Summary: Dukas & Jongsma (2012)

Female mate choice is common in the animal kingdom and females and males may come into conflict over a female's choosiness. In particular, males that are chosen less frequently by females may resort to forceful copulations in order to gain some reproductive fitness. In fruit flies Drosophila melanogaster, males may force-copulate with sexually immature females just after eclosion, a particularly vulnerable time for females. Although males only achieve approximately 20% of successful matings this way, the results for females are significant. Females suffer reduced longevity, high wing damage and show lowered reproductive success (through generation of fewer progeny, which they can still produce). Although females are capable of remating at sexual maturity after a forced copulation, mating is generally followed by a period of diminished receptivity and attractiveness, meaning that females may not be able to mate until a later time. Dukas & Jongsma (2012) quantified the effects of forced vs. consensual matings on the receptivity and attractiveness of females, to determine whether forcibly mated females are able to overcome the effects of mating by showing faster return to receptivity and attractiveness. Although forcibly mated females appeared as attractive as same-age virgins, and were more attractive than recently consensually mated females, Dukas & Jongsma (2012) found that they remated at a lower frequency than same-age virgins, but a higher frequency than recently mated females. In the case of fruit flies, it seems that males benefit through forced copulations by gaining some fitness benefits through generation of progeny. Although damaging to females, females are able to overcome this negative behaviour, and can gain matings later through return to attractiveness and receptivity (even if only partially).

Summary: Montgomery (2014)

 Many mammals, including primates, play. Play includes those behaviours that appear incompletely functional, atypical, spontaneous and repeatable, and are elicited under conditions of low stress. Play is easy to recognize, but is often difficult to define. Play is primates occurs often, although nonadaptive and adaptive explanations for its occurrence are plentiful. In primates, social play has been linked to the relative size of various brain regions, including the neocortex, amygdala, cerebellum and hypothalamus, suggesting that play is involved in the development of cognition. These structures have also been shown to be involved in the ability to first predict, and then perform, sequential actions, indicative of behavioural flexibility. Using data on the frequency of social and nonsocial play in various primates, Montgomery (2014) attempted to find evidence that could directly link play to behavioural flexibility and/or brain maturation. He found that postnatal brain growth increased with the frequency of play and that measures of behavioural flexibility are associated with the frequency of play. Montgomery (2014) concluded by indicating that the results from this study provide an adaptive framework for play.

Summary: McComb et al. (2014)

An animals' ability to perceive and recognize predators, as well as assess the threat they pose, is crucial for the survival and persistence of the individual and, by extension, the species. By assessing the threat, animals can minimise the cost of retreating if the threat is unfounded, while maximising the time spent engaged in other activities. While most small-bodied animals are faced with a variety of predator threats, larger-bodied species, such as elephants Loxodonta africana may not experience the same pressure from predation. However, elephants and other large-bodied animals are at risk of predation by humans, due to humans increased cognitive ability to hunt these larger-bodied resources. McComb et al. (2014) investigated elephant responses to vocal playbacks of different humans in Amboseli National Park, Kenya. They tested whether elephants responded differently to 1) adult male human voices from two different ethnic groups (Maasai and Kamba), 2) male and female human vocalizations; and 3) young male human voices (boys). They resynthesised the adult male vocalizations to mimic female voices. McComb et al. (2014) found that elephants used more defensive bunching postures and investigative smelling following adult male Maasai vocalizations, compared to Kamba male vocalizations, consistent with the high predation threat imposed by this group of humans. In addition, elephants were less likely to demonstrate a strong behavioural response to female and young boy vocalizations, indicating an ability to distinguish between different vocal qualities. While McComb et al. (2014) suggest that this may be a function of selection in these cognitively advanced animals, with increasing human pressure, it would be interesting to determine whether this is a more general response than expected.

