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Book Dolphin Communication and Cognition

Download or read book Dolphin Communication and Cognition written by Denise L. Herzing and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2023-10-31 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Experts survey the latest research on dolphin communication and cognition, offering a comprehensive reference to findings in the laboratory and from the field. Dolphin researchers have collected an impressive amount of data over the last twenty years, thanks to advances in technology for monitoring, recording, and analyzing dolphin behavior as well as increasing interest in exploring and modeling dolphins' cognitive capacities. This volume offers a comprehensive reference to the latest research on dolphin communication and cognition, reporting on findings from both the laboratory and the field. The contributors review a wide range of topics, including vocalization, abstract reasoning abilities, imitation and learning, social cognition, echolocation, and ethical issues in working with cetaceans. The book begins by examining the dolphin brain and its evolution, the anatomy of its unique sound production and reception systems, and its sensory abilities. It next treats communication, reviewing the complexity of dolphins' vocalization, and then describes research on cognition, from both experimental and developmental perspectives. Finally, the book considers the future of dolphin research, including a series of provocative questions that remain unanswered, posed by the volume's expert contributors. Contributors Mats Amundin, Whitlow Au, Ted W. Cranford, Nicola Erdsack, John Ford, Wolf Hanke, Louis M. Herman, Denise L. Herzing, Christine M. Johnson, Petr Krysl, Stan Kuczaj, Marc Lammers, Lori Marino, Paul Nachtigall, Julie Oswald, Adam A. Pack, Heidi Pearson, Sam Ridgway, Jeanette Thomas, Randall Wells, Thomas I. White, Hal Whitehead, Kelley Winship, Bernd Würsig

Book Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Odontocetes

Download or read book Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Odontocetes written by Bernd Würsig and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-08-02 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book concentrates on the marine mammalian group of Odontocetes, the toothed whales, dolphins, and porpoises. In 23 chapters, a total of 40 authors describe general patterns of ethological concepts of odontocetes in their natural environments, with a strong bent towards behavioral ecology. Examples are given of particularly well-studied species and species groups for which enough data exist, especially from the past 15 years. The aim is to give a modern flavor of present knowledge of ethology and behavior of generally large-brained behaviorally flexible mammals that have evolved quite separately from social mammals on land. As well, the plight of populations and species due to humans is described in multiple chapters, with the goal that an understanding of behavior can help to solve or alleviate at least some human-made problems.

Book Sex in Cetaceans

    Book Details:
  • Author : Bernd Würsig
  • Publisher : Springer Nature
  • Release : 2023-09-25
  • ISBN : 3031356519
  • Pages : 613 pages

Download or read book Sex in Cetaceans written by Bernd Würsig and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-09-25 with total page 613 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sex in Cetaceans provides an up-to-date review of multi-faceted aspects related to mating and reproduction in toothed and baleen whales. This open access book begins with discussions of sexual selection and anatomical traits related to mating and diversity between the sexes. The functions of non-conceptive copulations are reviewed as are different research techniques applied to explore sex in cetaceans. Authors and editors build knowledge of female and male social, mating, and parental strategies and tactics for several specific toothed dolphin/porpoise/whale species and baleen whale species. It concludes with a discussion of potential conservation efforts and ways to help especially beleaguered species and populations the world over. The volume is intended as a major primer of cetacean sex for undergraduate and graduate students, new and established researchers in the field, and the public wishing to learn more.

