A review of a case study on feline aggression and possible treatments
REVIEW OF A CASE STUDY ON FELINE AGGRESSION AND POSSIBLE TREATMENT . INTRODUCTION 'Despite the fact that the origins of pet domestication have been lost in history, the significance of pets in our lives cannot be overemphasised', (Landsberg, Hunthausen and Ackerman, 2003:1). Pets are clearly valued in human society, and their behavioural well being has become an important consideration. The study of animal behaviour is important in order to have a better understanding of the needs of an animal and their environment, which in turn leads to improved welfare. The ability to understand an animal's normal behaviour allows abnormal behaviour, such as illness and stress, to be identified. 'All domestic cats descend from the original tabby that emerged at the beginnings of domestication from its wild ancestors', (Tabor, 1997: 20). Despite their variation in appearances, all cats still hold many genetic traits of this wild ancestor. Their methods of hunting, communicating, and their social structures remain the same; therefore understanding this natural behaviour helps explain many of the domestic cat's functions. This is particularly important when addressing feline problem behaviour that are undesirable to human society. It is these undesirable behaviours that pet owners may fail to understand and feel unable to resolve, and as a result many cats end up in rescue shelters facing
What Type Of Chemicals Can The Free-Living Nematode, Pangrellus Redivius, Sense In Its Environment?
What Type Of Chemicals Can The Free-Living Nematode, Pangrellus Redivius, Sense In Its Environment? Introduction Chemo sensation allows animals to detect food, predators, potential mates, and other key stimuli in their environments. Animals identify chemicals as attractants or repellents and modify their behaviour accordingly. Multi-cellular animals sense chemicals using specialised cells in the nervous system. Free-living Nematodes are sensitive to numerous environmental chemical stimuli, and will chemo tax to an attractive (water soluble or volatile) compound, and avoid noxious compounds. These animals will also modify their movement, egg laying, feeding, defecation, and their developments based on the detected food available. Observations can be made into their actions via the use of a low-powered microscope or by macroscopic visualizations. Results can be recorded in a table format; a conclusion can be made; and evaluated. Nematodes are the most abundant metazoan within soil, and being decomposers are important for the health of the soil community. To determine the main behavioural factors that are affected by structural heterogeneity, consider nematode movement in one experimental situation: a nematode on an agar filled Petri-dish with/without a bacterial attractant and with/without structure. The experiment is interested in the neurological basis of
This report was commissioned by Sunderland City Council to assess the ecological and educational resources available at the Tunstall Hills site.
. Introduction - .1 Aims of the report This report was commissioned by Sunderland City Council to assess the ecological and educational resources available at the Tunstall Hills site. .2 Scope of the report The report will review the baseline ecological conditions at the site and go on to assess the potential for conservation and educational use of the site. The report will provide input for a feasibility study into a Council proposal to build and operate an environmental education centre at the Tunstall Hills site. 2. Methodology - 2.1 Phase 1 Initially a brief desk study was undertaken to assess the location and significance of the site utilising documentation and aerial photography. The entire site was then investigated using the standard phase 1 mapping techniques. The vegetation type was determined through analysis of species composition and then a colour coded map was produced using a standard 1:10,000 OS map (see appendix 1). 2.2 Phase 2 Further investigation was carried out on the woodland area to the south of the site using the standard procedures for National Vegetation Classification. The phase 1 survey had already identified two distinct areas of the woodland were identified, a semi-natural Ash woodland and a fringing area of Hawthorn scrub land. Within these areas 5 quadrates of 20m?20m were taken to sample the canopy cover, and within each
Evolution Essay
Evolution Essay We act like animals, we eat like animals, and we are animals. The many theories of evolution such as Darwin's theory of evolution prove to us that we choose to believe that we are not animals when we really are. Evolution is the sequencial process of change over periods of time, which shapes and establishes the formation of modern man. In referring to evolution, the word means various changes. Evolution refers to the fabrication and development of life on earth. "Organic evolution" is the concept that all living beings evolved from simple organisms and have changed throughout the periods of time to create many and various types of species. Organic evolution is better known as the "theory of evolution." There are three main theories of evolution, which are, the early theories proposed by Comte de Buffon, Baron Cuvier, and Lamarck, the synthetic theory, and the Darwin theory. In the 1700s, French naturalists, Comte de Buffon and Baron Cuvier concluded with the studies of fossils and comparative anatomy that life on earth had endured many changes through a long period of time. In the early 1800s, another French naturalist named Lamark, proposed the first complete theory of evolution. He observed through is observations, depending on the extent to which the use of the structure, that an animal's body structure is able to change during its life span. He also
The Concept of a Species.
Classification The Concept of a Species. Definition: Species (Collins Dictionary): Said "spee-sheez" NOUN a class of plants or animals whose members have the same characteristics and are able to breed with each other. There is no simple definition for a 'species'. The recently founded idea that species may 'evolve' gradually over time has changed the concept of a species. Before the idea of evolution, it was believed by almost everyone that a God created all species individually, and that they were fixed and unchanging. But later, much evidence such as the fossil record and extensive studies on the adaptations of certain creatures found by scientists, including Charles Darwin, led more and more people to believe that species have evolved very gradually over long periods of time. And because of this, the concept of a species has been modified. Ernst Mayr, one of the founders of modern evolutionary philosophy and theories defined biological species as: "Groups of actually or potentially interbreeding natural populations which are reproductively isolated from other such groups". This definition is also known as the biological species concept (BSC). Advocates of the BSC say that forms that are only slightly different (for example different geographical forms) may interbreed if they had the opportunity. Therefore they should be considered as the same species. However,
The Evolution of Man.
