IEC International Ethological Conference Rennes, 19-24 August 2009
 

Symposia




We gave each symposium a number but it does not indicate when it will be held.



Symposium 1
Linguistic animals? A symposium on the linguistic abilities of animals

Chairs

Julia Fischer, German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany
Carel ten Cate, Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands

Introduction

Human language is a highly specialized trait with a complexity that seems unprecedented among animal vocal communication systems. Understanding its evolution has for long been considered to be the realm of speculation rather than science. However, the advance in many relevant disciplines has given rise to a rapidly increasing interest in this question. It currently is a truly interdisciplinary area of research in which behavioural biologists, linguists, cognitive scientists, neurobiologists, archaeologists and others collaborate in their efforts to understand linguistic evolution. One core area for study is that of ‘biolinguistics ’, which aims to understand which features of the language faculty are shared with, or have precursors in, other animals. It aims to test whether properties that seem specific for production, perception and development of human language can be found in other animals. Studies on these issues have revealed that various properties thought to be unique to humans seem to have parallels in animals, although opinions diverge to what extend the similarities point at similar underlying mechanisms or are more superficial. Because of its increasing importance, its interdisciplinary nature and its exciting, though sometimes controversial, findings we think this subject would be very fitting for a symposium at the IEC. Our aim is to present four state-of-the-art talks, each being an example of a different approach to tackle the question of the linguistic abilities of animals. In selecting speakers we have taken care to strike a balance between animal taxa (birds and mammals being the models for this type of research) and types of questions (about perception, production and development), as well as country of origin (D, NL, USA, UK) and age and sex of speakers. As organizers we will introduce the subject and chair the general discussion.
  1. A meaningful call combination in a nonhuman primate
    Kate Arnold & Klaus Zuberbuhler
    School of Psychology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, UK

  2. The role of social feedback in the development of complex communication systems:A comparative approach
    Michael H. Goldstein & Jennifer A. Schwade
    Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA

  3. Male mouse courtship vocalizations are no good model to study linguistic abilities of animals
    Kurt Hammerschmidt & Julia Fischer
    Research Group Cognitive Ethology, German Primate Center, 37077 Göttingen, Germany

  4. Routes to language: perception of natural phonemes by zebra finches
    Verena R. Ohms, Gabriël Beckers, Arike Gill, Caroline A.A. van Heijningen, & Carel ten Cate
    Institute of Biology Leiden, Leiden University, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands




Symposium 2
Sound production and reception in vertebrates: New insights and future directions

Chairs

Thierry Aubin , NAMC-CNRS, Université Paris Sud, Orsay, France
Peter Narins , University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Introduction

The Danish Nobel Laureate, August Krogh, said that "For many problems, there will be an animal for which it can be most conveniently studied," or in other words, organisms that exhibit extremes of adaptation may reveal general principles not readily observed in less extreme species. Studies of acoustic communication are on the rise and our understanding of mechanisms underlying both vocal production and acoustic detection and processing is accelerating in the Vertebrates. This symposium brings together four experts studying four exciting areas of acoustic communication in vertebrates: 1. Annemarie Surlykke (University of Southern Denmark) will discuss her novel study of the previously unsuspected coupling of call intensity and signal directionality in the neotropical Daubenton ´s bat, Myotis daubentonii; 2. Roderick Suthers (Indiana University) will present his groundbreaking X-ray video images of live, singing birds used to investigate the filter properties of the internal suprasyringeal vocal tract; 3. David Reby (University of Sussex) uses a combination of playback experiments, anatomical investigations of the vocal apparatus, and acoustic analyses to illustrate how the sourcefilter theory of vocal production can be applied to studying mammal vocal signals, specifically Red Deer, Cervus elaphus; and 4. Albert Feng (University of Illinois) will present new data suggesting that the vast vocal repertoire of the Chinese concave-eared torrent frog, Odorrana tormota, contains multiple nonlinearities that appear to play a critical role in individual recognition. Each of the speakers was selected for their speaking ability and proven record of delivering interesting, exciting, novel results in an engaging manner. Moreover, each speaker was chosen with an eye toward integration of their talks with as many of the Plenary Lectures as possible. We believe that David Reby ´s, Roderick Suthers ´ and Annemarie Surlykke ´s talks will be closely aligned with Lesley Rogers ´ demonstrated interests in both the evolution of brain and behavior, and higher cognitive function in birds and mammals. Likewise, Albert Feng ´s talk meshes well with H. Carl Gerhardt ´s longtime evolutionary and neurobiological approach to acoustic communication in frogs. And all the speakers are keenly aware of the importance of thinking outside the box of pure acoustic communication and in their thinking and writing have adopted the multisensory approach touted by Robert Licklider.
  1. Range and beam width of bat echolocation signals recorded in the field
    Annemarie Surlykke
    Institute of Biology, Univ. of Southern Denmark, Odense M, Denmark

  2. From syrinx to beak: Modulation of birdsong by the suprasyringeal vocal tract
    Roderick A. Suthers
    The Suthers laboratory, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

  3. From production to perception: Application of the source-filter theory to the study of mammal vocal communication
    David Reby
    School of Life Science, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

  4. Diversity of vocal signals of O. tormota: Dominance of nonlinear phenomena and evidence for individual signatures
    Albert S. Feng, Tobias Riede, Victoria S. Arch, & Jun-Xian Shen
    University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA




Symposium 3
Understanding insect sociality with Tinbergen ´s four questions

Chairs

Raghavendra Gadagkar, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India

Introduction

The evolution by natural selection of altruistic behavior, i.e., behavior that lowers the reproductive fitness of the actor while enhancing the reproductive fitness of the recipient, remains one of the major unsolved problems in evolutionary biology. Because social insects such as ants, bees, wasps and termites exhibit the most frequent and the most extreme forms of altruistic behavior, they have been among the most favorite model systems for investigating the paradox of altruism. There is now a considerable body of robust theory that potentially solves the paradox of altruism. The major task before us therefore is to ask if animals behave as if they obey the theory. This is a largely empirical exercise and has proceeded along many different lines. A frequent approach has been to make specific predictions arising out of the theory, about when and towards whom animals should behave altruistically and examine if these predictions are upheld. An equally important but perhaps less frequent approach has been to investigate the underlying proximate (physiological) mechanisms that make it possible for animals to behave altruistically in an appropriate manner and context. As in many other areas of the study of animal behavior, there is now developing a sharp polarization between these evolutionary (ultimate) and physiological (proximate) approaches. One of the aims of this symposium is to attempt to place the ultimate and proximate approaches in their proper context and understand the relationship and potential interdependence of these two approaches. Only in the last decade are so two additional, somewhat different approaches are beginning to also occupy centre-stage. This are concerned with understanding the ontogeny of social behavior, including tracing the pathway from genes to behavior on the one hand, and reconstructing the phylogenetic history of the appearance of different component of social and altruistic behavior, on the other. An important unintended consequence of the appearance of these additional approaches is that they can help mitigate the extreme polarization between the ultimate and proximate approaches that sometimes threatens to go out of hand – after all, a four-cornered contest is better then a two-cornered contest! It is also true that there has never really been a synthesis of these four (ultimate, proximate, ontogenetic and phylogenetic) approaches to the study of social behavior and this is precisely what we propose to do in this symposium. It is pleasing to note that these four approaches correspond almost exactly to the four questions long proposed by the Niko Tinbergen for the study of animal behavior in general. It is even more pleasing to note that the 31st IEC proposes to build the entire conference around Tinbergen ´s four questions.
  1. The ontogeny of (eu)social behavior
    Amy L. Toth
    Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA

  2. The mechanisms of (eu)social behavior
    James H. Hunt
    Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, NC, USA

  3. The phylogeny of (eu)social behavior
    Ted R. Schultz
    Department of Entomology, Smithsonian Institution, USA

  4. The adaptive origins of (eu)social behavior
    Jacobus J. Boomsma
    Center for Social Evolution, University of Copenhagen, Denmark




Symposium 4 & 5
Animal personality: Promise and problems for the investigation of mechanisms and functions

Chairs

Fritz Trillmich , Department of Animal Behaviour, University of Bielefeld, Germany
Robyn Hudson , Institute for Biomedical Research, National University of Mexico, Mexico