Book The Ontogeny of Diving in Bottlenose Dolphins  tursiops Truncatus

Download or read book The Ontogeny of Diving in Bottlenose Dolphins tursiops Truncatus written by Shawn Ranee Noren Kramer and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book The Nature of Social Relationships in Bottlenose Dolphins  Tursiops Truncatus

Download or read book The Nature of Social Relationships in Bottlenose Dolphins Tursiops Truncatus written by Briana Nicole Harvey and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Little is known about the specific behavioral exchanges that occur on a day-to-day basis between dyads of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). This thesis assesses proximity between dyads (~ 2 meters) and the proportion of time that is spent in either an affiliative, agonistic, or socio-sexual context within age/sex pairings of dolphins in order to better understand the nature of social relationships in this species. Observations of bottlenose dolphins housed at the Roatan Institute of Marine Sciences, collected in 2010, provided 10.5 hours of underwater footage for assessment of association coefficients and proportions of interactions. These data suggested similar patterns to previous studies on bottlenose dolphin association patterns and interactions. Mother-calf dyads were found to share the highest coefficients of association, followed by male-male, female-female, and male-female dyads. Four classes of association coefficients were defined for the population: low, medium, medium-high and high. Regardless of which class dyads fell into, affiliative behavior was the most prevalent context recorded, followed by agonistic, and then socio-sexual contexts. This same pattern was also found regardless of which age/sex categories the dyads were placed. This study is the first to quantitatively assess association patterns with affiliative, agonistic, and socio-sexual behaviors in this species concurrently and reveals that the social relationships of these dolphins are predominately affiliative in nature. Furthermore, the patterns of social relationships observed appear to be consistent with sex-specific reproductive strategies. --Page ii.

Book Comparative Cognition

Download or read book Comparative Cognition written by Edward A. Wasserman and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 734 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1978, Hulse, Fowler, and Honig published Cognitive Processes in Animal Behavior, an edited volume that was a landmark in the scientific study of animal intelligence. It liberated interest in complex learning and cognition from the grasp of the rigid theoretical structures of behaviorism that had prevailed during the previous four decades, and as a result, the field of comparative cognition was born. At long last, the study of the cognitive capacities of animals other than humans emerged as a worthwhile scientific enterprise. No less rigorous than purely behavioristic investigations, studies of animal intelligence spanned such wide-ranging topics as perception, spatial learning and memory, timing and numerical competence, categorization and conceptualization, problem solving, rule learning, and creativity. During the ensuing 25 years, the field of comparative cognition has thrived and grown, and public interest in it has risen to unprecedented levels. In their quest to understand the nature and mechanisms of intelligence, researchers have studied animals from bees to chimpanzees. Sessions on comparative cognition have become common at meetings of the major societies for psychology and neuroscience, and in fact, research in comparative cognition has increased so much that a separate society, the Comparative Cognition Society, has been formed to bring it together. This volume celebrates comparative cognition's first quarter century with a state-of-the-art collection of chapters covering the broad realm of the scientific study of animal intelligence. Comparative Cognition will be an invaluable resource for students and professional researchers in all areas of psychology and neuroscience.

Book Evolution of Communicative Flexibility

Download or read book Evolution of Communicative Flexibility written by D. Kimbrough Oller and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Experts investigate communicative flexibility (in both form and usage of signals) as the foundation of the evolution of complex communication systems, including human language. The evolutionary roots of human communication are difficult to trace, but recent comparative research suggests that the first key step in that evolutionary history may have been the establishment of basic communicative flexibility--the ability to vocalize freely combined with the capability to coordinate vocalization with communicative intent. The contributors to this volume investigate how some species (particularly ancient hominids) broke free of the constraints of "fixed signals," actions that were evolved to communicate but lack the flexibility of language--a newborn infant's cry, for example, always signals distress and has a stereotypical form not modifiable by the crying baby. Fundamentally, the contributors ask what communicative flexibility is and what evolutionary conditions can produce it. The accounts offered in these chapters are notable for taking the question of language origins farther back in evolutionary time than in much previous work. Many contributors address the very earliest communicative break of the hominid line from the primate background; others examine the evolutionary origins of flexibility in, for example, birds and marine mammals. The volume's interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives illuminate issues that are on the cutting edge of recent research on this topic. Contributors Stéphanie Barbu, Curt Burgess, Josep Call, Laurance Doyle, Julia Fischer, Michael Goldstein, Ulrike Griebel, Kurt Hammerschmidt, Sean Hanser, Martine Hausberger, Laurence Henry, Allison Kaufman, Stan Kuczaj, Robert F. Lachlan, Brian MacWhinney, Radhika Makecha, Brenda McCowan, D. Kimbrough Oller, Michael Owren, Ron Schusterman, Charles T. Snowdon, Kim Sterelny, Benoît Testé, Gert Westermann

