Biology subjects

McElligott, A. G.

Publications and source records attributed to McElligott, A. G..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2023

Do Goats Recognise Humans Cross-Modally?

Recognition plays a key role in the social lives of gregarious species, enabling animals to distinguish among social partners and tailor their behaviour accordingly. As domesticated animals regularly interact with humans, as well as members of their own species, we might expect mechanisms used to discriminate between conspecifics to also apply to humans. Given that goats can combine visual and vocal cues to recognize one another, we investigated whether this cross-modal recognition extends to discriminating among familiar humans. We presented 28 goats with facial photographs of familiar people and two repeated playbacks of a voice, either congruent (from the same person) or incongruent with that photograph (from a different person). When cues were incongruent, violating their expectations, we expected goats to respond faster and for longer after playbacks and show increases in physiological arousal (increased heart rate and/or decreased heart rate variability). We found the increase in latency that goats took to respond as the playback series progressed was greater when the face and voice were incongruent. As differences were not as predicted and only observed in one response measured, our evidence is tentative, but the variation in latency to look between congruency conditions suggests goat cross-modal recognition extends to humans. If this is the case, not only would this further demonstrate the flexibility of complex recognition systems to discriminate among members of a very different species, but indicates goats can produce mental representations for familiar people, a key component of individual recognition.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2023

Goat Discrimination of Emotional Valence in the Human Voice

Reading another animals emotional state can enable receivers to anticipate their behavioural motivations, which is important in guiding interactions with that individual. For species living closely alongside humans, the emotional cues that people express can be almost as informative as those of conspecifics. Goats can discriminate differences in emotional valence present in another goats calls, and we investigated whether this ability extends to human speech. We presented goats with a habituation-dishabituation-rehabituation paradigm, where they experienced multiple playbacks of a familiar or unfamiliar human voice conveying a single emotional valence (e.g., angry; habituation phase), before the valence of the voice changed (e.g., happy; dishabituation phase) and then reversed again in-line with the habituation phase (e.g., angry; rehabituation phase). Over the habituation phase, goat behavioural responses decreased, showing evidence of having habituated to the playback stimuli presented. Following a change in emotional valence (dishabituation phase), although goats were overall less likely to respond, those that did looked for longer, suggesting they had perceived the shift in emotional content conveyed in human voice playbacks. We found no changes in physiological arousal (heart rate or heart rate variability) with shifts in playback valence. Goats, as a domesticated species, may have developed a sensitivity to our cues over their long association with humans, but the differences in individual behaviour towards the playback paradigm could highlight a role for learning and individual experience in particular on interspecific emotional communication.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2023

Sex and dominance status affect allogrooming in free-ranging feral cattle

Social interactions are fundamental properties of gregarious species, helping to establish dominance hierarchies and maintain social bonds within groups, thus having significant effects on fitness. Cattle (Bos taurus) are social ungulates which engage in affiliative and agonistic relationships with other individuals. Although there are approximately 1.5 billion cattle on the planet, the opportunity to research cattle behaviour in free-ranging groups is rare, as there are few feral populations worldwide. Cattle engage in positive social behaviours such as allogrooming, where one individual licks the body of another. The relationship between affiliative behaviours and other individual characteristics (such as sex and dominance status) are frequently studied in other gregarious species, but are largely undetermined in cattle. To investigate the relationships between sex, dominance status and allogrooming, we observed a mixed-sex feral cattle herd in Hong Kong, recording dominance interactions and allogrooming events. We found that dominant females received more allogrooming than subordinate females, but subordinate females did not perform more than dominant ones. Males performed allogrooming more towards females than other males, but females groomed both sexes equally. Sex affected dominance position, with males obtaining higher status than females, but not all females were subordinate to males. These preferential allogrooming patterns improve our knowledge of sex-specific interactions, and help us to understand the dynamics of agonistic and affiliative behaviours in multi-male, multi-female ungulate groups. Studying a free-ranging feral population provides us with a unique insight into ungulate behavioural patterns and the evolution of cattle social behaviours.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2022

Delayed benefits for fallow bucks: more fights decrease same day mating success, but may increase matings the next day