Introduction

The concept of "behavioural types" has recently become of major interest as ethologist began to wonder why animals of the same species within a given population show consistent behaviour across contexts. This phenomenon of consistent intra-specific individual differences in behavior and physiology over a broad range of taxa appears hard to explain as such behavioral types might preclude perfect adaptation to different situations. This field has implications across a wide range of behavioral contexts (like predator-prey interaction, social conflict, sexual selection) as well as life history. In the Darwin year 2009 it seems particularly appropriate to ask what led to the evolution of such behavioral types and which mechanisms (genetic, physiological and developmental) might underlie the phenomenon. This leads us to propose this symposium, which we believe should be of general interest to a broad range of ethologists, evolutionary ecologists and psychologists and which necessitates the kind of interdisciplinary endeavor which we understand is a central theme of the conference. Long a central theme in human psychology, the study of personality has been traditionally considered outside the scope of the scientific study of animal behaviour. This, however, is rapidly changing, in part as a result of an increasing appreciation among behavioural and evolutionary ecologists, sociobiologists, developmental biologist, theoretical biologists and others of the adaptive significance and evolutionary importance of individual differences in physiology, morphology and behavior, and the importance of the interaction between genetics and phenotypic plasticity in accounting for these. Given the rapid growth of interest in the scientific study of animal personality (also variously termed temperament, behavioural types, or behavioural syndromes) as evidenced by the recent publication of major review articles in leading behavioural journals, the time seems ripe to discuss this subject in its many facets critically among ethologists and to consider its future significance for our field. It is also an area which, inherently interdisciplinary in nature, fits well the general intention of the conference organizers to link ethology to other disciplines. Thus, taking an integrative approach, it is our aim in the proposed symposium to bring together speakers able to contribute to four main themes: 1) evidence for the viability, indeed importance, of research in this field, 2) consideration of the physiological mechanisms underpinning behavioural differences in personality, how these might arise during development and may be channeled by heritability of personality traits, 3) continuing methodological and conceptual challenges concerning the measurement of behavioral types, how these might be met, 4) the importance of behavioral types for the evolution of social strategies, 5) identification of promising future questions.


Symposium 4
Animal personality: Promise and problems for the investigation of mechanisms and functions :
Part I

Chairs

Fritz Trillmich , Department of Animal Behaviour, University of Bielefeld, Germany
Robyn Hudson , Institute for Biomedical Research, National University of Mexico, Mexico

Introduction

  1. Why should animals have a personality? It ´s not simply a connection to a life history type
    Andrew Sih and Barney Luttbeg
    Department of Environmental Science & Policy, University of California Davis, CA, USA

  2. What behavioral syndrome? Individual differences and the search for exploratory behavioral profiles among prairie voles
    Danielle N. Lee & Zuleyma Tang-Martínez
    Biology Department, University of Missouri-St. Louis, MO, USA

  3. Coping styles in rats and mice: a multidimensional approach of underlying mechanisms
    Jaap M. Koolhaas
    Dept. of Behavioral Physiology, University Groningen, AA Haren, The Netherlands

  4. Dog personality traits and demographic characteristics associations
    Enik? Kubinyi, Borbála Turcsán & ádám Miklósi
    Eötvös University, Department of Ethology, Budapest, Hungary




Symposium 5
Animal personality: Promise and problems for the investigation of mechanisms and functions :
Part II

Chairs

Fritz Trillmich , Department of Animal Behaviour, University of Bielefeld, Germany
Robyn Hudson , Institute for Biomedical Research, National University of Mexico, Mexico

Introduction

  1. Testosterone and immunocompetence in lines selected for personality differences
    Kees van Oers1, Katherine L. Buchanan2, Tanja E. Thomas1 and Pieter J. Drent1
    1. NIOO-KNAW, Centre for Terrestrial Ecology, ZG  Heteren, The Netherlands
    2. Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

  2. Emergence of personality during early development in kittens of the domestic cat
    Gina Raihani & Robyn Hudson
    Institute for Biomedical Research, National University of Mexico, México

  3. Life history and the evolution of animal personalities
    G.S. van Doorn, M. Wolf, O. Leimar & F.J. Weissing
    Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, AA Haren, The Netherlands

  4. Personality traits, and density-dependent dispersal in an invasive pest, the mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis
    Julien Cote, Sean Fogarty, Tomas Brodin, & Andrew Sih
    Department of Environmental Science & Policy, University of California Davis, CA, USA




Symposium 6
Food-hoarding animals: a multi-disciplinary approach to behaviour

Chairs

Tom V. Smulders , Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Debbie Kelly , University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 5A5, Canada

Introduction

The study of food-hoarding animals is a classic example of taking a suite of behaviours and studying it from all possible angles and levels of analysis.  This field has given us important insights into the dispersal of plants, the evolution of cognitive systems and the brain mechanisms underlying certain types of memories, to name just a few.  In this symposium, we will showcase some of the different ways in which food-hoarding behaviour is studied and emphasize how the different approaches and levels of analysis are integrated and inform each other.  The speakers will address questions relating to the evolution and ecological function of hoarding, the behavioural and neurobiological mechanisms underlying the motivation to hoard, the cognitive strategies used in retrieving the hoards, and the neural mechanisms underlying these strategies.  In addition, one of the Plenary lectures (Bugnyar) will address issues of the development of food-hoarding.  Altogether, this symposium and the plenary lecture will approach food-hoarding behaviour from all of Tinbergen &acut;s four questions.  This symposium will contribute to the goals of the conference by focusing on the integrative potential of ethology. Such a multidisciplinary approach which includes a focus on Development, Mechanisms, Function and Evolution of food hoarding in different taxa (including humans) should be of interest to many ethologists.
  1. The proximate mechanisms of hoarding
    Stephanie D. Preston
    University of Michigan, Department of Psychology, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

  2. Encoding of Landmark and Geometric Information by Clark ´s Nutcrackers
    Debbie M. Kelly
    University of Saskatchewan, Department of Psychology, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

  3. The seasonal brain of food-storing birds
    David F. Sherry
    University of Western Ontario, Department of Psychology, London, Ontario, Canada

  4. Ecological function and evolution of scatter hoarding in the Paridae
    Tom V. Smulders
    Newcastle University, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK




Symposium 7
Etorobotics: New challenges at the cross-road of robotics and ethology

Chairs

Kerstin Dautenhahn , University of Hertfordshire, School of Computer Science, UK
ádám Miklósi , Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

Introduction

There is a small revolution taking place in science as other behaving agents emerge: robots. Until now this was part of science fiction but slowly it becomes part of our daily life. A large community of researchers with various backgrounds in informatics, robotics, psychology, and human-computer and human-robot interactions are working on "real" agents that are designed to interact not only with the physical environment but with humans. Apart from the scientific challenge there is also a practical side to this. It is assumed that robots could play an important role in helping the elderly, the less-able, or working in situations that could be too dangerous for people. Many recent projects supported by the 7th framework of the EU are aimed at developing and improving so called "social robots" which are able to engage in complex social interaction with humans. The symposium would offer the possibility to (1) foster interaction between ethologists and roboticists, (2) present a state of art of this field, (3) and to show the possibility how a new interdisciplinary field, ethorobotics, could emerge as a result. Accordingly, in the first presentation Miklósi et al et al. will argue how ethology could contribute to robotics, and in which way robots could be used as testing tools for behavioural mechanisms. Based on evolutionary reasoning we will suggest that the human-robot relationship should be viewed as an inter-specific relationship, and thus the desire for making human-like robots may be not the best way forward. This idea will be supported by drawing parallels between human-robot and human-dog interaction, and we present cases how the understanding of the behavioural mechanisms in the former relationship may improve the former one. Dautenhahn and colleagues will present ethologically inspired research on human-robot interaction. Their goal is the build robots that are perceived as "companion" by humans, which includes complex interaction over longer time period as well as the personalisation of the agent. The presentation will not only show how robot-human interaction can be described by ethological methods but also how ethological approach to human-dog interaction could facilitate the development of social skills in robots. Enz et al. provide a behavioural analysis comparing human-dog and human-toy-robot interaction. In parallel they investigate how gender and individual differences in humans influence these interactions and inquire about the emotional experiences of the human participants. Finally, Matellan et al. will provide a perspective from robotics, and describe the problems and the challenges to use ethological insights in building of robots. Their investigations will provide the audience with some direct evidence about the direction of development in robotics. In our view this symposium will present novel applications of the ethological approach and provide a challenging novel way of research field for the next generation of ethologists.
  1. Ethorobotics: New tools for modelling behaviour
    Adam Miklósi1, Péter Korondi2, & Szilveszter Kovács3
    1. Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary,
    2. Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary
    3. University of Miskolc, Miskolc, Hungary