Book Animal Creativity and Innovation

Download or read book Animal Creativity and Innovation written by and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2015-10-29 with total page 539 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Animal Creativity and Innovation explores theories and research on animal innovation and creativity, comparing and contrasting it with theory and research on human creativity and innovation. In doing so, it encompasses findings from psychology, biology, neuroscience, engineering, business, ecology, and education. The book includes examples of animal innovation in parrots, dogs, marine mammals, insects, and primates, exploring parallels from creative play in children. The book defines creativity, differentiating it from play, and looks at evolutionary models and neurological constructs. The book further explores applied aspects of animal innovation and creativity including tool use and group dynamics, as well as barriers to creativity. The final chapters look into how creative behavior may be taught or trained. Each chapter is followed by a commentary for integration of thoughts and ideas between animal and human research, behavioral and cognitive research, and theory and observation in real life. Compares theory and research on animal and human creativity Defines and differentiates creativity from play Reviews applied creativity in tool use and social dynamics Includes examples of animal creativity in multiple species

Book Marine Mammal Welfare

    Book Details:
  • Author : Andy Butterworth
  • Publisher : Springer
  • Release : 2017-06-19
  • ISBN : 3319469940
  • Pages : 625 pages

Download or read book Marine Mammal Welfare written by Andy Butterworth and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-06-19 with total page 625 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Marine mammals attract human interest – sometimes this interest is benign or positive – whale watching, conservation programmes for whales, seals, otters, and efforts to clear beaches of marine debris are seen as proactive steps to support these animals. However, there are many forces operating to affect adversely the lives of whales, seals, manatees, otters and polar bears – and this book explores how the welfare of marine mammals has been affected and how they have adapted, moved, responded and sometimes suffered as a result of the changing marine and human world around them. Marine mammal welfare addresses the welfare effects of marine debris, of human traffic in the oceans, of noise, of hunting, of whale watching and tourism, and of some of the less obvious impacts on marine mammals – on their social structures, on their behaviours and migration, and also of the effects on captivity for animals kept in zoos and aquaria. There is much to think and talk about – how marine mammals respond in a world dramatically influenced by man, how are their social structures affected and how is their welfare impacted?

Book The Hawaiian Spinner Dolphin

Download or read book The Hawaiian Spinner Dolphin written by Kenneth S. Norris and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1994-08-30 with total page 437 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Twenty years in the making by a distinguished dolphin expert and his associates, The Hawaiian Spinner Dolphin is the first comprehensive scientific natural history of a dolphin species ever written. From their research camp at Kealakeakua Bay in Hawaii, these scientists followed a population of wild spinner dolphins by radiotracking their movements and, with the use of a windowed underwater vessel, observing the details of their underwater social life. The authors begin with a description of the spinner dolphin species, its morphology and systematics, and then examine the ocean environment, the organization of dolphin populations, and the way this school-based society of mammals uses shorelines for rest and instruction of the young. The dolphins' reproductive cycle, their vision, vocalization, hearing, breathing, and feeding, and the integration of the school are carefully analyzed. The authors conclude with a comprehensive evolutionary analysis of this marine cultural system, with its behavioral flexibility and high levels of cooperation. This absorbing book is the richest source available of new scientific insights about the lives of wild dophins and how their societies evolved at sea.

Book The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Cognition

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Cognition written by Thomas R. Zentall and published by OUP USA. This book was released on 2012-03-20 with total page 941 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive volume illustrates why an understanding of animal intelligence is essential in disclosing the nature of minds other than our own making it a fascinating volume for anyone curious about the state of modern comparative cognition.

