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Characteristics of the Mating Behavior of Domesticated Geese from Anser cygnoides and Anser anser. Animals (Basel) 2022; 12:ani12182326. [PMID: 36139186 PMCID: PMC9495035 DOI: 10.3390/ani12182326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2022] [Revised: 08/26/2022] [Accepted: 09/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Mating behavior is a critically important component of poultry reproduction. Here, a total of 135 geese were selected, specifically, Sichuan white geese (Anser cygnoides), Zhedong white geese (Anser cygnoides), and Hungarian geese (Anser anser) (300-day-old), and the mating behavior was monitored daily from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. during the 20-day observation period. The results showed that the mating process included mounting, female cooperation, and successful copulation. Overall, the three breeds preferred mating on land. More than thirty percent of the mating time was primarily concentrated from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in domesticated geese from Anser cygnoides, the corresponding values for Sichuan white geese and Zhedong white geese were 32.0% and 33.3%, respectively. The mating of the Hungarian geese usually took place in the morning. In addition, the frequency of successful copulation of Sichuan white geese and Zhedong white geese were 2.31 and 1.94 times per day, significantly greater than that of Hungarian geese (0.89 times). Furthermore, a significant positive correlation between successful copulation and laying rates (r = 0.985) or fertilization rates (r = 0.992) was observed in Hungarian geese. Taken together, the mating behaviors among the different breeds were mainly reflected in time preference and successful copulation frequency.
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Boz MA, Baş H, Sarica M, Erensoy K. The effects of natural mating and artificial insemination on reproductive traits of 1-and 2-year-old domestic Turkish geese. Vet Res Commun 2021; 45:211-221. [PMID: 34089129 DOI: 10.1007/s11259-021-09802-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess the sperm quality traits of 1- and 2-year-old ganders and the reproduction traits of 2-year-old domestic Turkish geese in natural mating (NM) and artificial insemination (AI) conditions. The study comprised 72 two-year-old females, 12 one-year-old, and 12 two-year-old ganders. Thirty-six female geese were mated naturally (18 with 1-year-old ganders, 18 with 2-year-old ganders); the remaining thirty-six were inseminated artificially (18 with 1-year-old ganders, 18 with 2-year-old ganders). Twenty-four ganders were separated into groups (12 for NM; 12 for AI). The male:female ratio was 1:3 for NM and AI groups. Egg production, broodiness, fertility and hatching traits were determined in female geese, sperm quality traits such as semen volume, sperm concentration, sperm quality factor (eSQF: ejaculated semen SQF; dSQF: diluted semen SQF), sperm motility, and sperm morphological traits in ganders. The insemination method and gander's age did not affect egg production, AI geese showed significantly more broodiness than NM groups as the breeding months progresses (p < 0.05). Fertility was higher in the groups containing 2-year-old ganders than in those 1-year-old ganders, and NM groups compared to AI (p < 0.05). The insemination method significantly affected semen volume, sperm concentration, eSQF, sperm motility, total live sperm, normal sperm, macro-cephalic sperm, and dead sperm percentages in ganders (p < 0.05).Managing females in the NM system with ganders was able to partially suppress the broodiness behavior, possibly due to synchronization of pair-bond behaviors. Greater fertility was achieved with 2-years-old AI ganders, which had lower dSQF compared to 1-year-old NM ganders. This is a good indication that only SQF is not sufficient to achieve sustainable-desired fertility, and sexual experience is also an important factor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mehmet Akif Boz
- Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Animal Science, Yozgat Bozok University, 66900, Yozgat, Turkey.
| | - Hatice Baş
- Faculty of Arts and Science, Department of Biology, Yozgat Bozok University, 66900, Yozgat, Turkey
| | - Musa Sarica
- Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Animal Science, Ondokuz Mayis University, 55139, Samsun, Turkey
| | - Kadir Erensoy
- Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Animal Science, Ondokuz Mayis University, 55139, Samsun, Turkey
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Culina A, Firth JA, Hinde CA. Familiarity breeds success: pairs that meet earlier experience increased breeding performance in a wild bird population. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20201554. [PMID: 33352080 PMCID: PMC7779496 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In socially monogamous animals, including humans, pairs can meet and spend time together before they begin reproduction. However, the pre-breeding period has been challenging to study in natural populations, and thus remains largely unexplored. As such, our understanding of the benefits of mate familiarity is almost entirely limited to assessments of repeated breeding with a particular partner. Here, we used fine-scale tracking technology to gather 6 years of data on pre-breeding social associations of individually marked great tits in a wild population. We show that pairs which met earlier in the winter laid their eggs earlier in all years. Clutch size, number of hatched and fledged young, and hatching and fledging success were not influenced by parents' meeting time directly, but indirectly: earlier laying pairs had larger clutches (that also produce higher number of young), and higher hatching and fledging success. We did not detect a direct influence of the length of the initial pairing period on future mating decisions (stay with a partner or divorce). These findings suggest a selective advantage for a new pair to start associating earlier (or for individuals to mate with those they have known for longer). We call for more studies to explore the generality of fitness effects of pair familiarity prior to first breeding, and to elucidate the mechanisms underlying these effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antica Culina
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Wageningen, The Netherlands.,Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Josh A Firth
- Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Merton College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Camilla A Hinde
- Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Biology, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
