Odor discrimination ability was tested in four female South African fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus) using a food-rewarded two-choice instrumental conditioning paradigm. The seals’ ability to distinguish between members of homologous series of aliphatic ketones (2-butanone to 2-heptanone) and alcohols (1-butanol to 1-heptanol) was assessed. The results showed that three out of four seals successfully discriminated between all of their stimulus combinations in both classes of odorants. One seal succeeded to reach the discrimination criterion with all 2-ketones but failed with all 1-alcohols. No significant correlation between odor discrimination performance and structural similarity of the odorants in terms of differences in carbon chain length was found in either of the two chemical classes. Furthermore, it was found that the 2-ketones were significantly better discriminated than the 1-alcohols. The fact that both classes of odorants are known to be present in the natural environment of seals provides a possible explanation as to why most of the seals were able to successfully discriminate between them. The results of the present study support the notion that the sense of smell may play an important role in behavioral contexts such as social communication, foraging and reproductive behavior of fur seals.

I investigated the understanding of human communicative motives in domestic dogs. Dogs use human communicative cues, like the pointing gesture when searching for hidden food, but it is uncertain how dogs interpret human communication. 32 dogs were presented with two communicative contexts in an object choice task experimental design. In a cooperative context the experimenter informed the subject where food was hidden by pointing and giving a verbal indication. In a competitive context the experimenter held out her arm towards the correct location in a stop gesture and firmly said no. To be successful in the competitive context the subject had to understand the experimenters communicative motive and make an inference from the prohibition (i.e. she would only prohibit it if there was something good there). The average correct choices were compared between the conditions. The dogs successfully followed the cooperative communication. They showed a trend towards choosing the baited cup in the competitive condition. A second study tested if the stop gesture affected the dogs’ choice, since it is not known how dogs interpret gestures. The pointing cue was now presented with the prohibiting command and the stop gesture was presented with the cooperative verbal cue. The dogs used the cooperative communication but did not understand the competitive context. A difference between the contexts was found. The dogs did not differentiate between the gestures. In conclusion dogs do not make inferences from competitive communication or prohibition but are specialized in utilizing cooperative communication

Animals raised in captivity often fail to express appropriate anti-predator behaviour when reintroduced into the wild. The European bison (Bison bonasus) is a species that was close to extinction in the early 20th century but was saved in the last moment by intense captive breeding and subsequent reintroduction into the wild. In this study, seven groups of European bison living in different locations in Sweden were studied to investigate whether there was any difference in the anti-predator behaviour depending on the type of enclosure they were kept in. Olfactory and auditory stimuli from moose, as a control, and from two predators, wolf and bear, and visual stimulus (silhouette of a wolf) were presented to the animals and their response to them and behaviour following presentation were analysed. The results showed that European bison kept in barren enclosures responded stronger to auditory stimuli than those that were kept in naturalistic enclosures. The results further showed that the animals had a stronger response to the visual stimulus than to the auditory stimuli. The animals changed their behaviour after stimuli presentations compared to a pre-test baseline. They moved, stood still and ate for a significantly longer period of time and they rested for a shorter period of time after being presented olfactory, auditory and visual stimuli than during pre-test baseline.

Only in primates is permanent male-female association the most widespread social structure of all. The continuous presence of resident males in the social group can have significant impacts on female fitness, both in forms of costs and benefits. In this study I investigate particular short-term benefits and costs of resident males to females in a population of ursine colobus (Colobus vellerosus). I hypothesise that for females permanent association with males result in certain benefits and certain costs, exceeding those provided or imposed by other females. The results indicate that female derive greater benefits from males than from females during intergroup encounters and in the form of vigilance since males were the main participants in intergroup encounter and were more vigilant than females. I could not confirm any type of behaviour employed by resident males that is costly to females. However, the rarity and subtleness of some costly male behaviours imply that more data is needed before making a conclusion on their absence or occurrence in this population and I purpose that herding behaviour could occur at my study site. Moreover, multi-male groups (MM-groups) showed higher rates of vigilance than single-male groups (SM-groups) and had a tendency to experiencing fewer intergroup encounters than SM-groups. I interpret the former as a result of the demanding social conditions in the MM-groups. The latter indicate that females may benefit from MM-group living through a decrease in intergroup encounters.