  2. Designing and evaluating socially acceptable behaviour for robot companions
    Kerstin Dautenhahn, Michael L. Walters, K. L. Koay, Dag S. Syrdal, Rene te Boekhorst, & Ben Robins
    University of Hertfordshire, School of Computer Science, UK

  3. Meeting dogs and meeting robots – a comparative study
    S. Enz1, G. Lakatos2, & Carsten Zoll1
    1. Otto-Friedrich-Universitaet Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany
    2. Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

  4. Downsizing robotics: Autonomy vs. intelligence
    Vicente Matellán, Camino Fernández, & Juan Felipe Sierra
    Escuela de Ingenierías Industrial e Informática, Universidad de León, Spain




Symposium 8 & 9
Abnormal behaviour patterns in captive animals

Chairs

Georgia Mason , University of Guelph, Canada
Mike Mendl , University of Bristol, UK

Introduction

Abnormal behaviour patterns, such as repetitive route-tracing or harmful plucking and biting, are common in captive animals. Amongst animals used for research, housed in zoos, kept in stables, or farmed for food, fur and other products, well over 85 million individuals perform these behaviours worldwide. If we additionally consider the recipients of these actions, many of which can be seriously injured or even killed by their conspecifics, then the number of animals affected is even greater. Ethologists traditionally explain the appearance of abnormal behaviour patterns in terms of frustrated motivations. Thus normal behaviours are argued to be performed in vacuum or redirected forms when naturalistic substrates are unavailable. Motivational frustration is seen as stressful, and is one reason why these behaviours are used in welfare assessment. In some instances, abnormal behaviour is further hypothesized to help animals cope better with poor housing conditions, by providing some of the motivational feedback that normal behaviour would yield. As the first part of this double-symposium will illustrate, ethological accounts can be good at explaining/predicting the form and timing of abnormal behaviour patterns. However ethological accounts are less good at explaining the degree of repetition or self-harm involved in some. They also ignore potential explanations that come from neuroscience and clinical psychology – fields which explain the abnormal repetitive behaviours of clinical subjects (e.g. humans with autism) in terms of forebrain dysfunction. As the second part of this symposium illustrates, these fields yield novel non-invasive means of assessing altered cognitive processes in animals, and changes in how their behaviour is controlled. They also question the psychological normality of captive animals, with practical implications for research and some other forms of animal use.


Symposium 8
Abnormal behaviour patterns in captive animals :
Part I: Explanations from ethology

Chairs

Georgia Mason , University of Guelph, Canada
  1. Towards a functional, foraging-based model of stereotypic activity in captive animals
    Eduardo J. Fernandez1 & William Timberlake2
    1. Department of Psychology, University of Washington, USA
    2. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, USA

  2. Using movement to determine motivation: a comparison of the motor patterns involved in feather pecking, dustbathing and foraging
    Laura M Dixon1, Ian Duncan2, & Georgia Mason2
    1. Department of Biological Sciences, Lincoln University, UK
    2. Animal Sciences, Guelph, Canada

  3. Injurious pecking in farmed poultry: Risk factors and research needs
    Christine Nicol, Sarah Lambton, Justin McKinstry, Jill Thierstein, Rowena Packer, William Browne, & Chris Sherwin
    University of Bristol, UK

  4. X





Symposium 9
Abnormal behaviour patterns in captive animals :
Part II: Insights from neuroscience and clinical psychology

Chairs

Christine Nicol , University of Bristol, UK
  1. Stereotypy and pessimistic judgment biases in captive European starlings
    Melissa Bateson
    Centre for Behaviour and Evolution, Newcastle University, UK

  2. Unexpected correlates of stereotypic behaviour in domestic horses
    Haifa Benhajali1, Marie-Annick Richard-Yris1, Mohammed Ezzaouia2, Faouzia Charfi3, Patrick Jego1, & Martine Hausberger1
    1. Université de Rennes 1, UMR CNRS 6552, Rennes, France
    2. FNARC, Haras national de Sidi Thabet, Tunisie
    3. Université de Tunis-El Manar, Tunisie

  3. Spontaneous stereotypy: Is it habit formation?
    Matthew Parker1 & Sebastian D. McBride2
    1. Royal Veterinary College, UK
    2. Royal Agricultural College, UK

  4. What makes a stereotypy a stereotypy?
    Joseph Garner
    Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, USA




Symposium 10
Behavioural Ontogeny: the dynamic interaction between internal and external factors

Chairs

Gisela Kaplan , University of New England, Armidale, NSW-2351, Australia
Laurence Henry , EthoS, CNRS - Université de Rennes 1, Rennes, France

Introduction

This symposium will re-examine Tinbergen ´s view of ontogeny in light of current findings. In no other area of science than in the study of ontogeny of behaviour is the old dichotomy of "nature versus nature" so persistent and controversial. Although appealing in its simplicity for both scientists and the general public, this dichotomy is inadequate and misleading because it is static and does not encompass the flexibility and complex interactions, within the organism and between the organism and its environment, that influence the phenotype. This symposium is very timely in that the rise of molecular genetics has caused a shift in focus away from behavioural development and the question how gene expression is translated into behaviour. However, with new insights in neuroscience and even the rise of systems biology it has become clear that a full understanding of behaviour requires knowledge of its development and dynamic interactions with the environment throughout the lifespan. In this symposium we will explore perceptual, hormonal, vocal and cognitive parameters of animal behaviour. Each speaker will ask very specific questions on how the study of behaviour can uncover biological principles both specific to a species and generally applying to a wide range of species. The first speaker, Patrick Bateson, will take a theoretical approach providing a critical analysis of dichotomous thinking that undermines understanding of development, suggesting how we might methodologically and theoretically approach the subject of development more fruitfully. The second speaker, Ton Groothuis, will discuss recent evidence for the influence of subtle environmental and maternal effects in different taxa of vertebrates, including humans, and will offer some potential, adaptive explanations. The third paper by Giorgio Vallortigara and Lucia Regolin, will present evidence of constraints and seemingly experience-independent perceptual abilities of a precocial species, with some comparisons to altricial species. In the final paper, by Gisela Kaplan, patterns of development of speech sounds in the avian song repertoire will be analysed and compared to pre-speech stages of human infants to show compelling, across-species similarities of development in the acquisition of pre-speech sounds. In summary, the symposium will address the conceptualisation of development and expression of behavioural phenotype as continual dynamic interactions between genetic expression and experience. The symposium will work towards a broader sense of development, being crucial for understanding both mechanisms of behaviour, their function and evolution.
  1. Getting beyond folk biology in the understanding of development
    Patrick Bateson
    Sub-Department of Animal Behaviour, University of Cambridge, UK

  2. Hormone-mediated maternal effects illustrating the interplay between genes and environment on development
    Ton Groothuis
    Life Sciences, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

  3. Core knowledge: The domestic chick as a system model
    Giorgio Vallortigara1 and Lucia Regolin2
    1. Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
    2. Dept. General Psychology, University of Padua, Italy

  4. Unguided vocal practice (babbling) in a songbird and Piaget ´s stages of pre-speech development
    Gisela Kaplan
    Centre for Neuroscience & Animal Behaviour, University of New England, Armidale, Australia




Symposium 11
Ethology of the newborn: basic research with clinical outcomes

Chairs

Benoist Schaal , Centre des Sciences du Goût, UMR 5170 CNRS, Dijon, France
Jacques Sizun , CHU de Brest, Pôle de la Femme, de la Mère et de l´Enfant, Brest, France