666890 The Evolution of Man There is much debate over how exactly the human species evolved (6). Just how humans proliferated remains one of the great mysteries of science (5). The most logical and widely accepted scientific theory on human evolution today is the molecular basis of life, giving us exceedingly more evidence for Darwin's theory of Evolution. This is the main focus of my paper, to explain human evolution on the basis of molecular divergence and Darwin's theories. There are a vast number of theories on the evolution of mankind: there is the biblical standpoint, the Christian Science standpoint, Darwinism, and many others. As I was doing research I discovered the validity to Darwin's theories as well as the support that the molecular basis gives it. Darwin has forever changed mankind's view of itself, which I think is an incredible feat for one person (2). As I may mention several different standpoints on evolution during the course of this paper, the main focus will be the on Darwinism and the Molecular theory. A frequently asked question is why are we humans controlling the planet? Why aren't some big furry animals controlling it? We attribute this to the severe climate change. It is said that as the world got colder, the human species had to learn to cope with the diminishing plant life by evolving bigger and better brains (3). This brings me to
Investigating the effect that group size has on the vigilant behaviour of flocks of Seagulls.
Investigating the effect that group size has on the vigilant behaviour of flocks of Seagulls. Abstract It is commonly cited in many investigations into this type of animal behaviour that animals spend their time in groups to benefit their probability of detecting predators and to decrease their time in predator detection. This experiment found that this possibly is the case confirming a definite negative correlation between group size and the percentage of the group in vigilant positions. However, although this may explain partly why birds and many other animals travel, eat, sleep e.t.c. in groups it may be that there are many other confounding variables that contribute to these findings. Introduction Animals living in groups may be benefited when it comes to detecting predators. There could be many reasons for this, the larger the group the more likely it is that some other individual will detect the predator (detection effect) thus reducing the need and benefit of each individual animal's vigilance; the risk that each individual will be attacked is reduced simply due to a larger selection for the predator (dilution effect) and because the need for each individual's vigilance is reduced more time can be spent on other activities such as feeding, preening and sleeping. This suggests that individuals monitors the presence of others in the group, are aware of how many others
The Medicinal Potential of the Poison Dart Frog.
The Medicinal Potential of the Poison Dart Frog. Modern medicine is filled with drugs that have been derived from deadly poisons. The potency of these poisons in nature is no accident; each is a part of the organism's defence and predatory mechanisms. Animal venom's make a particularly good source of potential drugs as they are designed to kill or immobilise prey. Many poisons contain dozens or even hundreds of fast acting toxins that home in on muscles and the nervous system. Poisonous snakes, spiders, scorpions and frogs have attracted the most interest, however insects and marine creatures are also a rich source of potent compounds. This essay will discuss the use of the poison dart frog in the search for new chemical entities. Brilliantly coloured frogs of the neotropical family Dendrobatidae produce a variety of novel alkaloids, which have not been detected else where in nature. The family is subdivided into four genera. Phyllobates, Dendrobates, Epipededobates and Minyobates. Which are small brightly coloured frogs, which are mainly terrestrial, all containing lipophilic skin alkaloids. Colostethus is another genus, which contain a small brown frog, and Aromabates, which consist of one nocturnal aquatic species, however these do not contain lipophilic skin alkaloids. Phyllobates consist of five frogs that produce steroidal alkaloids of batrachotoxin class, where as
A Study of the Fishes Caught by Anglers in Downtown Madison, Wisconsin.
A STUDY OF THE FISHES CAUGHT BY ANGLERS IN DOWNTOWN MADISON, WISCONSIN By Laura Gintz University of Wisconsin - Madison INTRODUCTION This paper is concerned with information about the sport fishery in Madison, Wisconsin. It looks at what anglers are catching, how much they are catching, the area and depth where they are fishing, and how they are fishing. The data was collected from anglers on downtown Madison lakes by University students to get information about some of the common fish species on the lakes. The species examined included bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus), white crappie (Pomoxis annularis), perch (Perca flavescens), walleye (Stizostedion vitreum), largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), and northern pike (Esox lucius). The data was then used to compare species composition, size and age distributions, catch rates and habitat of Madison lakes fishes sampled by the winter anglers. METHODS All data was collected on February 7, 2004. Groups of two to three University of Wisconsin - Madison students in the Ecology of Fishes class went out onto one of four lakes in Madison, Wisconsin to get information from anglers. Half of the students went out onto the lakes at 8:30 a.m. and the other half went out at 12:30 p.m. The four lakes studied were Lake Mendota, Lake Wingra, Monona Bay, and Mud Lake. The locations looked at
Why are primate's brains large?
Why are primate's brains large? What is a primate? Primates have been classified into 4 different groups. These are the prosimians, new world monkeys, old world monkeys and apes. A breakdown of each group can be seen below. Prosimians * Lemurs * Galagos * Lorises * Tarsiers New World Monkeys * Callitrichids: marmosets, tamarins * Cebids: woolly monkeys, spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys, howler monkeys, capuchin monkeys Old World Monkeys * Cercopithecines: baboons, macaques, guenons * Colobines: colobus, langurs Apes * Great apes: gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, orang utans, humans * Lesser apes: gibbons, siamang The biological definition for primates is that it is the order of mammals that includes tree shrews, lemurs, monkeys, gibbons, apes and humans. Primates are largely arboreal (i.e. they live up in the trees) and have limbs modified for climbing, leaping or swinging. They have large brains in relation to their body weight and other mammals and generally have highly defined sight, often having stereoscopic vision. I plan to suggest reasons as to how and why the large brains have developed in primates. Primates can be distinguished unmistakeably by their round brainy skulls, high foreheads, forward looking eyes, mobile arms and skilful hands. What difference does brain size make? Brain size by itself does not explain why we and other primates can be