Summary: Griggio et al. (2010)

Preening behaviour is important for plumage maintenance in birds but has received relatively little attention with respect to the role it plays in influencing plumage colouration. Furthermore, elaborate or colourful plumage is important in female mate choice assessment in birds, but few studies have investigated the costs associated with maintaining this trait in good condition (through preening behaviour). Griggio et al. (2010) investigated whether preening behaviour of captive-bred, wild-type budgerigars, Melopsittacus undulatus, changes plumage reflectance and whether females exercise a choice (in two-choice tests) for males that have higher plumage reflectance (i.e. whether female prefer males that were allowed to preen over those prevented from preening or those who could preen, but had plumage what was UV-blocked by UV-absorbing chemicals). Griggio et al. (2010) found that the plumage of unpreened birds showed lower UV reflectance and females showed a preference for preened males. However, when females were given a choice between unpreened and UV-blocked males, they did not show a preference. Their results show that preening mediates plumage colouration (in the UV range) and can convey honest information about a bird's present condition. Furthermore, females are able to exercise a choice based on the level of UV reflectance.

Summary: Yoon et al. (2008)

Humans have a remarkable ability to learn socially, and teaching is a specialised form of cooperative information transmission. It is dependent on the presence of benevolent communication and on the readiness of students to learn. Yoon et al. (2008) hypothesized that human infants should be biased to perceive and member referents of communication, if they are sensitive to those signals typically indicating communication. They tested this hypothesis using 9-month-old human infants, asking whether the infants could discriminate between communicative and noncommunicative social contexts and whether they retain qualitatively different information about novel objects in these contexts. Yoon et al.'s (2008) results show that 9-month-old infants remember the identity of novel objects, but not the location, in a communicative context, while they remember the location of novel objects, but not the identity, in a noncommunicative context. Yoon et al. (2008) propose that infants are sensitive to, and interpret social cues that indicate specific intentions and these represent important mechanisms of social learning, by which others can help determine what information observers retain in memory.

Summary: Martín et al. 2009

Predation risk can vary over a broad range of temporal patterns. As a result, prey may have difficulty assessing risk level and making decisions about how to allocate antipredator behaviour (which is costly) across time. Allocation of antipredator behaviour should depend on 1) the potential benefits gained in the short-term, 2) the costs reduced in the long-term and 3) prior experience of predation risk. Martín et al. (2009) tested how Iberian rock lizards, Iberolacerta cyreni, in the laboratory allocate antipredator behaviour over time when exposed to repeated predatory attacks of different intensity and temporal pattern. Through assessment of activity levels, time spent hidden in refugia after an attack and likelihood of hiding when predators are nearby, they found that antipredator responses increased when risk was high, but this depended on the temporal pattern of the associated risk. Prey activity did not change when predation risk was low or random. Martín et al. (2009) suggest that lizards can predict risk level, and modify their behaviour accordingly, when successive attacks have similar risk levels. However, when risk level is random, lizards adopt a conservative strategy and overestimate risk.

Summary: Brandt & Macdonald (2011)

It is presently thought that "familiarity" can be used as a proxy of quality, as familiarity of potential mating partners can influence mate choice. Social rodent species tend to favour mating with unfamiliar males, while solitary species show a preference for familiar males. Brandt & Macdonald (2011) investigated the role of familiarity in female mate choice in the harvest mouse Micromys minutus, using a two-stage controlled choice experiment. When females were presented only with olfactory cues, they showed no preference for familiar or unfamiliar males. However, when females were presented with live males, oestrus females they showed a clear preference for familiar males, while dioestrus females favoured unfamiliar males. Brandt & Macdonald (2011) also found that male weight affected female response, with oestrus females favouring familiar males that were heavier. In contrast, dioestrus females reduced their preference for unfamiliar males if they were heavier than familiar males. This study provides support for the hypothesis that female harvest mice favour familiar males as mates. Brandt & Macdonald (2011) also note that male size and female reproductive state can influence female preferences.

Summary: Carnaval et al. (2009)

Regions with high species endemism and considered to be threatened (conservation priority) are categorised as biodiversity hotspots. In the face of rapid environmental change, effective conservation may be difficult because biodiversity distribution data are too sparse. Carnaval et al. (2009) suggest that late quaternary climate fluctuations helped to shape present-day diversity in temperate and boreal systems and provide a general context for understanding current patterns of endemism. They compared alternative hypotheses of assemblage-scale responses to late Quaternary climate change using frogs as indicator species, ecological niche models under palaeoclimates and simultaneous Bayesian analyses of multispecies molecular data. They suggest that a hotspot for conservation priority lies within the Brazilian Atlantic forest hotspot. Furthermore, they show that the southern Atlantic forest was climatically unstable relative to the central region, and it served as a large climatic refugium for neotropical species in the late Pleistocene. Carnaval et al. (2009) suggest that this sets new priorities for conservation in Brazil and establishes a validated approach to biodiversity prediction for other understudied, species-rich regions.

Summary: Schino & Marini (2011)

Group-living animals experience numerous conflicts of interests during social life and can minimize the costs of overt aggression through reconciliation. Patterns of reconciliation and their differential use vary and have rarely bee studied. Schino & Marini (2011) studied the postconflict behaviour of captive mandrills Mandrillus sphinx and found that animals use contact and noncontact postconflict affiliation differently depending on their former opponent. Manrills used contact affiliation to reconcile with relatives and the original aggressor (if it was of a lower rank), but were more likely to use noncontact affiliation when reconciling with "repeat-aggressor" opponents. The use of both types of affiliation reduced the likelihood of renewed aggression. Schino & Marini (2011) suggest that accessibility to individuals and danger (likelihood of receiving aggression) modulated the use of conciliatory patterns. They suggest that more studies of flexible conciliatory strategies are needed.

Summary: Akre et al. (2009)

Social behaviour of group-housed foxes at different ages can be influenced by social preference for conspecifics. It is important to understand how social preference changes in order to prevent exposure to possible social stressors. Akre et al. (2009) investigated how familiarity influences social preference and motivation to seek social contact in female silver foxes (Vulpes vulpes) at 9 and 24 weeks of age. Foxes were tested at both ages, and were given a choice between an empty cage, a cage with a familiar female and a cage with an unfamiliar female (same age). They predicted that young cubs would favour familiar social contact for reassurance in a novel situation, while motivation to disperse would weaken this preferencee in older females. They found that, at 9 weeks of age, cubs favoured contact with a conspecific, regardless of familiarity. This preference disappeared at 24 weeks of age, with females increasing aggression towards the unfamiliar animal. Akre et al. (2009) suggest that the motivation for cubs seeking contact with conspecifics is possibly play-related, while motivation for juveniles to increase aggression could be associated with competition.