Summary: Atwood et al. (2012)

Increased mortality and morbidity can result from alcohol consumption and high levels of  consumption and increased episodic "binge" drinking incidents are increasingly becoming more of a social concern. Alcohol consumption is sensitive to a variety of factors, including price, drinking age restrictions, hours/days of alcohol sale and number/density/type of alcohol outlets. Atwood et al. (2012) explored another factor thought to influence alcohol consumption - glass shape. They exposed 159 male and female alcohol consumers to either lager or soft drink (7-Up), straight or curved glass and 6 fl oz or 12 fl oz (in various combinations). Thereafter, participants completed a word search puzzle to disguise the true aim of the experiment. Atwood et al. (2012) measured rate of consumption, total drinking time, perceptual judgement of the half-way point of the glass. They found that rate of consumption decreased by 60% when alcohol-drinking consumers drank from a straight glass compared to a curved one, but this was only observed when the glass was full (12 fl oz). Atwood et al. (2012) also found that the half-way point of a curved glass was more difficult to estimate than that of a straight glass, suggesting that glass shape can influence rate of consumption of alcoholic beverages. This could be an effective strategy for alcoholic consumption management.

Summary: Pappano et al. (2012)

 Living in a group confers numerous benefits, such as reduced energy expenditure for thermoregulation (social huddling), increased predator detection (with reduced individual vigilance - the "many eyes" hypothesis) and increased predator defence (e.g. mobbing by many). Hamilton (1971) postulated that groups form because individuals are inherently selfish and grouping can diminish costs associated with living alone. Both De Vos & O'Riain (2010) and Quinn & Cresswell (2006) have demonstrated that the the central tenets of the "selfish herd hypothesis" can hold true in some mammals and birds. Pappano et al. (2012) postulate that this idea can also translate to "social predators" - infanticidal males. They proposed that the impact of a non-breeding, potentially infanticidal bachelor male geladas Theropithecus gelada, could alter spacing patterns of  reproductive units within a group. Their findings suggest that these social predators are capable of causing group spacing dynamics to change: 1) numbers of animals in a group increased with an increasing number of bachelor males; 2) breeding individuals moved into closer contact with neighbours closest to them; and 3) reproductive females associated more with reproductive males. Pappano et al.'s (2012) study indicates that spacing patterns of individuals could offset the costs of potentially associating with social predators within groups.

Summary: Heimann et al. (2009)

Veterinary practice, research and drug development has relied heavily on blood examination in laboratory animals. One of the common methods used for extracting blood from rodents is the retrobulbar venous plexus puncture. The advantage to this technique is the ability to harvest high volumes of blood, however, this technique can lead to extensive tissue damage, so much so that this method is only currently accepted if the procedure results in termination. Heimann et al. (2009) developed a novel puncture technique for rodents from the sublingual vein as an alternative to the retrobulbar venous plexus puncture technique. They found that large volumes of blood could be obtained using this method and that the method was suitable for rats, mice and hamsters. However, the sublingual vein in guinea pigs is not peripherally located, making this method impossible for these rodents. Heimann et al. (2009) also noted that sublingual venepuncture resulted in less tissue destruction in mice and, therefore, recommended this method over the retrobulbar venous plexus puncture technique.

Summary: Jozet-Alves et al. (2012)

Cerebral lateralization, defined as localization of function on either the right or left sides of the brain, was thought to be an exclusively human trait until recently. Lateralization is often perceived as asymmetries in motor behaviour, for example, a preference for using a particular hand, or turning in a particular direction. While lateralization studies in vertebrates are now common place, lateralization studies in invertebrates are more rare, although observations appear to parallel that seen in vertebrates. While lateralization in vertebrates can vary within an individual across its development, this was unknown in invertebrates. Jozet-Alves et al. (2012) examined lateralization during postembryonic development in juvenile cuttlefish Sepia officinalis, specifically focusing on when juveniles begin to show side-turning preferences. They found that juvenile cuttlefish progressively developed a left-turning bias between the ages of 3 and 45 days posthatch, but this was dependent on the presence of shelters. Jozet-Alves et al. (2012) suggest that this preference for turning left is a result of eye-use preference. This establishment of visual lateralization can provide juveniles with greater behavioural efficiency at dispersal, but increasing their ability to detect escape routes during hunting. It is possible that, by determining the role that the right visual field plays during prey-seeking in cuttlefish, this may provide evidence for homology for lateralization between vertebrates and invertebrates.