Introduction

This symposium will bring together a panel of speakers from different countries who address the behaviour of newborn organisms with the overriding goal to better understand the psychobiological principles that underlay early adaptive development in the species-specific environment created by the maternal organism, or in the substitutive environment that in certain cases replaces the maternal organism. The common theme is that neonatal organisms are evolved to deal with the specific challenges they must overcome to survive and to engage into the normal developmental trajectory of their species. Their actual response performances are enrooted in the experience received in earlier life, viz. prenatal or earlier postnatal environments, and controlled by their extremely active and dynamic learning abilities that support self-regulatory responsiveness. In this context, we propose four speakers. First, Robert E Lickliter will discuss the importance of prenatal (or pre-eclosive) sensory experience in the shaping of the salience of postnatal stimuli. Second, using olfaction as a model system, Benoist Schaal will present data on the different cognitive strategies mammalian newborns use to maximise responses that determine immediate survival and deferred adaptive development. Third, Nathalie Goubet will describe how learned stimuli promote conservative responses in infants exposed to pain and stress incurred by medical routines. Finally, linking the basic research raised in the previous papers with clinical outcomes, Jacques Sizun will analyse whether prematurely-born infants would benefit from being untied earlier from the incubator to be returned into the referential environment constituted by the mother. Overall, it will be suggested that the quality, intensity, complexity, regularity and timing aspects of the neonatal sensory ecology should be given more attention in clinical settings. Experimental ethology may provide useful ways to understand the Umwelt of infants born at or before term, and to unveil sensory means to ameliorate their adaptive responses to the potentially negative impacts of social isolation, non-oral feeding, and iatrogenic distress. This symposium will present research conducted on a variety of animal models (quail, rabbit, human) that will highlight comparative aspects in early behavioural development. Moreover, it will illustrate how researchers from different fields (including ethology, developmental psychobiology, psychology and paediatrics-neonatology) converge into basic goals bearing potential clinical interests. Thus, in this symposium the contributors will be asked to connect ethological and ethopsychological approaches using animal models with clinically oriented applications for human neonates, especially those born preterm whose number increases in western urban societies.
  1. Prenatal sensory experience: Implications for infant development
    L. Bahrick & Robert E. Lickliter
    Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA

  2. Overdetermined learning and adaptation in perinatal organisms
    Benoist Schaal

    Centre des Sciences du Goût, CNRS, Dijon, France

  3. Environmental modulation of pain and stress behaviours in human neonates
    Nathalie Goubet
    Gettysburg Coll, Gettysburg, PA, USA

  4. Ethology needed to get premature infants out of the incubator: social management of adaptive responses in premature infants
    Jacques Sizun
    Service de Néonatalogie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Brest, France




Symposium 12
Vocal communication and social cognition in songbirds: From behaviour to neurons

Chairs

Colline Poirier , Bio-Imaging Lab, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Isabelle George , EthoS, CNRS-Université Rennes 1, France

Introduction

Songbirds, along with humans, are one of only six animal groups (including bats, parrots, hummingbirds, and cetaceous whales and dolphins) that are known to exhibit vocal learning. Moreover, their song behaviour, whose critical function is to communicate with other birds, can be easily recorded and measured, quantitatively as well as qualitatively, in controlled experimental conditions. Finally, they possess a highly-evolved and well-characterized network of interconnected brain regions that control vocal perception, production and learning. As such, songbirds thus provide researchers with a unique opportunity to directly study vocal behaviour, in relation to its communicative aspects, at the interface between brain and behaviour. Most importantly, given that data on both songbirds and humans suggest that there is a very tight coupling between vocal behaviour and social cognition, songbirds are to date the best-developed model to study communication-related processes in the brain. This symposium, while focusing on songbirds, will address the general question of the neural bases of vocal behaviour in relation to its communicative/social aspects, which perfectly fits into both the "functions" and the "causality/mechanisms" axes of the conference. It is designed to show state-of-the-art science and acquaint ethologists with the most recent advances in the study of the neural bases of vocal communication by gathering an international group of speakers that will present cutting-edge research on plasticity, cognitive/memory, multisensory and motivation aspects of birdsong. Thus, S. Derégnaucourt will present evidence of hormone-dependent vocal changes and plasticity in adult zebra finches whose song has long been thought to be highly stereotyped and fixed. C. Poirier will show that memory mechanisms underlying self/other vocal recognition in songbirds are similar to those occurring in the human brain, highlighting new common mechanisms between birds and humans. I. George will present evidence of multisensory interactions in the songbird brain that are likely to advance our understanding of the neurobiological components that link vocal brains to social brains. And finally, N. Hessler will bring new insights into the neural mechanisms of socially-guided modulation of communicative behaviour. The highly integrative nature of these studies will be illustrated by the inter-disciplinarity of approaches going from sophisticated behaviour analyses, to brain imaging, electrophysiological recordings of neural activity, and analysis of immediate early gene expression as a marker of neuronal activity. Songbird neuroethology, given its wide implication in the fields of behavioural sciences and neurosciences, its inherent inter-disciplinarity and fundamentally integrative nature, draws the attention of a large scientific community, and there is no doubt that the symposium will thus be of interest to all IEC participants. Finally, by covering at least two of Tinbergen ´s questions (functions and causality/mechanisms), which are at the core of this 31st IEC, the symposium will undoubtedly contribute to further the goals of the conference.
  1. The role of melatonin in birdsong production and learning
    Sébastien Derégnaucourt
    Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Starnberg (Seewiesen), Germany

  2. Investigation of vocal recognition in the songbird brain using fMRI
    Colline Poirier
    Bio-Imaging Lab, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

  3. Audiovisual interactions in the cortical-like primary auditory area of a songbird
    Isabelle George, Hugo Cousillas, Jean-Pierre Richard, Martine Hausberger
    Université Rennes 1, CNRS, UMR6552 – EthoS, Rennes, France

  4. Singing to females is rewarding for male birds
    Neal A. Hessler
    RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Wako-shi, Saitama, Japan




Symposium 13
Comparative navigation

Chairs

Paul Graham , School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
Virginie Durier , EthoS, CNRS-Université de Rennes 1, Rennes, France

Introduction

We propose a symposium of talks by young scientists, which aims to stimulate debate on the behavioural and cognitive strategies that different use animals for their navigation. Most animal species navigate purposefully through familiar habitat and it is fruitful to compare how navigational strategies are adapted at a species level to particular ecological, neural and social constraints. Our speakers bring a range of expertise and persepctives to the symposium, from neuroscience to social cognition, and will discuss the problems of animal navigation from both functional and mechanistic points of view. The first goal of the syposium is to present topical research from young post-doctoral scientists. Our talks will begin with Paul Graham talking about the complex visually guided routes of ants before Rodrigo De Marco and Dora Biro talk about the interaction of individual route knowledge with socially available information, in bees and pigeons respectively. We finish with a talk by Rahel Noser, who will talk about work with chimpanzees and baboons, where new analytical techniques allow her to make inferences about the spatial knowledge of individuals. The talks all highlight how new techniques are currently being used to address classic research questions. For instance GPS is revolutionising the study of vertebrate navigation (Biro and Noser) and technology enabling the large scale analysis of insect movements and sensory ecologies (Graham and De Marco) is allowing much more sophisticated experiments with insects. We consider it timely that a symposium should look at navigation given the fresh data that novel new techniques have allowed us to collect. The second goal of the syposium is to promote discussion around some of the most controversial questions within navigation research. We will introduce two major questions, which we hope will produce a lively interaction between the audience and the speakers: (i) Are there fundamental differences in the navigational strategies adopted by vertebrates and invetebrates? and (ii) Do animals represent knowledge of the world in a unitary cognitive map or as a piecemeal set of instructions associated to places. We expect these debates to be of interest to a broad audience.
  1. The binding and recall of navigational memories in ants
    Paul Graham
    School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, UK

  2. The overlap region of navigation and dance communication in honeybees
    Rodrigo De Marco
    Neurobiologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

  3. Homing pigeons: from individual to group navigation
    Dora Biro
    Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, UK

  4. Interactions between geometry and features: implications for the geometric module
    Anthony McGregor
    Durham University, Psychology Department, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK




Symposium 14
Emergence of sociality in insects

Chairs

Colette Rivault , EthoS, CNRS-Université de Rennes 1, France
Jean-Louis Deneubourg , Universié Libre de Bruxelles, Belgique

