which stocking density the level of crowding becomes aversive to 4–6-week-old broiler chickens, spatial distribution and behaviour of groups stocked at 8, 19, 29, 40, 45, 51, 61 or 72birds per 3.3m2 were analysed. Spatial distribution was evaluated using three different indices: inter-individual distances, nearest neighbour distances and Dirichlet polygon areas. The assumption was that broilers would increase the distance to their pen mates if high densities (i.e., close proximity to pen mates) were experienced as aversive, whereas they would decrease this distance if close proximity was experienced positively. Increased distances to pen mates would lead to increased nearest neighbour distances and a more homogeneous distribution (i.e., lower variation of inter-individual distances and of Dirichlet-polygon size) than expected by chance. The distribution expected by chance was determined from both a random distribution and a ‘resource-corrected’ random distribution (which incorporated environmental influences on spatial distribution but excluded social ones). Behavioural observations showed that at higher stocking densities more sitting bouts (P =0.003) and adjustments of the sitting and lying posture (P <0.001) occurred. It was also found that nearest neighbour distance varied according to behaviour (P =0.001). Birds that were eating/drinking were further apart from their nearest neighbour than birds that were foraging, preening, adjusting their sitting or lying posture or showing “other” behaviour. The results from all three methods of spatial analysis suggested that broilers in groups ≥19birds per 3.3m2 (ultimately equivalent to 15kg/m2) started to experience the proximity of conspecifics as aversive at some point during the last 3 weeks of rearing. However, nearest neighbour distance analysis showed evidence of aversiveness earlier in life than the other methods of analyzing spatial distribution (variation in inter-individual distance and polygon size), suggesting that nearest neighbour distance is the more sensitive indicator of space requirements. When uneven use of the different areas within the pen was reflected in the expected distribution (i.e., for comparisons to the resource-corrected random distribution) different results were obtained than when such measures were omitted (i.e., for comparisons to the random distribution). As such, this study emphasises the importance of accounting for environmental influences on distribution within a pen. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Petrel seabirds heavily rely on their olfactory sense and are thus appropriate models for the study of avian chemical communication. The uropygial secretions of blue petrels Halobaena caerulea, for instance, have been shown to encapsulate elaborate sociochemical information including species, gender and identity. Yet, it is the plumage, and not preening secretions per se, which acts as the final substrate of avian scents. Importantly, the chemical relationship between secretions from the uropygial gland, located at the dorsal base of the tail, and plumage lipids has been considered in only a handful of studies which reported large qualitative differences. The emission process of avian scents, and the possible participation of the uropygial gland in particular, are therefore not elucidated. In the present study, we examine the early chemical trajectory of blue petrels' social chemosignals by comparing secretion and feather samples using Gas-Chromatography Mass-Spectrometry (GC/MS) and recently developed multivariate statistics. Our results indicate that (1) 85% of the feather lipids come from the uropygial secretions, (2) chemical differentiation between secretions and feather lipids includes qualitative and quantitative variations, which both have interesting implications for scent production, (3) the sociochemical information contained within the secretions (i.e. a sex-specific signal and individual chemical signatures) are present in very conserved forms on the plumage. In the light of these results, it is apparent that the uropygial gland plays a critical role for chemical communication in petrels and possibly other avian groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study on the grooming behavior of termite, Coptotermes formosanus against entomopathogenic fungus. According to the study, mutual grooming behavior is important for termites for the removal of fungal conidia from their body surface. It further states that termites can differentiate between three species of fungi by identifying their odors through antennae.

