LSM1303 Animal Behaviour

Alright, so I was walking home the other day and suddenly I hear this weird clacking sound behind me. It was approximately 11.30pm and I was freaked. I’m not a ghost-believer but I am scared of meeting crazy, pervy humans in the middle of the night. Rather than turning around to locate the source of that sound, I hastened my leisurely walk to a brisk one. But, whaddya know, the sound seemed to follow me! I whirl around and lo and behold, it was a cat! But the little guy was crouched and looked as though it was ready to pounce! Now, I must admit, I am a cat lover but this cat seemed to come out of Steven Spielberg’s (awesome) film Jurassic Park. It kept making a sort of Velociraptor noise with its mouth. “What’s up little fella?” I asked it (yes I talk to cats). Suddenly, a rat streaked by me and the crazy cat, of course dashed madly after it.

Intrigued by this behaviour, I went online to see if there was some explanation for the cat’s weird sounds. Sure enough, there was. Youtube is a Godsend, seriously. Apparently, the term for that sound is called chatter and cats make that sound when they spot prey. Take a look at this video.

THOSE CATS ARE DINOSAURS!!

I don’t know about you guys, but that sound is sooo weird. It doesn’t sound like anything I would ever associate with cats. There hasn’t been a whole lot of research on why cats make certain vocalizations but there are a lot of pet-associated websites that do explain this chattering sound. Apparently, one of the reasons a cat chatters is because “this is [the] cat’s way of trying to get the prey to trust them” and also one website even said that cats make this sound when they deliver a “special” neck bite to their prey. This “special” bite, I found out, is called a Killbite where it’s basically a forceful bite to the jugular vein in the neck of the prey. These kinds of sounds are also mostly seen in feral cats and noted to be known as instinctive hunting sounds.

Interestingly, cats don’t only make this sound when it comes to prey but can be seen in instances when they are scolded or threatened by humans. An article from StarTribune.com states, “[Cats] will chatter back at their human when they are caught off guard or disagree with the human’s tone of voice toward them. If your cat gets in trouble, sometimes, he will chatter back at you, as if in defence of himself, saying, “Whatever it is, I didn’t do it!””.

Whether or not, these facts are true on cats chatter, I don’t know. Maybe those of you who own cats might try a hand in explaining this phenomenon. Lol. All I know is that, the next time I’m walking home, I don’t have to worry about being stalked by dinosaurs!

P.s. Didn’t you think the squirrel was cute? Looked like it was doing sign language with its tail! Oh well, that’s for someone else to research. Taarah!

Petplace.com. “Why Do Cats Make a Chattering Sound”. Understanding your cat. Virginia Wells. 2009.         <http://www.petplace.com/cats/why-do-cats-make-a-chattering-sound/page1.aspx>

StarTribune.com. “Sounds your cats make have different meanings”. The sounds cats make. 2009. Star Tribune.<http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/pets/11253316.html>

Hall, Sarah, John, Bradshaw and Ian Robinson. Object play in adult domestic cats: the roles of habituation and disinhibition. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 79.3. (2002) 263-271.

Non-human primates(monkeys) have been touted as the closest animal kin to human beings. Studies on the tool-using behavior of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in Thailand shows that we have more in common than we probably realise.

In the old Buddhist shrine of Prang Sam Yota, Lopburi, Thailand, female long-tailed macaques have been observed to floss using human hair pieces, doubling the time spent flossing when their infants are in proximity. This suggests that the mothers are intentionally passing on the skill to their young (also known as tool use learning).

“I was surprised because teaching techniques on using tools properly to a third party are said to be an activity carried out only by humans,” said Professor Nobuo Masataka. (BBC 2009)

Fig. 1.(Taken from Watanabe, Urasopon, Malaivijitnond 2007;942)
A monkey using hair for dental floss (top, left and right), juvenile monkey using coconut shell fiber (bottom left) and pulling women’s hair (bottom right).

The macaques displayed an amazing amount of consciousness over the act of flossing, showing an uncanny similarity to such human actions. To floss, the macaque has to sort through hair lengths, hold the string taut before edging the hair between teeth and finally pulling it off to one side to remove lodged bits of food. “Reinsertion’ of the make-shift floss is also noted. In addition, fibers from coconut shells were similarly used (Fig. 1).Flossing was notably prolonged when baby macaques are nearby. The magnification or ‘looming’ of a particular action (also known as motionese) enhances the transmission of cultural information, accounting for the ubiquity of macaques flossing near the temple site.

It is interesting to note that when presented with hairpieces, some macaques appear to remove only a few strands of hair, demonstrating an awareness of the type of tool they require for the task (similar to how people break off an appropriate length of floss from the spool of dental thread). Also, since monkeys cannot see what they are doing, they have to rely on tactile senses to fine-tune and readjust the flossing process, just as we do. (video: Mother Monkey flossing)

This atypical behaviour of the macaques is attributable to the unique environment that the monkey live in. [Kawai, 1965] The religion of the people in the Lopburi area views monkeys as servants of God, offering up huge amounts of foods every day. The worship of these shrine monkeys explains why the monkeys have been able to survive in the city area and allows them to engage in activities that would not be tolerated otherwise.