Introduction

The aim of this symposium is to allow researchers to discuss social forms in species that are not eusocial insects, like Orthopterans, Hemipterans, Coleopterans, Cockroaches, Aphids, etc. and to debate the concept of sociality. How does living in groups lead to some sort of social organization, keeping in mind the question of how and why species constitute social groups?
Recent syntheses (Choe and Crespi 1997, Costa 2006) that provide important bibliographical material stress the importance of studying social insects in their diversity and re-open the debate on evolution of sociality in insects taking into account this flourishing diversity. A global understanding of sociality in insects, and thereby of the role of ecological constraints in the emergence of cooperation or the role of prolonged brood care necessarily implies studying species that present less integrated forms of societies than eusocial species. Do these social groups take their roots in prolonged brood care or in cooperation enabling individuals to cope with environmental pressures?
  1. Maggot-mass effect: aggregation in Diptera Calliphoridae larvae
    Damien Charabidze
    Institut de Médecine Légale, Université Lille 2, France

  2. Organization and functioning of social groups in a gregarious cockroach: another insect society
    Mathieu Lihoreau & Colette Rivault
    EthoS, CNRS-Université de Rennes 1, Rennes, France

  3. How habitat patchiness prevents collective decision making in gregarious species
    Grégory Sempo, M. le Polain, Claire Detrain, & Jean-Louis Deneubourg
    Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium






Symposium 15
Mental states of animals and impact on their welfare

Chairs

Alain Boissy , INRA Saint-Genes Champanelle, France
Cécile Arnould , INRA Nouzilly, France
Isabelle. Veissier , INRA Saint-Genes Champanelle, France

Introduction

Animal welfare is a growing concern all over the world and is partly focused on animals which depend on humans for their environment. This concern stems from the acknowledgement that these animals, at least vertebrates, are sentient beings and can experience emotions, both negative (fear, distress, frustration…) and positive (comfort, pleasure,…). It is also suggested that personality can be assessed in non-human animals: in addition to emotional abilities, personality traits (e.g. emotional stability) are a primary determinant of welfare in animals. Yet the very nature of emotions and of more prolonged mental states as well as their variations between animals due to individual personalities has started to be investigated only recently. We are still unable to relate the emotional state to the welfare or stress status of the animal. Therefore, to be able to adjust housing practices to the welfare needs of the animal, we require a good understanding of the animal ´s emotional experience, including their personality. The symposium aims at discussing frameworks, methods, and first results regarding animal mental states and the individual vulnerability to be emotionally affected in order to better contribute to research on animal welfare. More particularly, cognitive processes can be assessed to access emotional status in animals. In addition, emotions are in turn able to transiently influence various cognitive processes such as perception, attention and memory. A focus will be on the persistence of cognitive alterations after repeated emotional experiences.The presentations of the symposium will address these questions from various angles: ethological, psychological and genetic perspectives, and animal cognition and welfare, with a view to stimulate cross-fertilisation between disciplines.
The study of animal mental states is closely related to our understanding of their welfare and the use of animals by humans, both issues being related to the last theme of the conference (applied and fundamental ethology). It shall also provide insight into the causation of animal behaviour, focusing on how the animals interpret their outside world and how specific emotional experiences may have prolonged effects on such interpretation (e.g. leading to cognitive bias in some circumstances). The central objective of the proposed symposium is to acquire basic scientific knowledge to understand cognitive processes underlying the emotional and welfare status of the animal. In addition, the symposium has also an ethical and practical interest. The general discussion shall address integrative and multidisciplinary aspects. We think the topic on cognitive and emotional processes is perfectly set in time for being addressed at IEC because it is a growing area of research and very much related to present and likely future societal concerns. Discussion will be focused on investigating relationships between emotional experiences and cognitive abilities to better understand what the animals ´ affective states are about and thus to improve the quality of life in housing conditions.
  1. Interest of cognitive processes to assess the emotional status of the animals
    Alain Boissy
    INRA UR1213 Herbivores, Saint-Genès Champanelle, France

  2. Positive affective states and positive animal welfare
    Linda Keeling
    Swedish University of Animal Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden

  3. Emotion and its effect on cognitive function: judgement and decision making biases
    Mike Mendl
    Centre for Behavioural Biology, Langford, UK

  4. Personality in farm animals: Basic measurement issues and applications
    Samuel D. Gosling
    Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin, USA




Symposium 16
Building behaviour and niche construction

Chairs

Guy Theraulaz & Christian Jost
Université de Toulouse, UPS – CNRS, France

Introduction

Nests or other animal constructions play a central role in the life history of numerous animals. Their usage ranges from temporary overnight shelters over sophisticated constructions that help attract females or rear the offspring to highly complex architectures that host an entire colony during their whole life time. A first question concerns the behavioral mechanisms at the base of a nest construction: how are they encoded on the genetic level? How does the social and physical environment influence the final result? is it possible to identify some basic principles on the behavioral or architectural level? These questions are particularly true for social insects that have put in place a whole set of innovations in terms of architectural designs and construction techniques that proved to be efficient to solve problems as various as controlling nest temperature, ensuring gas exchange with the outside environment or adapting nest structure to various colony sizes. Modern imaging techniques (such as X-ray computer tomography) permit detailed non-destructive insights into these architectures, opening the way to unprecedented quantitative analyses of these nest functions. Nest functions lead to the second type of question: how did these nests evolve and find their current shape? The concept of niche construction (a more evolutionary oriented version of the idea of ecosystem engineering) provides an enhanced framework to ask such questions. Animals act through their behavior on the environment and shape it (to their needs), they somewhat construct their own niche. The niche construction concept has revived research on the evolutionary origin of behavior, and it can be applied in particular to nest construction for solitary animals as well as for collective constructions. In the present symposium we want to present the state of the art of what we know about nest construction (proximal as well as ultimate causes) and highlight in particular what modern imaging techniques and evolutionary concepts can contribute to our understanding of animal architectures.
  1. Animal constructions and what is currently known about them
    Michael Hansell
    Faculty of Biomedical and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, UK

  2. The functional significance of magnetic termite mounds
    Judith Korb
    Behavioral Biology, University of Osnabrueck, Germany

  3. Social insect constructions: functional insights from modern imaging techniques
    Andrea Perna
    Ecole Polytechnique de l ´Université de Nantes, Nantes, France

  4. X
    .




Symposium 17
Do ants ape? A comparative perspective of social learning

Chairs

Zhanna Reznikova , Institute for Animal Systematic and Ecology Siberian Branch RAS and Novosibirsk State University, Frunze 11, 630091 Novosibirsk, Russia
Kim A. Bard , University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK
Deborah Custance , Goldsmiths College, University of London UK

Introduction

Thorndike ´s (1911) winged (but disputable) words "Apes badly ape" generate a series of questions such as "Do monkeys ape?" (Visalberghi and Fragaszy, 1990); "do rats ape?" (Byrne and Tomasello, 1995); followed by Tomasello ´s (1996) revision "Do apes ape?" to which "Do ants ape?" was added (see: "Animal Intelligence from individual to social cognition" by Zhanna Reznikova, Cambridge University Press, 2007). All these questions are derived from a discussion about which, if any, form of social learning is more intelligent (Whiten, 2000). One of the most intricate problems in studying social learning is to find a thin balance between the species´ predisposition to learn certain behavioural patterns and their abilities to develop new behaviours by observing innovations invented by a few advanced individuals. Readiness to gain information from conspecifics reflects both the conformity prevailing in animals´ society and the flexibility that enables animals to improve their individual behaviour in changeable environment. The capacity to learn from others and about others allows members of a species to decrease the cost of being equipped by an inherited suite of a great number of behavioural patterns, and make relationships with their environment more flexible and thus more efficient. It is possible that social learning has more fundamental importance as a part of evolutionary strategies of many species than we thought before, and new data generate new questions. How animals acquire information and skills from other individuals, and what factors limit and what favour the acquisition of new behaviours in animal communities? To what extent intelligence is involved in imitative behaviour? What is the role of emotions and motivations in social learning? How social affiliations within groups influence social learning? What is the role of preparedness in animals ´ alertness to subscribe to the same activity that is performed by a few "wild prodigies"? How social information depends on resource specific cues? All these questions are still far from complete understanding. The aim of this symposium is to analyse comparative aspects of social learning. The contributors present data on different forms of social learning, including social facilitation, enhancement, and selective imitation, based on studies on human children, corvids, monkeys, dogs, pigs, and ants.
  1. Imitation, action understanding and behaviour reading
    Ludwig Huber
    University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