Book The Cambridge Handbook of Animal Cognition

Download or read book The Cambridge Handbook of Animal Cognition written by Allison B. Kaufman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-07-22 with total page 1032 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This handbook lays out the science behind how animals think, remember, create, calculate, and remember. It provides concise overviews on major areas of study such as animal communication and language, memory and recall, social cognition, social learning and teaching, numerical and quantitative abilities, as well as innovation and problem solving. The chapters also explore more nuanced topics in greater detail, showing how the research was conducted and how it can be used for further study. The authors range from academics working in renowned university departments to those from research institutions and practitioners in zoos. The volume encompasses a wide variety of species, ensuring the breadth of the field is explored.

Book Behavioral Development of Dusky Dolphins

Download or read book Behavioral Development of Dusky Dolphins written by Sierra Michelle Deutsch and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thesis examines the characteristics of dusky dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obscurus) nursery groups and ontogeny of dusky dolphin calves. Data were collected via boat-based group focal follows of nurseries from October 2006-May 2007. A total of 87 nursery groups were encountered. Data were analyzed according to age category (infant or yearling) and season (early or late). Nursery group membership was lowest in the early season and when yearlings were present. The average number of yearlings in a nursery group was less than that of infants. The predominant activity of calves was rest. Early infants rested the most, while travel seemed most important for late infants, and early yearlings were most likely to forage. With the exception of early infants, all calves were more likely than adults to interact with boats. When taking month into account, yearlings were more social in general than infants. Infants showed a positive trend in sociality, while yearling sociality remained relatively stable. Nursery groups are markedly segregated by calf age, and 80% of nursery groups contained calves of only one age group. Dusky dolphin calves show a similar trend in preference for position in relation to the mother as that in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.), with echelon swim decreasing with age. However, all calves appear to prefer echelon swim when nursery groups are traveling. Calves were more likely to swim independently in the late part of the season and while foraging or socializing, and were more likely to be in close proximity to their mothers while resting or traveling. Calves learned noisy leaps, followed by clean, coordinated, and acrobatic leaps, in that order. There was no clear relationship between behavioral state and types of leaps performed by calves. Early infants leapt less often than older calves, but leap frequency did not differ among the older calves. The overall pattern in the ontogeny of dusky dolphin leaps indicates that the physical development of leaps is learned individually, while the context in which the leaps are performed is learned from conspecifics. These results indicate that nursery groups represent an important environment for healthy physical and social development of calves.

Book Personality in Nonhuman Animals

Download or read book Personality in Nonhuman Animals written by Jennifer Vonk and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-07-26 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This stimulating and comprehensive collection brings together multiple perspectives on the topic of personality in nonhuman animals—linking historical perspectives, theoretical approaches, methods, and cutting-edge discoveries. Experts from various fields describe their findings on species ranging from dogs, cats, chimpanzees, and dolphins to sharks, snakes, and other reptiles. Chapters not only discuss the evolution of personality, but also describe potential applications within the areas of animal-human interactions, animal ethics and welfare, conservation science, and other areas. A key focus is the role of genetics and the environment in determining animal behavior and personality, including related traits, such as creativity and boredom. These chapters present the study of personality in nonhumans as a means by which we can better understand medical and psychological issues specific to our own species as well. Chapters include: · Exploring factor space (and other adventures) with the Hominoid Personality Questionnaire · The quantitative and molecular genetics of individual differences in animal personality · Personality, temperament and individuality in reptile behavior · What do we want to know about personality in marine mammals? · Individual differences in nonhuman animals: examining boredom, curiosity, and creativity · The interplay between animal personality and foraging ecology Taking significant steps in advancing the study of animal personality, Personality in Nonhuman Animals will engage personality psychologists, comparative psychologists, and behavior ecologists as well as conservationists, zookeepers, livestock managers, and all those interested in the brain and behavior of animals.

Book Play  Playfulness  Creativity and Innovation

Download or read book Play Playfulness Creativity and Innovation written by Paul Patrick Gordon Bateson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-07-11 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the role of playfulness in animal and human development, highlighting its links to creativity and, in turn, to innovation.