Monkeys ‘teach infants to floss’, BBC. 12 March 2009.

Monkeys That Floss With Human Hair Learn From Mom?, Charles Q. Choi. National Geographic News,12 March 2009.

Kunio Watanabe, Nontakorn Urasopon, and Suchinda Malaivijitnond, 2007. Long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) use human hair as dental floss. American Journal of Primatology, 69; 940-944.

Masataka N, Koda H, Urasopon N, Watanabe K, 2009. Free-Ranging Macaque Mothers Exaggerate Tool-Using Behavior when Observed by Offspring. PLoS ONE 4(3): e4768. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004768Kawai M., 1965.

Newly acquired pre-cultural behavior of the natural troop of Japanese
monkeys on Koshima Islet. Primates 6:1–30.

We all know that reptilian romances, like most Hollywood romances (Hello Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt!), do not last beyond  a single mating season. In fact, reptiles have the tendency to seek out various mating partners within a season (Madsen et al. 1992; Olsson 1995; Olsson and Madsen 1995). This points to a polygynous mating system in which the male mates with several females.

But unlike the serial-womanisers in Hollywood (Yes, I’m talking to you, Jude Law) who simply cannot keep their hands to themselves, polygyny within the reptilian community is linked to territoriality. Bull (2000) states the following:

In many lizard species males are also more active in the mating season because they are defending a territory. Dominant males can hold territories that contain the home ranges of several females…leading to a territorial polygynous mating system.

However, do not even for one second think that the ladies are then relegated to the passive role of being a member of the men’s harem. Female reptiles like the sand lizard (Lacerta agilis) are also known to mate with several males within a mating season (Olson and Madsen, 1995). The act of mating with several males is to ensure enhanced genetic variabilty among their offspring which will greatly improve reproductive successes.

So…is there “true love” in the reptilian kingdom?

I caught an episode of David Attenborough’s Life in Cold Blood series which documents the monogamous relationship between two Shingleback lizards (Tiliqua rugosa). The documentary prompted a quick search online for the Shingleback lizard and I came across Michael Bull’s article titled “Monogamy in Lizards” (2000), which also led me to Bull et al.’s article titled “Social monogamy and extra-pair fertilization in an Australian lizard, Tiliqua rugosa” (1998).

Before moving on to the discussion proper, here are some unknown facts of the Shingleback lizard. Below is an excerpt from Wikipedia:

Tiliqua rugosa is a short tailed and slow moving species of blue-tongued skink found in Australia. It has a heavily armored body and can be found in various colors, ranging from dark brown to cream. It is often seen sunning itself on roadsides or other paved areas.The skink is known by a variety of common names such as bobtail, shingleback or stump-tailed skink, bogeyes, and the Pinecone or Australian sleepy lizard. They have short, wide stumpy tails that resemble their head, and may confuse predators. The tail also contains fat reserves, which are drawn upon during hibernation in winter. The shingleback skink is an omnivore that eat snails and plants and spends much of its time browsing through vegetation for food.

Shingleback lizard

Knowing that prosmicuity is widespread within the reptilian community, it is even more shocking to know that Shingleback lizards are generally monogamous. I say “generally” because Bull et al. (1998) found that there exist certain cases of extra-pair copulation i.e. it was found that 79% of the females were with the same male partners while the remaining were found to be with different male partners. Still, I doubt the anomalous cases take anything away from how amazingly monogamous these creatures are. Bull (2000) describes the following:

Adult males and females of this species form monogamous pairs for an extended period before mating each spring, and they select the same partner in successive years.

If the mating pair gets separated, the male Shingleback lizard will attempt to track down the female by following her scent trail. When the male has finally located its mate, it was observed to nudge the female flank or back leg with its nose, and to tongue flick the female’s flank (Bull et al., 1993). In fact, Bull documents a story that took place in 1997 in which a male Shingleback lizard was found lying next to the carcass of a female Shingleback lizard who had died after being stuck in wired fence.

Bull proposed the following reasons for the monogamous bond between Shingleback lizards:

1. Having a single partner is advantageous because familiarity with the partner will improve one’s chances of feeding and detecting predators. (I figure that it’s somewhat like developing a certain chemistry with your significant other, one wouldn’t want to shop around for other mates if your current mate makes you happy. Seriously, why would you want to look for someone else if your current partner makes excellent spaghetti or helps you hold off the insane crowds during the Great Singapore Sale?)

2. The reason for “sticking” to a partner for years may be due to genetic compatibility. (This reminds me of the “Sweaty T-Shirts” video shown in class.)