Recent evidence suggests that female grooming kin bias in rhesus and Tibetan macaques varies within groups over time in a manner that is consistent with the time constraints model. Here we test the same hypothesis for Tonkean macaques, using data from a corral-living group collected between 1987 and 2002. We also use published data to ask whether time constraints can explain variation across the three macaque species and/or whether these species appear to show inherent differences in kin bias based on their species' social styles, as predicted by the phylogenetic model. Several predictions of the time constraints model were supported for Tonkean macaques: as the number of potential grooming partners increased, females groomed similar amounts, but displayed decreased per capita amounts of grooming, focused their grooming on a subset of potential partners, and displayed more intense grooming kin bias. Although numbers of potential partners affected all three species similarly, species differences in kin bias were sustained and were related to species social styles independently of numbers of potential partners. We suggest that grooming kin bias represents a social reaction norm, in which species display qualitatively similar, but inherently different ranges of response to the same current conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the results of a study on the use of a reciprocal hybrid model of mice to compare the anxiety behavior between parents and their offspring. According to the authors, inbred male mice demonstrated intensive parental behavior toward their offsprings, particularly parental contact behavior, and their licking/grooming behavior was dependent on the female mice strain they were paired with. They add that the BALB/c model of mice illustrated minimal parental contact behavior than the C57BL/6 model of mice. They indicate that BALB/c male and female mice have higher anxiety behavior than C57BL/6 pairs.

Contrary to the expectations of biological market theory, in species where sexual coercion is effective males often exchange resources or services with females for the opportunity to mate. This suggests that an ability to control mating partners does not preclude the need for their cooperation. We argue that this is because, in many systems, female resistance to coercion can precipitate intermale competition and, as such, a male's mating strategy may often be better served by securing female compliance through affiliative rather than agonistic means. Based on this reasoning, we predicted that the need for males to exchange resources/services for mating access with females will be absent only when intermale power differentials are such that dominant individuals can secure uncontested access to receptive females. Accordingly, data from our long-term study site revealed no support for a biological markets model of intersexual mating exchange in chacma baboons, where the mating monopolies of alpha males are near absolute. Specifically, we found that males groomed females substantially less than they were groomed by them, their propensity to groom was poorly described by measures of female fertility, male rank, and the operational sex ratio, and their mating success was not associated with their grooming effort. We further predicted that an additional consequence of the degree of competitor suppression seen in chacma would be a reversal in the direction of intersexual trade of services for mating. We found that female grooming was positively associated with the probability that they would successfully initiate a copulation. Our study strongly suggests that it is variance in competitor suppression, not partner control, that mediates the potential for and direction of intersexual cooperative exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: How do we bond to one another? While in some species, like humans, physical contact plays a role in the process of attachment, it has been suggested that tactile contact's value may greatly differ according to the species considered. Nevertheless, grooming is often considered as a pleasurable experience for domestic animals, even though scientific data is lacking. On another hand, food seems to be involved in the creation of most relationships in a variety of species. Methodology/Principal Findings: In this study, we used the horse training context to test the effects of food versus grooming during repeated human-horse interactions. The results reveal that food certainly holds a key role in the attachment process, while tactile contact was here clearly insufficient for bonding to occur. Conclusion/Significance: This study raises important questions on the way tactile contact is perceived, and shows that large inter-species differences are to be expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preen wax is important for plumage maintenance and other functions. Its chemical composition is complex, and separating and quantifying its components, commonly by gas chromatography (GC), can be challenging. We present a simple analytical system consisting of thin-layer chromatography/flame ionization detection (TLC-FID) using a solvent system of 100% toluene to analyse the complex compound classes present in preen wax. We used GC and TLC-FID to investigate the effects of migratory status, diet and captivity on the preen wax composition of White-throated Sparrows Zonotrichia albicollis, and to measure the quantity of preen wax on the head, primary and tail feathers. White-throated Sparrows produced preen wax containing only monoesters regardless of migratory state. The monoesters contained several isomers consisting of homologous series of fatty alcohols (C10-C20) and fatty acids (C13-C19) esterified