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Nasty Neighbour Effect
In ethology, the nasty neighbour effect describes the phenomenon whereby territory-holding animals behave more strongly toward familiar conspecific neighbours than to unfamiliar conspecifics. This phenomenon may be generally advantageous to an animal because the heightened response reduces the likelihood of a nearby intruder entering the territory and taking the resources it contains whereas an unfamiliar or distant territory-holder poses less of a threat. This reduced response minimises the time, energy, and risk of injury incurred during territorial encounters with animals which are less of a threat to the territory holder. The nasty neighbour effect is the converse of the dear enemy effect in which some species are less aggressive toward their neighbours than toward unfamiliar strangers. The four-striped grass mouse ('' Rhabdomys pumilio'') is group living with one single breeding male and up to four communally breeding females per group. Groups typically contain several phil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethology
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objective study of animal behaviour, usually referring to measured responses to stimuli or to trained behavioural responses in a laboratory context, without a particular emphasis on evolutionary adaptivity. Throughout history, different naturalists have studied aspects of animal behaviour. Ethology has its scientific roots in the work of Charles Darwin and of American and German ornithologists of the late 19th and early 20th century, including Charles O. Whitman, Oskar Heinroth, and Wallace Craig. The modern discipline of ethology is generally considered to have begun during the 1930s with the work of Dutch biologist Nikolaas Tinbergen and Austrian biologists Konrad Lorenz and Karl von Frisch, the three recipients of the 1973 Nobel Prize in Phys ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conspecificity
Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organisms or constituents of living organisms of being special or doing something special. Each animal or plant species is special. It differs in some way from all other species...biological specificity is the major problem about understanding life." Biological specificity within ''Homo sapiens'' ''Homo sapiens'' has many characteristics that show the biological specificity in the form of behavior and morphological traits. Morphologically, humans have an enlarged cranial capacity and more gracile features in comparison to other hominins. The reduction of dentition is a feature that allows for the advantage of adaptability in diet and survival. As a species, humans are culture dependent and much of human survival relies on the culture and soci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dear Enemy Effect
The dear enemy effect or dear enemy recognition is an ethological phenomenon in which two neighbouring territorial animals become less aggressive toward one another once territorial borders are well established. As territory owners become accustomed to their neighbours, they expend less time and energy on defensive behaviors directed toward one another. However, aggression toward unfamiliar neighbours remains the same. Some authors have suggested the dear enemy effect is territory residents displaying lower levels of aggression toward familiar neighbours compared to unfamiliar individuals who are non-territorial "floaters".Bee, M.A., (2003). A test of the "dear enemy effect" in the strawberry dart-poison frog (''Dendrobates pumilio''). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 54: 601-610 The dear enemy effect has been observed in a wide range of animals including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates. It can be modulated by factors such as the location of the fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Four-striped Grass Mouse
The four-striped grass mouse (''Rhabdomys pumilio'') or four-striped grass rat, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found throughout the southern half of Africa up to above sea level, extending as far north as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its natural habitats are savannas, shrublands, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, hot deserts, arable land, rural gardens, and urban areas. References mouse, grass, four-striped Mammals of Southern Africa four-striped grass mouse The four-striped grass mouse (''Rhabdomys pumilio'') or four-striped grass rat, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found throughout the southern half of Africa up to above sea level, extending as far north as the Democratic Repu ... Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Anders Sparrman {{Murinae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhabdomys
''Rhabdomys'' is a largely Southern African genus of muroid rodents slightly larger than house mice. They are known variously as striped or four-striped mice or rats. Traditionally the genus has been seen as a single species, ''Rhabdomys pumilio'', though modern evidence on the basis of karyotype and mtDNA analysis suggests that it comprises two or more species and subspecies. Dorsally ''Rhabdomys'' species display four characteristic black longitudinal stripes on a paler background. Appearance and distribution Dorsally ''Rhabdomys'' species display four black longitudinal stripes on a paler background, and accordingly authors sometimes describe it as having seven stripes. In any event ''Rhabdomys'' species as a group are unmistakable because no similarly sized Southern African rodents are similarly marked. Their stripes inspired the generic name, which is derived from the Greek rhabdos meaning rod; hence ''Rhabdomys'', meaning something like "barred mouse". Physically they are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philopatry