Dominance hierarchies help to reduce unnecessary fights and associated costs during the mating season. Fallow deer (Dama dama) typically have high levels of male-male competition and strong reproductive skew. Nevertheless, how male dominance and daily fight rates affect mating success remains unknown. We used a two-year dataset from a large population of tagged fallow deer (620-689 individuals), to calculate male dominance ranks based on their agonistic interactions prior to the mating season ( prerut), in order to then examine how rank is related to fight rates and mating success during the mating season ( rut). Overall, higher-ranked males fought at least twice a day on a higher proportion of days during the rut and secured more matings. Males engaging in more than 10 fights per day were less likely to secure a mating that same day, and those males exceeding 15 fights per day secured no matings at all. Nevertheless, males with the highest numbers of fights (i.e. 15-21 fights per day) on a given day had higher mating success on subsequent days. Although higher-ranked males secured most matings during the rut, their fight rates decreased towards the end. We propose that engaging in more fights negatively affects daily individual mating success, but may benefit mating success on subsequent days, and potentially increase long-term fitness benefits. Additionally, engaging in more fights as the rut progresses probably allows lower-ranked males to secure some matings before the availability of oestrous females ends for almost a year. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTFighting carries a risk of injury and high energetic costs. Male fallow deer establish dominance hierarchies, that help reduce unnecessary fights among individuals of different competitive abilities. However, whether high-ranked males fight more or less is yet unknown. By calculating social ranks of fallow bucks before the start of their mating period, we show that males of higher social status do fight and mate more during the mating season (rut). Furthermore, by investigating how investment in fights affects individual mating success that same day and the next day, we find that males that fight more cause a decrease in their immediate daily mating success, but can potentially increase their chances of mating in subsequent days. Thus, to fight more may allow males to climb the hierarchical social ladder, hence increasing longer-term fitness benefits associated to higher ranks.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2022

Goat kid recognition of their mothers' calls is not impacted by changes in source-filter parameters.

Features varying more between than within individuals are usually considered as potential cues for individual recognition. According to the source-filter theory of vocal production, the fundamental frequency of mammals vocalisations depends on the characteristics of the vocal folds, while formants are determined by the characteristics of the vocal tract. Goat mothers and their kids (Capra hircus) display mutual recognition, and both source-related parameters (F0) and filter-related ones (formants) have been shown to be individualised in their vocalisations. Here, we aimed to identify if these parameters (source-related parameters (F0) and/or filter vocal parameters) are used by goat kids to recognise their mothers vocalisations. To this aim, we used an algorithm to modify either F0 or formants of the calls of goat mothers to different degrees (within or exceeding the range of natural intra-individual variability), and we played back these modified calls to their kids. We did not observe any difference in the kid reactions to the modified maternal vocalisations and to the natural calls. We suggest that either: (i) fundamental frequency and formants are not involved in maternal recognition in goats; (ii) goat kids have a tolerance for variation when recognising their mothers calls that exceeds the shifts we performed; (iii) goat maternal recognition is based on other vocal features than those tested here, or (iv) goat kid maternal recognition is based on a combination of different features and might be more flexible than previously thought, such that when one main feature is modified, kids focus on other features.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2022

Welfare concerns for mounted load carrying by working donkeys in Pakistan

Working donkeys (Equus asinus) are vital to peoples livelihoods. They are essential for carrying goods, however globally, overloading is one of the primary welfare concerns of working donkeys. We studied mounted load carrying by donkeys and associated factors in Pakistan. A cross-sectional study of donkey owners (n = 332) was conducted, and interviews were undertaken based on a questionnaire. Owners estimated that the median weight of their donkeys was 110kg (interquartile range (IQR) 100-120kg), and that they carried a median mounted load of 81.5kg (IQR 63-99kg). We found that 87.4% of donkeys carried a load above 50% of their bodyweight ratio (BWR), the median BWR carried was 77.1% (IQR 54.5-90.7%), and 25.3% of donkeys carried above 90% BWR. Donkeys that were loaded at more than 50% BWR were more likely to sit, compared to donkeys loaded with less weight (p=0.01). Donkeys working in peri-urban and urban areas were more likely to carry a greater BWR than donkeys working in rural areas (P<0.001), as were those carrying construction materials or bricks, compared to agricultural materials (p=0.004). Age (p=0.03) and breed (p=0.01) were also associated with carrying a higher weight. Overloading based on current recommendations (50% BWR) was common, with the majority (87.4%) of donkeys reported to carry more than the recommended 50% limit. This survey provides evidence of on-the-ground working practices and factors associated with mounted load carrying, which is critical for developing evidence-based recommendations for loading, in order to improve the welfare of working donkeys.

scientific communication and education↗