together in different combinations to form monoesters with total carbon numbers ranging from C23 to C38. Weighted average monoester carbon number was greater in captive birds than in wild birds and was greater in captives fed a formulated diet enriched with sesame oil than in birds fed the same diet enriched with fish oil. Captivity and migratory state also affected the complexity of the mixture of monoesters. There was significantly more preen wax on head feathers compared with primary and tail feathers. We suggest that among its many functions, preen wax may play a role in drag reduction by affecting the physical properties of feathers, and/or the fluid flow at their surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses research on epigenetics and parental effects on rodents. The interaction between a mother rodent and its offsprings suggests the influence of parental signals in the DNA-methylation, which results in the stable changes in gene expression. Researchers believe that parental regulation of DNA methylation may have a significant role in phenotypic variation.

The influence of social upbringing on the activity pattern of lion Panthera leo cubs was investigated at three sites. In this study, stimulus objects such as sticks, grass, fresh dung (elephant Loxondota africana, zebra Equus quagga, impala Aepyceros melampus, duiker Sylvicapra grimmia, kudu Tragelaphus strepsiceros, giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis and wildebeest Connochaetes taurinus) and cardboard boxes, were utilized in an enrichment program aimed at encouraging active behaviors of captive lion cubs at Antelope Park and Masuwe. Lion cubs at Chipangali were not behaviorally enriched. Activity patterns were recorded for 10 days at each site. We recorded moving, resting, playing, grooming, visual exploration and display of hunting instincts. We found that behavioral enrichment enhanced the active behaviors of captive lion cubs. Orphan-raised cubs spent more time moving, playing and displaying hunting instincts than mother-raised cubs, but the time spent grooming was similar across areas and suggests that grooming is not influenced by enrichment. Mother-raised cubs spent more time engaged in visual exploration than orphan-raised cubs and this could be a behavior acquired from mothers or a result of confidence to explore because of their presence. Activity patterns were different among time treatments across our three study sites. Based on these findings, we suggest that lion cubs raised in captivity could benefit from behavioral enrichment to encourage active behaviors essential for eventual reintroduction into the wild [Current Zoology 56 (4): 389-394, 2010]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among primates, the intense mother-infant bond provides offspring with a lengthy period for learning from an experienced and reliable demonstrator. Since adult life differs for females and males, the expertise of mother may not be equally useful to both sexes of infant, particularly with regard to social relationships. Here, we report on differences between infant female and male stumptailed macaques in learning how to allocate social grooming, using their mothers as demonstrators. Infant females were significantly more socially precocious than males, starting at early ages to groom mothers. Throughout their first year of life, daughters showed more instances of mirroring mothers' behaviour than sons did. In addition, while grooming on their own, grooming durations of daughters to specific partners was significantly concordant with time devoted by mothers to such recipients. We suggest that daughters learn from their mothers how to distribute grooming amongst social companions, while sons primarily use mother as a secure platform to initiate socializing. These results lend support to the idea that mirroring equates with learning and leads to reinforcement of innate propensities for gender roles in primates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Elaborate or colourful feathers are important traits in female–mate choice in birds but little attention has been given to the potential costs of maintaining these traits in good condition via preening behaviour. While preening is known to be an important component of plumage maintenance, it has received little attention with respect to colouration. We investigated whether preening can influence plumage reflectance and whether females show a preference for plumage cleanliness in captive-bred, wild-type budgerigars, Melopsittacus undulatus. To do this, we compared the spectral colour of birds that were allowed to preen their plumage and individuals that were prevented from preening. The plumage of birds that were prevented from preening showed a significant lower reflectance in the UV range (300–400nm). Subsequently, we measured females’ preferences for preened and unpreened males using a two-choice test. In a second experiment we allowed females to choose between an unpreened male and a male smeared with UV-absorbing chemicals (UV-blocked male). The proportion of time that females stayed near preened males was statistically higher than for unpreened males, but females spent similar amounts of time with unpreened males and UV-blocked males. These results are consistent with the idea that female budgerigars are able to discriminate between preened and unpreened males, and that UV colours, mediated by preening, can convey information about a bird''s current condition. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Despite their importance for group-living animals, mechanisms that prevent aggressive escalation have seldom been investigated. Conflict prevention might imply the ability to foresee future needs and the question whether animals have this capacity is still open to debate. A few studies have suggested that animals may be able to use anticipatory strategies of conflict management to decrease stress levels and prevent social tension caused by food competition. None the less, the effectiveness of these supposedly preventive strategies has rarely been investigated, and their cognitive requirements are still unclear. We explored these issues by observing a group of captive capuchin monkeys, Cebus apella, subject to fixed scheduled feeding. We collected data on affiliative and aggressive interactions during three conditions: prefeeding, feeding and control. We found that grooming increased before a predictable competitive situation such as scheduled feeding, and that grooming reduced the risk of aggressive escalation and increased co-feeding during the subsequent feeding period. Therefore, prefeeding grooming served as a conflict prevention mechanism. Nevertheless, capuchin monkeys did not specifically select their prefeeding grooming partners on the basis of the expected benefits in the future competitive situation, suggesting that they were not planning their future behaviour, but were probably responding to the current tense situation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The apparent rarity of contingent cooperation in animals has convinced many investigators that such reciprocity is unimportant, stimulating consideration of alternative explanations for cooperation, such as by-product mutualism and biological markets motivated by the likelihood of immediate reward. Nevertheless, there is also limited evidence that animals do sometimes rely on memory of recent interactions when behaving altruistically toward others. Here we describe a playback experiment conducted on wild female baboons, suggesting that contingent cooperation may occur among unrelated individuals, even when there is a temporal delay between the two cooperative acts. Hearing the recruitment call of an unrelated recent grooming partner caused subjects to move in the direction of the loudspeaker and approach their former partner. particularly when this partner had an infant. When the subject and her partner were close kin no such effect was observed. Subjects' responses were not influenced by any type of recent interaction, because prior grooming and prior aggression influenced their behavior in qualitatively different ways. Similarly, their responses were not prompted only by the motivation to resume friendly interactions, because prior grooming alone did not elicit approach. Instead, subjects were most likely to approach their former grooming partner when they had also heard her recruitment call. Results suggest that at least some forms of cooperation in animals may be based on memory of specific recent interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Broiler chickens are reported to be close to walls at higher densities. The reason for this is not clear, since evolutionary theories would suggest that birds should attempt to be in the middle of the flock. We studied the spatial distribution (during weeks 4–6) of broiler chickens stocked at 2.4, 5.8, 8.8, 12.1, 13.6, 15.5, 18.5 and 21.8birds/m2 (in 3.3m2 pens), to investigate the underlying reasons for the pattern of spatial distribution. Three possible reasons were considered: seeking cover from predators in the centre of the flock, seeking cover from predators near walls, and avoidance of disturbances by conspecifics. Spatial distribution was analysed by comparing the number of birds in four separate parts of the pen (inner, inner middle, outer middle and outer). Apart from effects on spatial distribution, birds were predicted to have their behaviour disturbed more often by other birds in the flock as the overall density in the pen increased, leading to shortened bouts of behaviour and an increase in adjustments of the sitting or lying posture. We found that higher treatment density led to shorter sitting and preening bouts (P =0.024 and P =0.013), and a sharper decrease in walking bout length as weeks progressed (density×week, P =0.025). In addition, birds adjusted their sitting or lying posture more often at higher densities (P <0.001), indicating an increased number of disturbances. Preference for the wall area occurred when overall density in the pen peaked (in the last week of rearing, at treatment densities above 12.1birds/m2). On the other hand, more animals were present in the centre of the pen than at the edges at some of the densities in weeks 4 and 5. Because of its occurrence at peak density, avoidance of disturbance seems the most likely explanation for wall preference. Thus, increased use of the wall area may be an indicator that birds are experiencing crowding. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Newborn infants can affect female social dynamics, and provide ideal conditions to test the biological market theory and its assumptions. In infant markets, infants are the desired commodity, mothers control access to them, and other females (potential handlers) trade grooming for infant handling. The supply/demand ratio corresponds to the number of available infants per potential handler. Variation in the number of infants causes changes in the supply/demand ratio that can alter the market equilibrium. We investigated whether grooming was interchanged for handling in wild tufted capuchin females, Cebus apella nigritus. Behavioural observations were conducted on 10 mothers in three groups. Potential handlers were strongly attracted to infants and grooming the mothers (specifically, its occurrence rather than its duration) increased their probability of handling infants. However, the number of infants in the group did not affect the amount of grooming needed for access to infants. At least three nonmutually exclusive hypotheses can explain differences from previous findings. First, grooming in capuchin monkeys may represent a signal of benign intent with no market value. Second, dominance relations among handlers may have prevented competition by outbidding among handlers and thus hindered free trade. Third, the increased grooming required by mothers when infants were scarcer may reflect the need to calm more stressed mothers that were the subject of more frequent harassment; since in our study mothers did not appear to be more stressed when fewer infants were available, no effect of the number of infants on grooming by handlers emerged. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The quantification of behaviours linked to anxiety or stress provides a powerful means to address applied questions related to the well-being of captive animals. This study explored correlates of two such behaviours – self-directed (SDB) and stereotypic behaviour (STB) – among captive red-capped mangabeys, Cercocebus torquatus torquatus. Study animals were held at two sites run by CERCOPAN, a primate sanctuary in Nigeria. At the first site (Calabar), animals were housed in traditional cage enclosures, while at the second (Rhoko), they lived in a semi-free ranging environment. Analyses revealed that while animals at the two sites did not differ in time spent in SDB (self-scratching, self-grooming, yawning and body shaking), animals at Calabar showed a higher prevalence of, and spent more time in STB (pacing and head rolling). There were no significant differences in time spent in SDB or STB between the sexes, or between captive-born and wild-born animals. A positive correlation was found between age and time spent in SDB, but not between age and time spent in STB. Finally, positive relationships were found between time spent in SDB and both time spent grooming and time spent being groomed; no relationships were found between grooming behaviour and STB. As stress and anxiety can have detrimental effects on psychological well-being, physical health and reproduction, these findings have important implications for the captive welfare and conservation of red-capped mangabeys, and also potentially of other endangered vertebrate species. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Studies of rodent grooming can provide valuable insight for dopamine contributions to the initiation, organization, and repetition of motor patterns. This information is useful for understanding how brain dysfunctions contribute to movement disorders such as Tourette syndrome and obsessive compulsive disorder, in which patients are driven to reiterate particular movement patterns. In rodents, dopamine D1 receptor stimulation causes a complex behavioral super-stereotypy in the form of excessive production and rigid execution of whole sequences of movements known as syntactic grooming chains. Sequential super-stereotypy of grooming chains may be particularly advantageous for modeling movement sequences and treatments in Tourette syndrome and related disorders. Here, we report that co-administration of haloperidol, one available treatment for Tourette syndrome and primarily a D2 receptor antagonist, prevented D1 stimulation with SKF38393 from inducing sequential super-stereotypy, which manifests as an exaggeration of the tendency to complete all four phases of a syntactic chain in rigid serial order once the first phase has begun. In a separate experiment, we showed that in contrast to acute D1 agonist administration, 39h withdrawal from chronic (3weeks) administration of the D1 antagonist SCH23390 (which has been suggested to increase D1 receptor expression in the basal ganglia) did not elicit sequential super-stereotypy after drug cessation. Instead, rats suddenly removed from repeated SCH23390 spent more time performing simple stereotypies that included intense scratching and biting behaviors. Together, these results have implications for understanding how dopamine receptors facilitate particular stereotypies manifest in animal models of Tourette syndrome and obsessive compulsive disorder. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Lateralized behaviour has been studied as an observable measure of cerebral functional asymmetry for many years, and interest in the evolutionary origins of lateralized behaviour in humans has prompted research into the study of manual laterality in nonhuman primates. The Sichuan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) is a rarely studied species as far as laterality research is concerned. In this study, we investigated hand preference in spontaneously unimanual and bimanual coordinated tasks during grooming in wild R. roxellana in the Qinling Mountains of China. We chose 26 adult individuals (20 females and 6 males) for both tasks. Wild R. roxellana shows group-level left-handedness in bimanual coordinated grooming task, but not in unimanual grooming task, which is just found on the individual-level based on z-scores. Both the direction and strength of hand preference in the bimanual task are significantly stronger than that in unimanual task. Our findings present the first evidence of group-level handedness in wild monkeys although group-level handedness had been reported in wild apes [e.g. Pongo pygmaeus: Rogers LJ, Kaplan G. Hand preference and other lateral biases in rehabilitated orangutans, Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus. Anim Behav 1996;51:13–25]. The results in R. roxellana support the theory of task complexity as well as the postural origin hypothesis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Lemur grooming has received very little attention in the literature. Nevertheless, allogrooming in lemurs has been suggested to be fundamentally different from the grooming of anthropoids. One reason is that lemurs generally rely on oral rather than manual grooming. Lemur allogrooming has also been suggested to serve less of a social function than has been attributed to anthropoid grooming. I analyzed the allogrooming behaviors of 29 Verreaux's sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi) living in five social groups in the Kirindy Forest of Madagascar. Based upon 1,586 observation hours, I found that sifaka, like anthropoids, spend very little time mutual grooming (2±3%). Half of all allogrooming involved parts of the body that could have been easily groomed by the recipient, such as the limbs. Even though ectoparasite loads are expected to be greater during the rainy season, allogrooming did not increase during the rainy season. Allogrooming rates were influenced by both rank and sex, and increased by 50–100% during the mating season. The results of this study suggest that allogrooming in Verreaux's sifaka plays an important social function, even though it is performed with a toothcomb. Am. J. Primatol. 72:254–261, 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Juveniles should choose social partners on the basis of both current and future utility. Where one sex is philopatric, one expects members of that sex to develop greater and sex-typical social integration with group-mates over the juvenile period. Where a partner's position in a dominance hierarchy is not associated with services it can provide, one would not expect juveniles to choose partners based on rank, nor sex differences in rank-based preferences. We tested these ideas on 39 wild juvenile (3.2–7.4 years) blue monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis stuhlmanni), cercopithecines with strict female philopatry and muted hierarchies. We made focal animal observations over 6 months, and computed observed:expected amounts of proximity time, approaches and grooming given to various social partners. Overall, our results agree with the hypothesis that juvenile blue monkeys target social partners strategically. Spatial proximity, approaches and active grooming showed similar patterns regarding juvenile social preferences. Females were far more sociable than males, groomed more partners, reciprocated grooming more frequently, and preferred—while males avoided—infants as partners. Older juveniles (5–7 years) spent more time than younger juveniles (3–4 years) near others, and older females were especially attracted to infants. Close kin, especially mothers and less consistently adult sisters, were attractive to both male and female juveniles, regardless of age. Both sexes also preferred same-sex juveniles as social partners while avoiding opposite-sex peers. Juveniles of both sexes and ages generally neither preferred nor avoided nonmaternal adult females, but all juveniles avoided adult males. Partner's rank had no consistent effect on juveniles' preference, as expected for a species in which dominance plays a weak role. Juveniles' social preferences likely reflect both future and current benefits, including having tolerant adult kin to protect them against predators and conspecifics, same-sex play partners, and, for females, infants on which to practice mothering skills. Am. J. Primatol. 