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Griffith SC. Cooperation and Coordination in Socially Monogamous Birds: Moving Away From a Focus on Sexual Conflict. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Szipl G, Loth A, Wascher CAF, Hemetsberger J, Kotrschal K, Frigerio D. Parental behaviour and family proximity as key to gosling survival in Greylag Geese ( Anser anser). JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY 2019; 160:473-483. [PMID: 31098339 PMCID: PMC6476843 DOI: 10.1007/s10336-019-01638-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2018] [Revised: 01/15/2019] [Accepted: 01/31/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Reproductive success in monogamous species is generally affected by both behavioural and hormonal fine-tuning between pair partners. Vigilance, defence and brooding of offspring are among the main parental investments, and often the sexes adopt different roles. In the present study, we investigate how sex differences in parental behaviour and family proximity in the socially monogamous Greylag Goose (Anser anser) affect gosling survival. During the reproductive season in spring 2013, we recorded the behaviour of 18 pairs with offspring and gosling survival in a semi-tame, long-term monitored, and individually marked flock of Greylag Geese in Grünau, Austria. We found that behavioural role differentiation between the parents varied with developmental phase, and thus with gosling age. Especially during the first 10 days after hatching, females were foraging more frequently than males, which were more vigilant and aggressive towards other flock members. Such differences between the sexes levelled out 20 to 30 days after hatching. In general, females stayed in closer proximity to their offspring than males. Gosling survival was high when the parents were relatively aggressive and emphasized vigilance rather than foraging behaviour. Hence, we show a direct link between pair partners' quality of parental investment and gosling survival.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georgine Szipl
- Core Facility KLF for Behaviour and Cognition, University of Vienna, Fischerau 11, 4645 Gruenau im Almtal, Austria
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Alina Loth
- Core Facility KLF for Behaviour and Cognition, University of Vienna, Fischerau 11, 4645 Gruenau im Almtal, Austria
- University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, KY16 9ST Scotland UK
| | - Claudia A. F. Wascher
- Core Facility KLF for Behaviour and Cognition, University of Vienna, Fischerau 11, 4645 Gruenau im Almtal, Austria
- School of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, East Road, Cambridge, CB1 1PT UK
| | - Josef Hemetsberger
- Core Facility KLF for Behaviour and Cognition, University of Vienna, Fischerau 11, 4645 Gruenau im Almtal, Austria
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Kurt Kotrschal
- Core Facility KLF for Behaviour and Cognition, University of Vienna, Fischerau 11, 4645 Gruenau im Almtal, Austria
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Didone Frigerio
- Core Facility KLF for Behaviour and Cognition, University of Vienna, Fischerau 11, 4645 Gruenau im Almtal, Austria
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
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Raulo A, Dantzer B. Associations between glucocorticoids and sociality across a continuum of vertebrate social behavior. Ecol Evol 2018; 8:7697-7716. [PMID: 30151183 PMCID: PMC6106170 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.4059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2017] [Revised: 02/22/2018] [Accepted: 02/27/2018] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The causes and consequences of individual differences in animal behavior and stress physiology are increasingly studied in wild animals, yet the possibility that stress physiology underlies individual variation in social behavior has received less attention. In this review, we bring together these study areas and focus on understanding how the activity of the vertebrate neuroendocrine stress axis (HPA-axis) may underlie individual differences in social behavior in wild animals. We first describe a continuum of vertebrate social behaviors spanning from initial social tendencies (proactive behavior) to social behavior occurring in reproductive contexts (parental care, sexual pair-bonding) and lastly to social behavior occurring in nonreproductive contexts (nonsexual bonding, group-level cooperation). We then perform a qualitative review of existing literature to address the correlative and causal association between measures of HPA-axis activity (glucocorticoid levels or GCs) and each of these types of social behavior. As expected, elevated HPA-axis activity can inhibit social behavior associated with initial social tendencies (approaching conspecifics) and reproduction. However, elevated HPA-axis activity may also enhance more elaborate social behavior outside of reproductive contexts, such as alloparental care behavior. In addition, the effect of GCs on social behavior can depend upon the sociality of the stressor (cause of increase in GCs) and the severity of stress (extent of increase in GCs). Our review shows that the while the associations between stress responses and sociality are diverse, the role of HPA-axis activity behind social behavior may shift toward more facilitating and less inhibiting in more social species, providing insight into how stress physiology and social systems may co-evolve.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aura Raulo
- Department of BiosciencesUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
- Zoology DepartmentUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
| | - Ben Dantzer
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMichigan
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMichigan
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina Hirschenhauser
- Department of Behavioural Biology; Faculty of Life Sciences; University of Vienna; Vienna; Austria
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Griggio M, Hoi H. An experiment on the function of the long-term pair bond period in the socially monogamous bearded reedling. Anim Behav 2011. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.09.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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Soares MC, Bshary R, Fusani L, Goymann W, Hau M, Hirschenhauser K, Oliveira RF. Hormonal mechanisms of cooperative behaviour. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2010; 365:2737-50. [PMID: 20679116 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2010.0151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 119] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Research on the diversity, evolution and stability of cooperative behaviour has generated a considerable body of work. As concepts simplify the real world, theoretical solutions are typically also simple. Real behaviour, in contrast, is often much more diverse. Such diversity, which is increasingly acknowledged to help in stabilizing cooperative outcomes, warrants detailed research about the proximate mechanisms underlying decision-making. Our aim here is to focus on the potential role of neuroendocrine mechanisms on the regulation of the expression of cooperative behaviour in vertebrates. We first provide a brief introduction into the neuroendocrine basis of social behaviour. We then evaluate how hormones may influence known cognitive modules that are involved in decision-making processes that may lead to cooperative behaviour. Based on this evaluation, we will discuss specific examples of how hormones may contribute to the variability of cooperative behaviour at three different levels: (i) within an individual; (ii) between individuals and (iii) between species. We hope that these ideas spur increased research on the behavioural endocrinology of cooperation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta C Soares
- Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada, Unidade de Investigação em Eco-Etologia, Integrative Behavioural Biology Group, 1149-041 Lisboa, Portugal.
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