For many years, primates have been considered to be animals with a poorly developed sense of smell. However, in recent years several studies have shown that at least some primate species have a high olfactory sensitivity for a variety of odorants. The present study used a two-choice instrumental conditioning paradigm to test the olfactory sensitivity for six aromatic aldehydes in four spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi). With helional, cyclamal,canthoxal and lilial all animals discriminated concentrations below 1 ppm from the odorless solvent, with single individuals even scoring better. With 3-phenyl-propionic aldehyde all animals detected concentrations below 2 ppb, and with bourgeonal even below 0.3 ppb. The detection thresholds of the odorants changed systematically with molecular structure. Addition of a dioxo or methoxy group to the benzene ring led to an increase in threshold values,while the absence of a methyl group close to the aldehyde moiety was linked to a low threshold value for the odorant. The study shows that spider monkeys have a well developed olfactory sensitivity for aromatic aldehydes.

Den biologiska studien har visat att värphöns genom domesticeringen förändrat och anpassat sina beteenden till att leva med människor. De har utvecklat en minskad rädsla för människor och en ökad stresstålighet. I denna studie har höns återhämtning efter en stressupplevelse studerats. För att se hur domesticeringen har påverkat återhämtningen jämfördes beteenden mellan raserna White Leghorn och red junglefowl. Frågeställningarna som användes för att undersöka detta var: Hur lång tid tar det innan höns återhämtar sina naturliga beteenden, ej stressrelaterade, efter en stressupplevelse? Finns det några skillnader i återhämtningen beroende av kön eller mellan raserna White Leghorn och red junglefowl? Resultatet visade inte på en specifik tid för återhämtning men på att en tydlig återhämtning förekom. Återhämtningen visades i beteendena Relaxed Behaviour, Comfort Behaviour, Perch, Vocalisation och Stand Alert genom att uppvisandet av beteendena skiljde sig signifikant med tiden. Även signifikanta skillnader visades mellan raserna, både i beteenden som visade på återhämtning och i beteenden som inte gjorde det. En slutsats om vilken ras som återhämtade sig snabbast var svår att dra. Detta på grund av att beteendeskillnaderna visade på olika tendenser gällande återhämtning. Skillnaderna i återhämtningen mellan könen, visades tendenser på att hanarna återhämtade sig snabbare. Domesticering har även i denna studie studerats utifrån ett lärarperspektiv. Undersökningen visade att domesticering kan ingå i biologiundervisningen i områdena evolution och genetik i år 7-9. / The biological study has shown that behaviour of laying hens has changed through domestication and the hens have adapted to live with humans. They have developed less fear of humans and more resistance to stress. In this study hens’ recovery after a stressful experience has been studied. A comparison between the breeds White Leghorn and red junglefowl has been made to see how the domestication has affected the recovery. The questions of this study are therefore: How long does it take for hens’ to recover their natural behaviour, not stressrelated, after a stressful experience? Are there any differences in recovery between the different breeds White Leghorn and red junglefowl? The results did not show a specific time for recovery, but a distinct recovery was noticed in Relaxed Behaviour, Comfort Behaviour, Perch, Vocalisation and Stand Alert. This beacause of the behaviours differed significantly with time. Also significant differences existed between the breeds, both in behaviours that showed recovery and in behavious that did not. A conclusion of what breed that recovered fastest was difficult to make. This because of the differences of behaviour showed different tendencies in recovery. The differences in recovery between the sexes showed tendencies that the males recovered fastest. The domestication has also been studied from a teacherperspective. The study showed that domestication can be a part of biologyeducation in the fields of evolution and genetics in the grades 7-9.