72:193–205, 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Limited data are currently available describing normal behaviors of puppies left alone or on actual age of onset of separation-related problems. This study aims to describe variability and temporal distribution of puppy behavior when home alone during the first few months following adoption. Thirty-two puppies, ranging in age from 50 to 118 days, were filmed when home alone for 60minutes. The videotaping was repeated again after 1 and 2 months, for a total of 3 observations per puppy. Information on physical and social environment and history of the puppy were collected. Fourteen behavioral categories were established to describe duration and frequency of puppy activity. Descriptive analysis, principal component analysis, and general linear model repeated measures were performed. Puppies spent most of their time exhibiting passive behavior (40.38±18.31minutes) as opposed to being oriented to the environment (OE) (4.5±5.06minutes). Puppies played (6.1±9.53minutes) and vocalized (VO) (2.7±6.25min) while separated from their owners. Locomotion, exploration, oral behavior (OB), and grooming were observed for short periods. Puppies in the first film tended to be less active (LO=0.44±1.07minutes; OE=3.37±3.59minutes) than in the third one (LO=1.09±2.02minutes; OE=5.23±5.53minutes). Only 3 puppies out of 32 were characterized by stress-related behaviors such as lip licking, VO, and OB. These behaviors decreased over time, with mean duration for OB and VO in film 1 at 143±184 seconds and 1341±1331 seconds, respectively, and at 0±0 seconds, and 46±80 seconds in film 3. The mean frequency of lip licking during the first film was 11±16 and in the third was 1±1. The results of this study show that even if some puppies showed stress-related behaviors, these behaviors did not persist over time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Grooming is a widespread activity throughout the animal kingdom, but in primates (including humans) social grooming, or allo-grooming (the grooming of others), plays a particularly important role in social bonding which, in turn, has a major impact on an individual''s lifetime reproductive fitness. New evidence from comparative brain analyses suggests that primates have social relationships of a qualitatively different kind to those found in other animal species, and I suggest that, in primates, social grooming has acquired a new function of supporting these. I review the evidence for a neuropeptide basis for social bonding, and draw attention to the fact that the neuroendrocrine pathways involved are quite unresolved. Despite recent claims for the central importance of oxytocin, there is equally good, but invariably ignored, evidence for a role for endorphins. I suggest that these two neuropeptide families may play different roles in the processes of social bonding in primates and non-primates, and that more experimental work will be needed to tease them apart. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In social mammals, grooming is used not only for hygienic purposes; it also serves social functions. We examined the grooming patterns of dominant males in groups of cooperatively breeding meerkats, Suricata suricatta, to test the hypothesis that the distribution of grooming reflects the value of social relationships. Grooming between dominant individuals was the most commonly observed interaction. Grooming by the dominant male was less common when the dominant female was in oestrus. Grooming between dominant males and subordinates was asymmetrical, with dominant males receiving more grooming and providing less grooming to subordinates. Because subordinate males defend the group against extragroup males, the dominant male was predicted to groom subordinate males more often than to groom subordinate females. Although the sex of a subordinate did not affect the probability of grooming occurring, dominant males groomed subordinate males for longer than they groomed subordinate females. The duration of grooming by a dominant male was longer in small groups than large groups, suggesting that grooming activity is constrained by time. In contrast, subordinates groomed dominant males for longer in larger groups, and as a result, the asymmetry of grooming exchanges was exaggerated in larger groups. This result is consistent with the biological market theory, which predicts that the value of subordinates is dependent on group size and that subordinates will alter grooming efforts accordingly. These results suggest that meerkat grooming serves several social functions, such as the maintenance of valuable and/or fitness-enhancing relationships. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution of altruistic behaviours. Their relative roles in explaining actual cases of animal altruism are, however, unclear. In particular, while kin selection is widely believed to have a pervasive influence on animal behaviour, reciprocity is generally thought to be rare. Despite this general agreement, there has been no direct test comparing the relative roles of kinship and reciprocity in explaining animal altruism. In this paper, we report on the results of such a test based on a meta-analysis of allogrooming in primates, grooming being probably the most common altruistic behaviour among mammals. In direct contrast to the prevailing view, reciprocity played a much larger role than kinship in explaining primate allogrooming. These results point to a more significant role of reciprocity in the evolution of animal altruism than is generally acknowledged. Ecology Letters (2010) 13: 45–50 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hosts that are infected by parasitoids pay the ultimate cost: death. Here we investigate whether hosts can combat the lethal effects of parasitoids by enhancing their grooming behaviour and removing the parasitoids before they have a chance to enter the host''s body. Many field cricket species are stalked and parasitized by gravid females of the parasitoid fly Ormia ochracea. Female parasitoids lay live first-instar larvae (planidia) on and around the cricket. Planidia burrow into the cricket host where they feed and grow. Because parasitism invariably results in host death, there should be strong selection for crickets to avoid being parasitized. We investigated whether field-caught Texas field crickets, Gryllus texensis, groom to avoid parasitism by O. ochracea. We quantified grooming behaviour of crickets when they were in the same area as O. ochracea adults or larvae (proximity avoidance), and following contact between the cricket and O. ochracea adults or larvae (contact avoidance). Crickets did not adjust grooming behaviour when in close proximity to adult gravid female O. ochracea, nor did they avoid planidia-laden grass. Crickets did, however, substantially increase their grooming activity when placed in an arena filled with planidia-laden grass. Furthermore, crickets that groomed more were much less likely to succumb to parasitoid infestation, compared to crickets that groomed less. Our findings suggest that grooming in G. texensis may function as a strong defence against parasitism by O. ochracea. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We investigated the role of beach grooming in the loss of coastal strand ecosystems. On groomed beaches, unvegetated dry sand zones were four times wider, macrophyte wrack cover was >9 times lower, and native plant abundance and richness were 15 and >3 times lower, respectively, compared to ungroomed beaches. Experimental comparisons of native plant performance were consistent with our survey results: although initial germination was similar, seed bank, survival, and reproduction were significantly lower in groomed compared to ungroomed plots. Rates of aeolian sand transport were significantly higher in groomed plots, while native plants or wrack placed in that zone reduced sand transport. Our results suggest beach grooming has contributed to widespread conversion of coastal strand ecosystems to unvegetated sand. Increased conservation of these threatened coastal ecosystems could help retain sediment, promote the formation of dunes, and maintain biodiversity, wildlife, and human use in the face of rising sea levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most primates are intensely social and spend a large amount of time servicing social relationships. In this study, we use social network analysis to examine the relationship between primate group size, total brain size, neocortex ratio and several social network metrics concerned with network cohesion. Using female grooming networks from a number of Old World monkey species, we found that neocortex size was a better predictor of network characteristics than endocranial volumes. We further found that when we controlled for group size, neocortex ratio was negatively correlated with network density, connectivity, relative clan size and proportional clan membership, while there was no effect of neocortex ratio on change in connectivity following the removal of the most central female in the network. Thus, in species with larger neocortex ratios, females generally live in more fragmented networks, belong to smaller grooming clans and are members of relatively fewer clans despite living in a closely bonded group. However, even though groups are more fragmented to begin with among species with larger neocortices, the removal of the most central individual does cause groups to fall apart, suggesting that social complexity may ultimately involve the management of highly fragmented social groups while at the same time maintaining overall social cohesion. These results emphasize a need for more detailed brain data on a wider sample of primate species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which measures the grooming behavior of leaf-cutting ants focusing on the species acromyrmex subterraneus and A. octospinosus. It states that the hygienic and trophallaxis behaviors were analyzed and the grooming behavior of foraging and non-foraging workers were also compared. The behavioral examination shows that large workers concentrate in grooming than small workers. It suggests that trophallaxis allows the substitution of alimentary liquid between colony.