Philopatry is the tendency of an organism to stay in or habitually return to a particular area. The causes of philopatry are numerous, but natal philopatry, where animals return to their birthplace to breed, may be the most common. The term derives from the Greek roots ''philo'', "liking, loving" and ''patra'', "fatherland", although in recent years the term has been applied to more than just the animal's birthplace. Recent usage refers to animals returning to the same area to breed despite not being born there, and migratory species that demonstrate site fidelity: reusing stopovers, staging points, and wintering grounds. Some of the known reasons for organisms to be philopatric would be for mating (reproduction), survival, migration, parental care, resources, etc.. In most species of animals, individuals will benefit from living in groups, because depending on the species, individuals are more vulnerable to predation and more likely to have difficulty finding resources and food. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oecophylla Smaragdina
''Oecophylla smaragdina'' ( common names include Asian weaver ant, weaver ant, green ant, green tree ant, semut rangrang, semut kerangga, and orange gaster) is a species of arboreal ant found in tropical Asia and Australia. These ants form colonies with multiple nests in trees, each nest being made of leaves stitched together using the silk produced by the ant larvae: hence the name 'oecophylla' reek for 'leaf-house' Description Workers and major workers are mostly coloured orange. Workers are long; they look after larvae and farm scale bugs for honeydew. Major workers are long, with long strong legs and large mandibles. They forage, assemble and expand the nest. Queens are typically long, and normally greenish-brown, giving the species its name ''smaragdina'' (Latin: emerald). Distribution and habitat ''Oecophylla smaragdina'' has a widespread distribution in tropical Asia and Australia, its range extending from India through Indonesia and the Philippines to Northern Ter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Banded Mongoose
The banded mongoose (''Mungos mungo'') is a mongoose species native from the Sahel to Southern Africa. It lives in savannas, open forests and grasslands and feeds primarily on beetles and millipedes. Mongooses use various types of dens for shelter including termite mounds. While most mongoose species live solitary lives, the banded mongoose live in colonies with a complex social structure. Characteristics The banded mongoose is a sturdy mongoose with a large head, small ears, short, muscular limbs and a long tail, almost as long as the rest of the body. Animals of wetter areas are larger and darker colored than animals of dryer regions. The abdominal part of the body is higher and rounder than the breast area. The rough fur is grayish brown and black, and there are several dark brown to black horizontal bars across the back. The limbs and snout are darker, while the underparts are lighter than the rest of the body. Banded mongooses have long strong claws that allow them to dig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand Bellbird
The New Zealand bellbird (''Anthornis melanura''), also known by its Māori names korimako, makomako, and kōmako, is a passerine bird endemic to New Zealand. It has greenish colouration and is the only living member of the genus ''Anthornis''. The bellbird forms a significant component of the famed New Zealand dawn chorus of bird song that was much noted by early European settlers. The explorer Captain Cook wrote of its song "it seemed to be like small bells most exquisitely tuned". Its bell-like song is sometimes confused with that of the tūī. The species is common across much of New Zealand and its offshore islands as well as the Auckland Islands. Description Males are olive-green with a dark purplish sheen on their head and black outer wing and tail, while females are a duller olive-brown with a blue sheen on the head and yellowish-white curving from the base of the bill to below the eye. Both have a notably red eye. They are about 17–20 cm from the tip of their bea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hen Harrier
The hen harrier (''Circus cyaneus'') is a bird of prey. It breeds in Eurasia. The term "hen harrier" refers to its former habit of preying on free-ranging fowl. It migrates to more southerly areas in winter. Eurasian birds move to southern Europe and southern temperate Asia. In the mildest regions, such as France and Great Britain, hen harriers may be present all year, but the higher ground is largely deserted in winter. The northern harrier was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the hen harrier. Taxonomy In 1758 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the hen harrier in the first volume of his ''Gleanings of Natural History''. He used the English name "The blue hawk". Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on a bird that had been shot near London. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his ''Systema Naturae'' for the twelfth edition, he placed the hen harrier with the falcons and eagles in the genus '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethology
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objective study of animal behaviour, usually referring to measured responses to stimuli or to trained behavioural responses in a laboratory context, without a particular emphasis on evolutionary adaptivity. Throughout history, different naturalists have studied aspects of animal behaviour. Ethology has its scientific roots in the work of Charles Darwin and of American and German ornithologists of the late 19th and early 20th century, including Charles O. Whitman, Oskar Heinroth, and Wallace Craig. The modern discipline of ethology is generally considered to have begun during the 1930s with the work of Dutch biologist Nikolaas Tinbergen and Austrian biologists Konrad Lorenz and Karl von Frisch, the three recipients of the 1973 Nobel Prize in Phys ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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