Salim Ali＇s fruit bat （Latidens salimalii） is Endemic to Southern Western Ghats. India and is classified as Endangered by IUCN. Latidens is morphologically adapted to play a major role in the propagation of economi...Salim Ali＇s fruit bat （Latidens salimalii） is Endemic to Southern Western Ghats. India and is classified as Endangered by IUCN. Latidens is morphologically adapted to play a major role in the propagation of economically important trees： some of them are endemic to southern Western Ghats. This paper describes and documents, the bat＂s ecology, foraging behavior and food selection. The study is based on the dietary details of the discovered populations of L. salimalii in the Agasthiyar hill range and the High Wavy Mountains of southern Western Ghats, India. Seeds. partially eaten fruits and seedlings germinated on the floor of the feeding roosts confirm this bat forage for fruits among relatively tall trees of evergreen forests in an elevation above 900 meter. Mist netting below and above canopy near the fruiting and flowering trees of their foraging area confirmed their interaction with certain endemic tree species. Their species specific dietars＇ preferences immensely help to restore and bring back the natural forest community structures.展开更多
In response to acute predation threats, prey may sacrifice foraging opportunities in favour of increased predator avoidance. Under conditions of high or frequent predation risk, such tradeoffs may lead to reduced fitn...In response to acute predation threats, prey may sacrifice foraging opportunities in favour of increased predator avoidance. Under conditions of high or frequent predation risk, such tradeoffs may lead to reduced fitness. Here, we test the pre diction that prey reduce the costs associated with lost opportunities following acute predation threats by exhibiting shortterm compensatory foraging responses. Under seminatural conditions, we exposed female guppies Poecilia reticulate from high and low predation risk sites to one of three levels of acute predation threat （high, intermediate or low concentrations of conspecific alarm cues）. Our results confirm previous reports, demonstrating that guppies from a high predation site were consistently ＇bolder＇ （shorter escape latencies） and exhibited graded threatsensitive responses to different simulated threat levels while those from the low predation site were ＇shyer＇ and exhibited nongraded responses. Most importantly, we found that when guppies from low predation sites resumed foraging, they did so at rates significantly lower than baseline rates. However, guppies from high preda tion sites resumed foraging either at rates equal to baseline （in response to low or intemaediate risk stimuli） or significantly in creased relative to baseline rates （in response to high risk stimuli）. Together, these results highlight a complex compensatory be havioral mechanism that may allow prey to reduce the longterm costs associated with predator avoidance [Current Zoology 60 （3）： 323-332, 2014 ].展开更多
Mechanisms of animal learning and memory were traditionally studied without reference to niche-specific functional considerations. More recently, ecological demands have informed such investigations, most notably with...Mechanisms of animal learning and memory were traditionally studied without reference to niche-specific functional considerations. More recently, ecological demands have informed such investigations, most notably with respect to foraging in birds. In parallel, behavioural ecologists, primarily concerned with functional optimization, have begun to consider the role of mechanistic factors, including cognition, to explain apparent deviations from optimal predictions. In the present paper we discuss the application of laboratory-based constructs and paradigms of cognition to the real-world challenges faced by avian foragers. We argue that such applications have been handicapped by what we term the ＇paradigmatic assumption＇ - the assumption that a given laboratory paradigm maps well enough onto a congruent cognitive mechanism （or cognitive ability） to justify confiation of the two. We present evidence against the paradigmatic assumption and suggest that to achieve a profitable integration between function and mechanism, with respect to animal cognition, a new conceptualization of cognitive mechanisms - functional cogni- tion - is required. This new conceptualization should define cognitive mechanisms based on the informational properties of the animal＇s environment and the adaptive challenges faced. Cognitive mechanisms must be examined in settings that mimic the im- portant aspects of the natural environment, using customized tasks designed to probe defined aspects of the mechanisms＇ opera- tion. We suggest that this approach will facilitate investigations of the functional and evolutionary relevance of cognitive mecha- nisms, as well as the patterns of divergence, convergence and specialization of cognitive mechanisms within and between species .展开更多
文摘Salim Ali＇s fruit bat （Latidens salimalii） is Endemic to Southern Western Ghats. India and is classified as Endangered by IUCN. Latidens is morphologically adapted to play a major role in the propagation of economically important trees： some of them are endemic to southern Western Ghats. This paper describes and documents, the bat＂s ecology, foraging behavior and food selection. The study is based on the dietary details of the discovered populations of L. salimalii in the Agasthiyar hill range and the High Wavy Mountains of southern Western Ghats, India. Seeds. partially eaten fruits and seedlings germinated on the floor of the feeding roosts confirm this bat forage for fruits among relatively tall trees of evergreen forests in an elevation above 900 meter. Mist netting below and above canopy near the fruiting and flowering trees of their foraging area confirmed their interaction with certain endemic tree species. Their species specific dietars＇ preferences immensely help to restore and bring back the natural forest community structures.
文摘In response to acute predation threats, prey may sacrifice foraging opportunities in favour of increased predator avoidance. Under conditions of high or frequent predation risk, such tradeoffs may lead to reduced fitness. Here, we test the pre diction that prey reduce the costs associated with lost opportunities following acute predation threats by exhibiting shortterm compensatory foraging responses. Under seminatural conditions, we exposed female guppies Poecilia reticulate from high and low predation risk sites to one of three levels of acute predation threat （high, intermediate or low concentrations of conspecific alarm cues）. Our results confirm previous reports, demonstrating that guppies from a high predation site were consistently ＇bolder＇ （shorter escape latencies） and exhibited graded threatsensitive responses to different simulated threat levels while those from the low predation site were ＇shyer＇ and exhibited nongraded responses. Most importantly, we found that when guppies from low predation sites resumed foraging, they did so at rates significantly lower than baseline rates. However, guppies from high preda tion sites resumed foraging either at rates equal to baseline （in response to low or intemaediate risk stimuli） or significantly in creased relative to baseline rates （in response to high risk stimuli）. Together, these results highlight a complex compensatory be havioral mechanism that may allow prey to reduce the longterm costs associated with predator avoidance [Current Zoology 60 （3）： 323-332, 2014 ].
文摘Mechanisms of animal learning and memory were traditionally studied without reference to niche-specific functional considerations. More recently, ecological demands have informed such investigations, most notably with respect to foraging in birds. In parallel, behavioural ecologists, primarily concerned with functional optimization, have begun to consider the role of mechanistic factors, including cognition, to explain apparent deviations from optimal predictions. In the present paper we discuss the application of laboratory-based constructs and paradigms of cognition to the real-world challenges faced by avian foragers. We argue that such applications have been handicapped by what we term the ＇paradigmatic assumption＇ - the assumption that a given laboratory paradigm maps well enough onto a congruent cognitive mechanism （or cognitive ability） to justify confiation of the two. We present evidence against the paradigmatic assumption and suggest that to achieve a profitable integration between function and mechanism, with respect to animal cognition, a new conceptualization of cognitive mechanisms - functional cogni- tion - is required. This new conceptualization should define cognitive mechanisms based on the informational properties of the animal＇s environment and the adaptive challenges faced. Cognitive mechanisms must be examined in settings that mimic the im- portant aspects of the natural environment, using customized tasks designed to probe defined aspects of the mechanisms＇ opera- tion. We suggest that this approach will facilitate investigations of the functional and evolutionary relevance of cognitive mecha- nisms, as well as the patterns of divergence, convergence and specialization of cognitive mechanisms within and between species .