  2. X
    .

  3. Do pigs ?
    S. Held1,2, R.W. Byrne2, E. Murphy1, M. Friel1, S. Cunningham1, S. Jones1, & M.T. Mendl2
    1. University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
    2. The University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, UK

  4. An ant ´s way to ape: distributed social learning based on triggering of dormant incomplete behavioural patterns
    Sofia Panteleeva and Zhanna Reznikova
    Siberian Branch RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia




Symposium 18
Studying cephalopods´ brain and behaviours: when molluscs allow a better understanding of the mechanisms and evolution of cognition :
Part I

Chairs

Anne-Sophie Darmaillacq , Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen, France
Ludovic Dickel , Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen, France
Yuzuru Ikeda , University of Ryukyus, Nishihara Okinawa, Japan
Nadav Shashar , Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel

  1. An ethological assessment of cognition in cephalopods
    R. Hanlon1 & J. G. Boal2
    1. MRC 314, Woods Hole, MA, USA
    2. Millersville University, Millersville, PA, USA

  2. What cephalopods teach us about the evolution, organization and function of cognitive neural networks?
    Hochner1, C. Bellanger2, T. Shomrat1, N. Graindorge2, & G. Fiorito3
    1. Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
    2. Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen, France
    3. Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Napoli, Italy

  3. The prospects for cephalopod psychophysics: a pilot study
    G. Fiorito1 & D.B. Edelman2
    1. Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Napoli, Italy
    2. The Neurosciences Institute, San Diego, California, USA

  4. What does prey choice of octopuses tell us about their intelligence?
    J. Mather1, R. Anderson2, & J. Wood3
    1. Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, Canada
    2. Seattle Aquarium, USA
    3. Bermuda Biological Station, USA




Symposium 19
Studying cephalopods´ brain and behaviours: when molluscs allow a better understanding of the mechanisms and evolution of cognition :
Part II

Chairs

Anne-Sophie Darmaillacq , Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen, France
Ludovic Dickel , Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen, France
Yuzuru Ikeda , University of Ryukyus, Nishihara Okinawa, Japan
Nadav Shashar , Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel

  1. Sensory perception and learning in hatchling cuttlefish
    J. G. Boal1, T. L. Franks1, A. R. Hohmann1, J. W. Fenwick1, & L. Dickel2
    1. Department of Biology, Millersville University, Millersville, PA, USA
    2. Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Caen, France

  2. Octopus camouflage- what are they looking at?
    N. Shashar, N. Yossef, & A. Lerner
    Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel

  3. Multiple visual cue use in the camouflage of cuttlefish
    S. Zylinski & D. Osorio
    School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

  4. Sociality and mirror image reactions in cephalopods
    Ikeda Yuzuru
    University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan




Symposium 20
A comparative approach to the neurobehavioral assessment of maternal care and mother-young attachment

Chairs

Raymond Nowak and Frédéric Lévy
UMR6175, PRC-INRA, Nouzilly, France

Introduction

Social bonds are evolved process which were once, and in many situations still are, adaptive. The mechanisms that permit the development of selective social bonds are assumed to be ancient, based on neural circuitry and endocrine processes rooted deep in mammalian evolution, although the nature and timing of these processes, along with their ultimate (evolutionary) and proximate (ontogenetic, epigenetic, and physiological) causes are only in the early stages of being understood. The proximate processes for social bonding tend to be species-typical, shaped by phylogeny and the history of local population. The same processes, however, can be quite plastic. Within the lifespan of a single individual, ontogenetic and epigenetic processes, including learning and different form of cognitive and affective experience, can result in much variation between individuals belonging to the same species. The objective of this symposium is to build bridges among researchers who study the development of attachment and bonding from both animal and human models and from different fields (ethology, developmental psychobiology, psychology, and neuroscience). The overriding theme is the effects of early experience on the development of parental behaviour and mother-young bonding. It highlights complementary approaches (behaviour, neuroendocrinology, pharmacology, neurobiology, and brain imaging) on three different species: the human, the rat, and the sheep. The mechanisms studied in each species are different from one another but converge on a common set of brain structures and/or neurochemical systems that produce these complex social behaviours. In this symposium we invited three speakers. Firstly, Oliver Bosch will present data on brain oxytocin and vasopressin as key regulators of maternal and aggressive behaviours in rats. Secondly, Alison Flemming will discuss the importance of experiences in early life with or without mother (in rats) or in family of origin (in humans) on the development of mothers´ motivation to mother and their skill at doing so. Thirdly, James Swain will analyze specific brain circuits in humans that respond to auditory and visual baby-stimuli in parental brains, how they vary in the early postpartum and according mode of delivery and parental preoccupations. Lastly, the organizers (Raymond Nowak and Frédéric Lévy) will present similarities in the physiological and neurobiological bases for the development of maternal and filial bonding in sheep. Overall, this symposium will focus on research conducted both on the mother and the young and will highlight comparative aspects in the onset of attachment and bonding in three species.
  1. Neuropeptide-involvement in maternal care: Oxytocin and vasopressin regulate maternal behaviour and aggression
    Oliver J. Bosch & Inga D. Neumann
    University of Regensburg, Germany

  2. The "wanting" and "doing" of mothering: A psychobiology of mothering in rat and human mothers
    Alison Flemming
    University of Toronto, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

  3. Functional brain activations of parents listening to their own baby-cry that change over the early postpartum and vary according to delivery
    James E. Swain, J. F. Leckman, L. C. Mayes, R. Feldman, E. Tasgin, P. Kim, & R. T.Schultz
    Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, USA

  4. Perinatal visceral events and brain mechanisms involved in the development of mother young bonding in sheep
    Raymond Nowak & Frédéric Lévy
    UMR6175, CNRS-INRA, Nouzilly, France




Symposium 21
Long-term consequences of early experience on behaviour

Chairs

Alexander Kotrschal , University of Bern, Switzerland
Sophie Lumineau , EthoS, CNRS – Université de Rennes 1, France
Cécilia Houdelier , EthoS, CNRS – Université de Rennes 1, France

Introduction

This symposium is positioned at the intersection between ontogenetic, proximate and ultimate causations of behaviour, thereby exploring the links between three of Tinbergen ´s four questions. We will explore the consequences of ecological and social influences on the developing phenotype for the behaviour of adults, both on the levels of organisation and of the functional significance of behaviour. In recent years, we have seen an enormous increase of interest in effects of the pre- and postnatal environments on the developing phenotype, especially on adaptive strategies to deal with adverse or changing conditions during development, and on long-term consequences of phenotypic adjustments for survival and reproductive success. Prominent examples of this scientific development are the rapidly growing research field of maternal and paternal effects investigating how the parents directly contribute to the interaction between a developing phenotype and its environment, and the study of the role of stressors experienced early in life in shaping physiological processes including senescence and, ultimately, affecting survival. From this expanding research field we learnt that the social and ecological environment experienced early in life can have dramatic influences on all aspects of an animal ´s life history. A behavioural perspective on long-term effects of the early environment is currently still underrepresented as reflected by the emphasis of recent review papers in this field. This symposium aims to bridge this gap by explicitly focusing on long-term early- environment effects on behaviour. The contributions to this symposium will explore how early conditions affect brood care, cognitive abilities and social behaviour later in life, and they will investigate how hormonal mechanisms mediate long-term effects of early conditions on behaviour. By linking the environmental and social background during the ontogeny to questions about functions and mechanisms this symposium will promote an integrative view on behaviour, and it brings together scientists working on a broad range of taxonomic groups.
  1. Live fast, die young: fitness consequences of developmental stress
    Karen Spencer
    University of Glasgow, UK

  2. Post- and pre- influences of mother in birds: a review in Japanese quail
    Cécilia Houdelier, Sophie Lumineau, & Marie-Annick Richard-Yris
    EthoS, UMR-CNRS 6552, Université de Rennes 1, Rennes, France

  3. Early growth conditions determine later cognitive abilities in a cichlid fish
    Alexander Kotrschal & Barbara Taborsky1,2
    1. Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Switzerland
    2. International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria

  4. Variation in maternal behaviour affects offspring behaviour and development in sheep
    Cathy M. Dwyer
    Scottish Agricultural College, Edinburgh, UK




Symposium 22
Dynamic visual communication displays and facial information

Chairs

Claude Baudoin , Université de Paris 13, Villetaneuse, France
Hervé Abdi , The University of Texas at Dallas, TX, USA

Introduction

Visual communication displays have been widely studied in ethology, both in various animal species and in humans. Recently, various studies in birds (i.e., craws, parrots, pigeons, etc.) or mammals (i.e., dolphins and non-human primates) have focused on behavioural and cognitive aspects of self and social recognition, using mirror-image stimulation and moving video images. From these studies, came important results concerning cognitive processes and their evolution. Parallel studies on monkeys also support the existence of cross-modal face/voice recognition, based on dynamic information, as it was shown in human infants and adults. Recent studies in non-human primates and in humans indicate that, among other body visual displays, facial ones are of particular interest in communication, and that, some common mechanisms may be used for the integration of facial dynamic information. Because it conveys identity and expresses emotions, the human face is a very active topic of research for various disciplines. When identity is concerned (i.e., for psychology or biometry), the invariant properties of the human face become the focus of interest. In this context and in many studies of face preferences (i.e., in evolutionary psychology), the stimulus studied consists almost exclusively of static images of faces. But the human face is also an important source of dynamical information because movement is crucial for the expression and transmission of social information such as mental states or intentions. As such, this dynamical information represents an essential component of social cognition and inter-individual communication and, in fact, early work in ethology integrated this dynamical information in models of communication rituals. However, the development of these early models was probably impaired by technical difficulties in manipulating dynamical information. Recently, better computer tools have facilitated the manipulation of dynamical information and this, in turn, could favour the development of new theoretical approaches in disciplines such as ethology. The main goal of this symposium is to present current important results and theories relative to movement for processing identity and emotions. This symposium is particularly relevant for ethology because it integrates, within an ethological problematic, several contemporary and complementary approaches, and it will be discussed how these approaches could be applied to other species.
  1. Visual communication displays, the role of dynamic information.
    Claude Baudoin
    University of Paris 13 & CNRS, Villetaneuse, France

  2. Recognizing moving faces: A psychological and neural synthesis 
    Hervé Abdi
    The University of Texas at Dallas, TX, USA

  3. The many aspects of face dynamics: EEG-MEG studies of the perception of eye gaze in human
    Nathalie George
    UPMC, CNRS & INSERM, Paris, France

  4. Movement and the different signals in faces
    Markus Bindemann
    The University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK




Symposium 23
Pattern recognition in insects

Chairs

Fernando J. Guerrieri , UMR 5169 CNRS - Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III, France
Christoph J. Kleineidam , University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany

Introduction

The recent advances in the study of pattern recognition in insects are presented by case studies using an integrative approach. In each case study, the investigated species uses a different sensory modality for detection and discrimination. Goal of the symposium is to compare biological systems with similar requirements to the nervous system but very different signal properties. This will help us to understand how, according to context and evolutionary traits insects developed accurate pattern recognition systems. We expect that the symposium also stimulates discussions on multidisciplinary approaches and opens new avenues for research in other model organisms, e.g. in vertebrates. Animals often use complex signals (patterns) to communicate; in other cases patterns within the environment are used for host or food localisation. Irrespectively of whether the patterns are of chemical, thermal, optical or acoustic nature, detection and discrimination in an ever changing (noisy) environment poses a great challenge to the nervous system. Many insects have fascinating sensory abilities, and even with their tiny brains they can accurately identify patterns consisting of many elements or components. Evolution not only shaped the sensory systems but also the cognitive abilities that allow such advanced abilities. In the last decades, several insect species have proven to be good model systems for analysing proximate and ultimate mechanisms of pattern recognition. It has become more and more clear that the concept of "matched sensory filters " triggering behaviour is not sufficient to explain the fine tuned behavioural responses and the behavioural plasticity observed. Our symposium will highlight pattern recognition in four insect systems from sensory and cognitive abilities to behavioural and (in two cases) social consequences. All studies are aiming at identifying the stimulus parameters which can be detected and to describe how the acquired information is processed by the nervous system. We will discuss the current ideas on how the nervous system may allow pattern recognition (active sensing, learning) and which techniques are utilized to investigate the underlying mechanisms of pattern recognition in insects. The four examples we selected are divers with respect to the sensory modality used (chemical, thermal, visual and acoustic cues) and also with respect to the functional significance of the pattern. Chemical cues (hydrocarbon patterns on the cuticle) are used by ants to distinguish between colony members and other colonies. These patterns may change over time and the colony members have to adjust their recognition system (by P. d ´Ettorre). The thermal environment is analysed by haematophagous bugs to find their hosts (endotherm vertebrates), and they use very distinct parameters of the thermal pattern for identification (by C. Lazzari). Individual recognition in social insects is used to e.g. establish the hierarchy in paper wasp colonies and to restrict mutual assistance to members of the colony. Visual cues are most important in the first example allowing individual recognition based on facial patterns (by E. Tibbetts). Finally, a systematic analysis reveals which acoustic signals are required for sound pattern recognition and steering, and the corresponding motor responses of female crickets. Besides, recording the activity of brain neurons during phonotaxis opens the way to establish the neural basis of acoustic recognition (by B. Hedwig)..
  1. Multiple levels of recognition in ants and their underlying mechanisms
    Patrizia d ´Ettorre
    Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

  2. Thermal sense and blood finding in haematophagous insects
    Claudio Lazzari
    CNRS-Université François Rabelais, Tours, France

  3. The evolution of cognitive specialization for face recognition in paper wasps
    Elizabeth Tibbets
    University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

  4. Dissecting cricket auditory behaviour
    Berthold Hedwig
    Department of Zoology, Cambridge, UK




Symposium 24
Behavioural gender differences in human and non-human primates

Chairs

Maria-Emilia Yamamoto , Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
Stéphanie Barbu , EthoS, UMR CNRS 6552, Université de Rennes 1, Rennes, France
Claude Baudoin , University of Paris 13, Villetaneuse, France

Introduction

Gender differences in behavior have long been a topic of public and scientific interest. Many species are characterized by sexually dimorphic behaviors and abilities. Certainly, one of the central questions of research on sex and gender is that of sex differences. How are males different from females? What are the differences, when do we see them, and which factors influence them? Our symposium will focus on sex differences in social behaviors. A key question will guide the papers that are presented here: are females more socially oriented as stereotypes suggest? Different aspects of social behaviors and skills will be considered from childhood to adulthood. In adults, we will study sex differences in both production and perception of facial expressions. First, we will explore whether females are more socially expressive and responsive than males by studying sex differences in the production of general facial movements (Lopes et al). The second communication will investigate individual differences in facial perception, and especially the evolutionary reasons that women and men show different types of systematic variation in their preferences for sexually dimorphic facial characteristics (DeBruine). In childhood, we will focus on social interactions and play among peers. The third presentation will investigate developmental continuities and discontinuities of sex differences in children ´s social play during the preschool years (Barbu et al). The fourth talk will explore differences between males and females in food neophobia in marmosets and humans when isolated and in a social condition (Yamamoto et al). Despite the large literature on sex differences in human behavior, their magnitude, consistency and stability across time are still being questioned. We are convinced that both developmental and evolutionary perspectives are needed to integrate contradictory results and to progress in understanding the causes and functions of sexually dimorphic behaviors.
  1. Gender differences in facial movement production: a case study
    Fívia A. Lopes1,3, Magnus S. Magnusson2, Anaïs Racca3, Daniela Simeonovska-Nikolova4, & Claude Baudoin3
    1. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
    2. University of Iceland, HBL, IS-Reykjavik, Iceland
    3. University of Paris 13, Villetaneuse, France
    4. University of Sofia, Faculty of Biology, Sofia, Bulgaria

  2. Sex differences in preferences for facial sexual dimorphism
    Lisa DeBruine
    The University of Aberdeen, School of Psychology, Aberdeen, UK