3. Long term monogamy is also helpful in preventing the spread of parasites and diseases. An individual lizard would want to stay with a partner for many more years to come if it does not contract any diseases from that partner the first time round. (If you’ve been with a partner for years without contracting any sort of disease, chances are, you’d stay around him or her instead of actively searching for other partners who may have some forms of diseases . Then again, I should not give too much credit to humans, seeing how fickle we can be.)

So, is the monogamous partnership motivated by biological needs and concerns, or is there something more to it? You decide.

References:

Bull, C.M., Bedford, G.S. and Schulz, B.A., 1993. How do sleepy lizards find each other?. Herpetologica 49: 294–300.

Bull, C. Michael. Cooper, Steven J.B. Baghurst, Ben C. (1998). Social monogamy and extra-pair fertilization in an Australian lizard, Tiliqua rugosaBehav Ecol Sociobiol 44: 63-72

Bull, C. Michael. (2000). Monogamy in Lizards. Behavioural Processes 51 (1-3): 7-20

Madsen T, Shine R, Loman J, Hakansson T (1992). Why do female adders copulate so frequently? Nature 355:440-441

Olsson M (1995) Territoriality in Lake Eyre dragons Ctenophorus maculosus: are males “superterritorial”? Ethology 101:222-227

Olsson M, Madsen T (1995) Female choice on male quantitative traits in lizards – why is it so rare? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 36:179-184

Wikipedia.org

The work of Desmond Morris fascinated me ever since I got hold of a copy of “The Naked Ape” from the school library and read it in hiding since it was not considered kid stuff at that time. I have been collecting his books ever since.

Apart from his multitude of books about human behaviour, there are few purely animal behaviour books including Animal Watching, Cat Watching and Dog Watching. Desmond Morris born in 1928 is most famous for his work as a zoologist and ethologist, but is also known as an author.

He achieved fame in 1967 with his book “The Naked Ape”. The book is a bold look at the human species focusing on humanity’s animal like qualities and our similarity with apes, and for explaining human behaviour as largely evolved to meet the challenges of prehistoric life as a hunter-gatherer. His later studies, books and shows have continued this focus on human and animal behaviour, explained from a bluntly zoological point.

Reference

The Illustrated Naked Ape: A Zoologist’s Study of the Human Animal. Desmond Morris. Review by Janet Dunaif-Hattis. American Anthropologist. Sep 1987, Vol. 89, No. 3: 732–733

Morris, D. (1996). The Human Zoo. Kodansha America Inc. ISBN 1-56836-104-1

Yes, there are there infrequent occurrences of large numbers of cicadas even in Singapore – see the relevant few posts in Habitatnews about cicada encounters – you’ll recognise some photos from the lecture!

Lovely footage from Life in the Undergrowth with BBC/David Attenborough that captures the once-in-17 year emergence of cicadas and their amazing calls. Watch on the BBC Youtube page.

See also this amusing site dedicated to cicadas! – Cicada Mania has lovely photos, the emergence formula and even t-shirts and mugs!

I will be showing you some just a few examples of the sort of birds that colonised Punggol grasslands.

Well you can view the complete and breath-taking gallery of Paul Huang’s “Temporary grasslands of Singapore” at naturestops.com

A note about lapwings – in the late 90’s, it was reported that the lapwing, a formerly common bird across most of the United Kingdom had suffered severe in numbers,

In a 1987 survey, the breeding population was estimated at 200-250,000 pairs. By 1998, surveys estimated the population to be 120-140,000 pairs – a drop of 49% in 11 years!

A contributing factor was change in farm practises and loss of habitat for this open country bird.

Since then, amongst the conservation measures taken is Operation Lapwing – which supports the conservation work of many farmers!

An annual competition identifies the best examples of lapwing-friendly management and in the 2007 event, there were 300 participants and more than 135 pairs of lapwings had been bred on the seven best farms!

“Tangerine Ruff ’n’ Sniff: new clue to bird social behaviour.” The Royal Society Science News/Press release, 14 May 2003

“Although odours are a common form of communication in every other vertebrate animal, the possible use of scent to convey social information is an exciting addition to the study of avian behaviour.”

The basic assumption is that vision and hearing are the main senses that birds use to signal each other, e.g. the colour of plumage; the sound of birdsong. This is questioned by new experimental evidence observed in the Crested Auklet, an arctic seabird.

The citrusy smell of Crested Auklet feathers only occurs during the breeding season. Research showed that the birds were repeatedly drawn to the scent of natural feathers and to the chemical components that make up the auklet’s characteristic odour. The seasonal “ruff-sniff” display, may perhaps act as a useful mechanism to obtain odour information about a potential mate.

See also:

• Hagelin, J. C., I. L. Jones & L. E. L. Rasmussen, 2003. A tangerine-scented social odour in a monogamous seabird. Proc Biol Sci., 270(1522): 1323–1329.
• “Crested Auklet birds rub tick-repelling perfume on their mates during courtship.” ScienceDaily, 24 Aug 2007.

Crested Auklets from St. Paul Island, in the Alaskan Pribiloffs. Photo by Philip Witt