Många elever ser naturvetenskapliga ämnen som svåra och tappar lätt intresset om inte läraren presenterar ämnet tillfredsställande. Jean Piaget har haft stor betydelse inom pedagogiken, då han menade att intelligens är en metod som barn kan lära sig genom att utforska och laborera. Genom möjligheten att få göra en observationsstudie på höns kom tanken att omarbeta denna till ett etologiprojekt för biologiämnet på gymnasiet. Projektet innebär att eleverna får arbeta med en observationsstudie från grunden, och goda möjligheter finns att integrera andra ämnen i detta. Människan började domesticera höns för tusentals år sedan, en process där djur utvecklar ett adaptivt beteende till människan och dess miljö. Drygt hundra år tillbaka startade den intensiva aveln på höns som gett upphov till dagens tamhöns (Gallus gallus domesticus). White Leghorn är en av de domesticerade raserna avlad för hög äggproduktion, och härstammar från det röda djungelhönset (Gallus gallus). Studiens syfte var att se hur lång tid det tog för höns att återhämta sig efter en stressupplevelse och om det fanns en skillnad i återhämtningsförmågan mellan raserna. Resultaten tyder på att hönsen återhämtat sig efter 130 minuter, men vissa beteenden visade en signifikant skillnad med avseende på ras, kön och tid. White Leghorn verkade bli mer påverkade av stressmomentet och uppvisade både stressade och avslappnade beteenden. Trots detta verkar de ha en effektivare återhämtning än djungelhönsen som uppvisade procentuellt mer komfortbeteenden, vilket i detta sammanhang kan indikera stress då olika beteendemekanismer kan interagera i djuret och trigga igång ett utforskande beteende vid låga stressnivåer.

The objective of this study was to determine whether piglets from different positions in the teat order differ inpersonality. Teat order is established within the first days after birth and from that time, piglets basically suckle fromthe same teat pair until weaning. Three piglets from each of 21 litters (n = 63) were chosen for their place in teatorder; one from anterior teats (A), one from middle teats (B), and one from rear teats (C). The piglets were observedduring suckling, undisturbed behaviour, a novel object test and a straw test. A total of 13 behaviours were registered.A significant difference (P < 0.05) between A, B and C piglets was found in the frequency of disputes duringsuckling, where B piglets were most involved in disputes and C piglets least involved, and a tendency (P < 0.1) wasfound in frequency of undisturbed playing and exploration. A piglets played and explored most, and C piglets least.Four interesting components were found with principal component analysis, explaining 62.4 % of the total variation.These represent personality traits tentatively named exploration, playfulness, food interest and straw interest. Therewere no significant differences in personality type between A, B and C piglets although a tendency that A pigletswere most playful and C piglets were least playful was found. Hence, this study suggests that there might be acorrelation between teat order position and personality.

Animals in zoos live in more barren environments than their conspecifics in nature. In nature, elephants spend more than 75 % of the day foraging and have been observed lying down two hours during night. Stereotypies are common in many different species in zoos. Stereotypic behaviors may constitute up to 50 % of the daily activity budget of zoo elephants. Modern zoos try to reduce stereotypic behaviors by means of environmental enrichment. Three elephant cows at Kolmårdens Djurpark were observed during night to map their nocturnal behaviors and see how they changed with feeding enrichment. The elephants were lying down on their sides 25 % of the time observed. With feeding enrichment offered in the morning, the stereotypies was reduced in one individual from 43 % to 13 % (P<0.01) and the foraging was increased in two individuals from 45 % to 80 % (P<0.01) and from 45 % to 64 % (P<0.05). Increased food access increased foraging behavior and as environmental enrichment was able to reduce the stereotypic behaviors in these Asian elephant.

Historically during domestication of animals, tameness towards humans was likely the most desired trait and therefore bred on. The red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) is the wild progenitor of all domestic chicken breeds and earlier studies present clear morphological, physiological and behavioural differences between domesticated breeds and the non-domesticated red junglefowl. These changes may be the result of altered gene expression - pleiotropy or linked genes. The aim of this thesis was to evaluate (1) effects of tameness selection on social behaviour towards conspecifics and (2) social behaviour differences between the sexes. Two generations of red junglefowl, P0 and its offspring F1, were studied. Both generations were divided into three selection lines (tame, intermediate or fearful), depending on their results in a fear of humans test.  A novel type of social reinstatement test was set up, containing a non-social area without stimulus, and a social area containing a mirror serving as stimulus animals. The social and aggressive behaviours performed towards the mirror were recorded, so was the time spent in the social versus non-social part. An undisturbed behaviour test was performed, as well as a standardized social reinstatement test. The P0-females performed significantly more social behaviour (p=0.008) at 26 weeks than males in the mirror test, and females also displayed significantly more social (p=0.04) and agonistic behaviour (p<0.001) than males in the undisturbed behaviour test. The social reinstatement test displayed a significant effect between the selection lines with regards to sociality. This suggests that there are immediate selection responses in early domestication.