  3. Sex differences in social play: developmental trends in early childhood.
    Stéphanie Barbu1, Alban Lemasson1, Gaïd Le Maner-Idrissi2, & Guénaël Cabanes1
    1. EthoS, UMR CNRS 6552, Université de Rennes 1, Rennes France.
    2. CRPCC, Université de Rennes 2, Rennes, France

  4. Gender differences in food neophobia in marmosets and humans
    Maria Emilia Yamamoto, Rochele Castelo-Branco, Diego Macedo Gonçalves, Luiza Cervenk, & Fivia De Araujo Lopes
    Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil




Symposium 25
Elements of prospective cognition in animals

Chairs

Nicola Clayton and Anthony Dickinson, University of Cambridge, UK

Introduction

The last decade has seen an increasing interest in the question of whether or not animals are capable of mental time travel, a capacity that many psychologists and philosophers have argued is uniquely human. Most of the extant research has focused on the retrospective component, namely the ability to recollect specific past events (episodic memory). It is only recently however that research in animal cognition has begun to examine the prospective component of mental time travel. Contemporary research has suggested that animals are capable of two elements of prospective cognition. The first concerns behaviours that are directed at ensuring the availability of future resources (planning), whereas the second focuses on the relative value attributed to immediate and future resources (temporal discounting).
The overall objective of this symposium is to bring together researchers currently investigating both of these topics in order to provide a current portrait on research in this topic. It is both timely and important, as reflected by the number of opinion pieces and debate articles that have been and are being published this year, inckuding articles in Behavioural Brain Sciences, Animal Behaviour, New Scientist, Nature and Trends in Cogntiive Sciences to name just five. The work fits beautifully within the remit of the current congress because it is clearly interdisciplinary, integrative and comparative with speakers from biology, psychology and evolutionary anthropology.
  1. Studies of animal planning: evidence for a phenomenal consciousness?
    Mathias Osvath
    Lund University, Sweden

  2. Expectations and delayed gratification in bonobos
    Jeffrey R. Stevens1, Alexandra G. Rosati2, & Sara R. Heilbronner2
    1. Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Germany
    2. Duke University, USA

  3. Prospective and retrospective planning in the tool-use of the great apes
    Gema Martin-Ordas & Josep Call
    Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany

  4. Semantic prospection: is future knowing future thinking?
    Caroline Raby & Nicola Clayton
    University of Cambridge, UK




Symposium 26
Integrative approach of locomotion: from neuroethology to behavioural ecology

Chairs

Vincent Bels, Professeur Muséum National d´Histoire Naturelle, France
Réjean Dubuc, Professeur, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada

Introduction

Locomotion is one of the most basic motor functions of all animal species. It allows animals to move from one point to another and this, in very different behavioral contexts. For instance, locomotion can be used for exploration, food seeking, predation, escape behavior, as well as searching for a mate. Locomotion has been the subject of research at very different levels and provides an ideal example of a specific animal motor behavior that can be addressed in a cross disciplinary fashion. The literature is very rich and there are many studies addressing the four questions of Tinbergen (evolution, function, ontogeny, and mechanisms). For instance, researchers investigate the biomechanical adaptations of locomotor appendages through evolution and asked how the behavior compares in different animal species (Question 1: Evolution). Others examine the role of specific locomotor behaviors, more precisely how do different locomotor behaviors impact on the animal´s chances of survival and reproduction. (Question 2: Function). Others examine how the behavior evolves during development with changes in biomechanical properties and neural networks underlying the behavioral changes. (Question 3: Ontogeny). Finally, researchers study the neural bases of locomotor behavior. There are a vast number of animal models that are being examined at the level of the neural circuitry to understand how the brain generates this behavior (Question 4: Mechanisms). It appears therefore that locomotor behavior is an ideal research subject for addressing the four questions of Tinbergen.
The goal of this symposium is to stimulate a cross-disciplinary reflection on locomotion from the adaptations that occurred during evolution to be specific neural mechanisms that underlie the motor behavior. The symposium comprises four presentations, each addressing one of the four questions of Tinbergen. In the first presentation, Anthony Herrel and colleagues will discuss comparisons between species by presenting data on morphology, locomotor performance, habitat use, field escape data, and predation pressure for a large sample of mainland Anolis species, and show that selection on locomotion is likely different in these mainland habitats due to differences in anti-predatory behavior. The second presentation will address function. Björn M. Siemers will compare respective adaptations in sets of sympatric species of bats to explore the role of locomotion strategies and sensory ecology for resource partitioning and thus for the structuring of animal communities. The third presentation will address ontogeny. Didier Le Ray and colleagues will show how the sensory integrity during the development is necessary for the construction of the neuronal networks and their interactions in the context of posture and locomotion. The fourth presentation will address mechanisms. Réjean Dubuc will present information collected in lampreys relative to brain networks and mechanisms involved in generating locomotor behavior in response to olfactory stimuli. Although it is well known that olfactory stimuli generate a variety of motor responses in many animal species, there has been no knowledge relative to the mechanisms by which the brain transforms the sensory signals into an appropriate motor command in any vertebrate species. The speaker will present new findings obtained in lampreys where the neural circuitry and mechanisms for olfactory-locomotor transformations were identified.
Altogether the four presentations in this symposium will provide an overview of the richness of research in the field of locomotion and how it can address the four questions of Tinbergen.
  1. The evolution of locomotor performance in Anolis lizards: why are mainland anoles different?
    Anthony Herrel1, Jonathan Losos 2, Bieke Vanhooydonck 3 and Duncan J. Irschick 4
    1. Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle. Paris, France
    2. Harvard University, USA
    3. University of Antwerp, Belgium
    4. University ofMassachusetts, Amherst, USA.

  2. Locomotion strategies and sensory ecology
    Björn M. Siemers
    Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Germany

  3. Unilateral labirynthectomy alters the development of posturo-locomotor functions in the metamorphosing Xenopus laevis
    D. Le Ray, A. Beyeler, L. Ladépêche, D. Combes, and J. Simmers
    Université de Bordeaux, France

  4. The mechanisms underlying locomotor responses elicited by olfactory stimulation
    Réjean Dubuc
    Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada




Symposium 27
Sexual selection, polyandry and compatibility

Chairs

H. Jane Brockmann and Sheri Johnson, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA

Introduction

Multiple mating (polyandry) often appears to be costly for females, yet it occurs in most species. There must be some advantage that outweighs the obvious costs, particularly for species in which males provide no resources other than their genes. If fertilization success was biased toward the sperm of high-fitness males, referred to as "good genes," then females could benefit. Alternatively, polyandry may enhance a female’s opportunity to select compatible male genotypes. When “good genes” explain the evolution of polyandry, then it means there is constant directional selection favoring those male traits that bias success. When compatibility is the explanation, then the success of male traits depends on the female genotypes encountered. This means that understanding the role of compatibility in the evolution of polyandry provides insight into one of the most puzzling questions in biology: how variation is maintained in populations. Although these are long-standing and crucial issues for ethology, the “good genes” explanation is widely accepted whereas compatibility has received relatively little attention. This symposium will explore the role of compatibility in understanding the evolution of polyandry. What is the evidence for compatibility? In what systems are we most likely to find compatibility effects and what is the best way to look for them? The symposium consists of three case studies that evaluate the evidence for compatibility effects in the evolution of polyandry followed by a group discussion of the issues. These studies make use of three very different systems, all with external fertilization: horseshoe crabs (Johnson), salmon (Neff) and frogs (Roberts) and birds (Buchholz). External fertilization makes it possible to conduct realistic, in vitro fertilization experiments that separate post-copulatory from pre-copulatory effects, and to identify likely mechanisms for compatibility. These studies conclude that compatibility effects exist, a result that changes our view of polyandry and our understanding of sexual selection and the maintenance of variation in populations.
  1. The role of genetic compatibility in multiply mating horseshoe crabs
    Sheri L. Johnson and H. Jane Brockmann
    Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 USA

  2. The major histocompatibility Complex and mate choice for genetic benefits
    Bryan D. Neff
    Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada

  3. Sperm form and function, compatibility, and fertilisation success in the frog, Crinia georgiana
    M. Dziminski, J. D. Roberts, & L. W. Simmons
    School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia

  4. Is pre-copulatory assessment of genetic compatibility possible in birds?
    Richard Buchholz
    Department of Biology, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA