ABSTRACT
Ramps facilitate earlier access to complex environments and increase early life voluntary exercise, which may positively affect the cognitive development of chickens. This study focused on quantifying individual differences in ramp use and its impact on spatial cognition of laying hen pullets. Sixteen identical pens were housed with Lohmann Selected Leghorn (LSL) chicks of which eight chicks from each pen were colour marked from one day of age (DoA) to serve as focal birds. We quantified overall ramp use (walk/run, wing-assisted incline running, and jump/fly to and from ramps) by scan sampling recorded videos for 6, 10, 12, 20, 27, 41, and 55 DoA for all focal birds. From 56 to 95 DoA, long and short-term spatial memory of three focal birds per pen were assessed in a holeboard test in three consecutive phases: cued, uncued and reversal. Mixed model analysis showed that the spatial cognitive abilities of the birds were linked to differences in ramp use frequency averaged across all observation days. Birds with higher ramp use made fewer reference (Estimate ± Confidence Interval = 0.94 [0.88, 0.99], p = 0.08) and working memory errors (Est ± CI = 0.77 [0.59, 1.00], p = 0.06) in the cued phase than birds with lower ramp use. In contrast, birds with higher ramp use made more reference memory errors (Est ± CI = 1.10 [1.01, 1.20], p = 0.05) in the reversal phase. Birds with higher ramp use also made more reference memory errors compared to birds with lower ramp use as the phases changed from cued to uncued (p = 0.001). Our results indicate that there might be a relationship between early life ramp use and spatial cognition of laying hens.
Subject(s)
Chickens , Cognition , Spatial Memory , Animals , Chickens/physiology , Female , Cognition/physiology , Spatial Memory/physiology , Physical Conditioning, Animal , Behavior, Animal/physiologyABSTRACT
Cnemaspis nilagirica was described by Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita and Pethiyagoda in 2007 based on a single female specimen that was a syntype of Gonatodes kandianus var. tropidogaster described by Boulenger in 1885. However, a living population of this species has not been reported since its original description by Boulenger. Based on fresh material and comparisons with the holotype of C. nilagirica, we here report the collection of this species after over 130 years. We provide the first description of a male specimen and additional information on morphological variation, distribution and natural history.
Subject(s)
Lizards , Animals , Female , India , MaleABSTRACT
Two new species of geckos of the genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 are described from the southern Western Ghats of Kerala. Both species are medium to large sized Cnemaspis and can be differentiated from all other Indian congeners by a suite of distinct morphological characters. Both species are found in the high elevation forests of the two major massifs- Anaimalai Hills and Agasthyamalai Hills and are presently known to have very restricted distributional ranges. The discovery of these novel species highlights the understudied diversity of reptiles in the high mountain ranges of the Western Ghats.
