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de Sampaio MOB, Montiani-Ferreira F, Mello FR, Martins CB, de Souza ALG, Bortolini M, Klaumann PR, Moore BA. Supplemental vibrissal extensions as an alternative to improve the tactile sensitivity of blind dogs - a preliminary approach investigation. Vet Res Commun 2024:10.1007/s11259-024-10342-y. [PMID: 38427268 DOI: 10.1007/s11259-024-10342-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This preliminary study suggests a way to artificially extend vibrissae of blind dogs to assist ambulation and avoiding facial contact with obstacles. PROCEDURES Fourteen irreversibly blind dogs had 5-6 mystacial vibrissae on each side of the face supplementally extended by attaching carefully chosen adult pig hairs to them and were subjected to a maze test before and after the procedure. In three of these dogs the test was repeated one more time after all the extensions had fallen off. Collision counts and course times with and without extensions were analyzed and compared. A p-value > 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS Median number of collisions was significantly higher post-extensions (5 IQR 2.25) and after extensions had fallen off (4 IQR 7.50) compared to pre-extensions (1 IQR 1), p = 0.021. Median times were significantly higher pre-extension (25.6 IQR 8.98) and after the extensions had fallen off, compared to the post-extension performance (22.8 IQR 8.55), p = 0.04. CONCLUSION Vibrissae play an important role in the tactile perception of blind dogs, and our preliminary results suggest that extending this sensory organ possibly improves obstacle location and their quality of life.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Fabiano Montiani-Ferreira
- Veterinary Medicine Department, Federal University of Parana, Rua Dos Funcionarios, 1540, Curitiba, PR, 80035-050, Brazil.
| | - Franz Riegler Mello
- Veterinary Medicine Department, Federal University of Parana, Rua Dos Funcionarios, 1540, Curitiba, PR, 80035-050, Brazil
| | - Camila Bolmann Martins
- Veterinary Medicine Department, Federal University of Parana, Rua Dos Funcionarios, 1540, Curitiba, PR, 80035-050, Brazil
| | | | - Mariza Bortolini
- Veterinary Medicine Department, Federal University of Parana, Rua Dos Funcionarios, 1540, Curitiba, PR, 80035-050, Brazil
| | - Paulo Roberto Klaumann
- Clinivet Hospital Veterinário, R. Holanda, 894, Boa Vista, Curitiba, PR, 82540-040, Brazil
| | - Bret A Moore
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, University of Florida, 2015 SW 16Th Ave, Gainesville, FL, 32608, USA
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Lyras GA, Werdelin L, van der Geer BGM, van der Geer AAE. Fossil brains provide evidence of underwater feeding in early seals. Commun Biol 2023; 6:747. [PMID: 37591929 PMCID: PMC10435510 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05135-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Pinnipeds (seals and related species) use their whiskers to explore their environment and locate their prey. Today they live mostly in marine habitats and are adapted for a highly specialised amphibious lifestyle with their flippers for locomotion and a hydrodynamically streamlined body. The earliest pinnipeds, however, lived on land and in freshwater habitats, much like mustelids today. Here we reconstruct the underwater foraging behaviour of one of these earliest pinnipeds (Potamotherium), focusing in particular on how it used its whiskers (vibrissae). For this purpose, we analyse the coronal gyrus of the brain of 7 fossil and 31 extant carnivorans. This region receives somatosensory input from the head. Our results show that the reliance on whiskers in modern pinnipeds is an ancestral feature that favoured survival of stem pinnipeds in marine habitats. This study provides insights into an impressive ecological transition in carnivoran evolution: from terrestrial to amphibious marine species. Adaptations for underwater foraging were crucial for this transition.
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Affiliation(s)
- George A Lyras
- Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, Department of Historical Geology-Palaeontology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784, Zografos, Greece
| | - Lars Werdelin
- Department of Palaeobiology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, SE-10405, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Alexandra A E van der Geer
- Vertebrate Evolution, Development and Ecology, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, 2333 RA, Leiden, the Netherlands.
- Institute of Biology, Leiden University, 2311 EZ, Leiden, the Netherlands.
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Grant RA, Ryan H, Breakell V. Demonstrating a measurement protocol for studying comparative whisker movements with implications for the evolution of behaviour. J Neurosci Methods 2023; 384:109752. [PMID: 36435328 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2022.109752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2022] [Revised: 11/10/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Studying natural, complex behaviours over a range of different species provides insights into the evolution of the brain and behaviour. Whisker movements reveal complex behaviours; however, there does not yet exist a protocol that is able to capture whisker movements and behaviours in a range of different species. NEW METHOD We develop a new protocol and make recommendations for measuring comparative whisker movements and behaviours. Using two set-ups - an enclosure camera set-up and a high-speed video set-up - we capture and measure the whisker movements of sixteen different captive mammal species from four different animal collections. RESULTS We demonstrate the ability to describe whisker movements and behaviours across a wide range of mammalian species. We describe whisker movements in European hedgehog, Cape porcupine, domestic rabbit, domestic ferret, weasel, European otter and red fox for the first time. We observe whisker movements in all the species we tested, although movement, positions and behaviours vary in a species-specific way. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S) The high-speed video set-up is based on the protocols of previous studies. The addition of an enclosure video set-up is entirely new, and allows us to include more species, especially large and shy species that cannot be moved into a high-speed filming arena. CONCLUSIONS We make recommendations for comparative whisker behaviour studies, particularly incorporating individual and species-specific considerations. We believe that flexible, comparative behavioural protocols have wide-ranging applications, specifically to better understand links between the brain and complex behaviours.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robyn A Grant
- Department of Natural Science, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom.
| | - Hazel Ryan
- The Wildwood Trust, Herne Common, Kent, United Kingdom
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Glick R, Muthuramalingam M, Brücker C. Sea lions could use multilateration localization for object tracking as tested with bio-inspired whisker arrays. Sci Rep 2022; 12:11764. [PMID: 35817795 PMCID: PMC9273624 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-15904-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2022] [Accepted: 06/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous behavioural research on live sea lions has shown that they are able to detect the direction of oncoming vortices, even when impacting contralaterally. These experiments showed that the whisker system and the animal’s neural processing is seemingly able to detect the Direction of Arrival (DoA) from just one side of the heads vibrissal pads. Therefore, temporal differences between whisker stimulation is a likely method for determining the angle. Herein, a theoretical model is presented based on multilateration, and tested by experimental studies on a 2D array of bio-inspired whiskers with regular spacing, and a 3D array of bio-inspired whiskers on a model head of a sea lion, as used in our previous studies. The results show that arrays of whiskers can in principle work as antennae to determine the DoA. This detection of the DoA is achieved by cross-correlation of triplets of whiskers, and Time Difference Of Arrival based multilateration, a method similar to signal processing in modern communication systems and other source localization applications. The results on the 2D array are conclusive and clearly support the hypothesis, while increased uncertainties were found for the 3D array, which could be explained by structural shortcomings of the experimental model. Possible ways to improve the signal are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raphael Glick
- School of Mathematics Computer Science and Engineering, City University of London, London, EC1V 0HB, UK.
| | | | - Christoph Brücker
- School of Mathematics Computer Science and Engineering, City University of London, London, EC1V 0HB, UK
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Adachi T, Naito Y, Robinson PW, Costa DP, Hückstädt LA, Holser RR, Iwasaki W, Takahashi A. Whiskers as hydrodynamic prey sensors in foraging seals. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2119502119. [PMID: 35696561 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2119502119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Unlike humans, most mammals have mobile facial whiskers, yet their natural movement and function are unknown due to observational difficulties, even in well-studied terrestrial whisker specialists (rodents). We report a remarkable case of whiskers contributing to mammal foraging in an extreme underwater environment: the deep, dark ocean. Our animal-borne video cameras revealed that elephant seals captured moving prey by sensing water movement. Their whiskers extended forward ahead of the mouth. Seals performed rhythmic whisker movement to search for hydrodynamic cues, a whisker movement homologous to terrestrial mammals exploring their environment. Based on direct observations, we show how deep-diving seals locate their prey without the biosonar used by whales, revealing another mammalian adaptation to complete darkness. The darkness of the deep ocean limits the vision of diving predators, except when prey emit bioluminescence. It is hypothesized that deep-diving seals rely on highly developed whiskers to locate their prey. However, if and how seals use their whiskers while foraging in natural conditions remains unknown. We used animal-borne tags to show that free-ranging elephant seals use their whiskers for hydrodynamic prey sensing. Small, cheek-mounted video loggers documented seals actively protracting their whiskers in front of their mouths with rhythmic whisker movement, like terrestrial mammals exploring their environment. Seals focused their sensing effort at deep foraging depths, performing prolonged whisker protraction to detect, pursue, and capture prey. Feeding-event recorders with light sensors demonstrated that bioluminescence contributed to only about 20% of overall foraging success, confirming that whiskers play the primary role in sensing prey. Accordingly, visual prey detection complemented and enhanced prey capture. The whiskers’ role highlights an evolutionary alternative to echolocation for adapting to the extreme dark of the deep ocean environment, revealing how sensory abilities shape foraging niche segregation in deep-diving mammals. Mammals typically have mobile facial whiskers, and our study reveals the significant function of whiskers in the natural foraging behavior of a marine predator. We demonstrate the importance of field-based sensory studies incorporating multimodality to better understand how multiple sensory systems are complementary in shaping the foraging success of predators.
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Zupanc GKH, Arikawa K, Helfrich-Förster C, Homberg U, Narins PM, Rössler W, Simmons AM, Warrant EJ. It's all about seeing and hearing: the Editors' and Readers' Choice Awards 2022. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2022; 208:351-353. [PMID: 35107606 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-022-01541-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2022] [Revised: 01/06/2022] [Accepted: 01/07/2022] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
This year marks the inauguration of the annual Editors' Choice Award and the Readers' Choice Award, each presented for outstanding original papers and review articles published in the Journal of Comparative Physiology A. The winners of the 2022 Editors' Choice Award were determined by vote of the Editorial Board for the most highly recommended papers published in Volume 207 in 2021. They are 'Visual discrimination and resolution in freshwater stingrays (Potamotrygon motoro)' by Daniel et al. (J Comp Physiol A 207, 43-58, 2021) in the Original Paper category; and 'Neurophysiology goes wild: from exploring sensory coding in sound proof rooms to natural environments' by Römer (J Comp Physiol A 207, 303-319, 2021) in the Review Article category. The 2022 Readers' Choice Award was based on access number of articles published in Volume 206 in 2020, to ensure at least 12-month online presence. It is given to Nicholas et al. for their original paper titled 'Visual motion sensitivity in descending neurons in the hoverfly' (J Comp Physiol A 206, 149-163, 2020); and to Schnaitmann et al. for their review article entitled 'Color vision in insects: insights from Drosophila' (J Comp Physiol A 206, 183-198, 2020).
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kentaro Arikawa
- Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Hayama, 240-0115, Kanagawa, Japan
| | | | - Uwe Homberg
- Department of Biology, Philipps-University of Marburg, 35032, Marburg, Germany
| | - Peter M Narins
- Departments of Integrative Biology & Physiology, and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Wolfgang Rössler
- Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II), Biocentre, University of Würzburg, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Andrea Megela Simmons
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02912, USA
| | - Eric J Warrant
- Department of Biology, University of Lund, 22362, Lund, Sweden
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Milne AO, Orton L, Black CH, Jones GC, Sullivan M, Grant RA. California sea lions employ task-specific strategies for active touch sensing. J Exp Biol 2021; 224:273347. [PMID: 34608932 PMCID: PMC8627572 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.243085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Accepted: 09/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Active sensing is the process of moving sensors to extract task-specific information. Whisker touch is often referred to as an active sensory system as whiskers are moved with purposeful control. Even though whisker movements are found in many species, it is unknown whether any animal can make task-specific movements with their whiskers. California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) make large, purposeful whisker movements and are capable of performing many whisker-related discrimination tasks. Therefore, California sea lions are an ideal species to explore the active nature of whisker touch sensing. Here, we show that California sea lions can make task-specific whisker movements. California sea lions move their whiskers with large amplitudes around object edges to judge size, make smaller, lateral stroking movements to judge texture and make very small whisker movements during a visual task. These findings, combined with the ease of training mammals and measuring whisker movements, makes whiskers an ideal system for studying mammalian perception, cognition and motor control. Highlighted Article: California sea lions engage in task-specific active touch sensing with their whiskers to discriminate size and differentiate textures, indicating that their whiskers are truly an active sensory system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alyx O Milne
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Chester Street, Manchester, M1 5GD, UK.,Events Team, Blackpool Zoo, East Park Drive, Blackpool, FY3 8PP, UK
| | - Llwyd Orton
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Chester Street, Manchester, M1 5GD, UK
| | | | - Gary C Jones
- Events Team, Blackpool Zoo, East Park Drive, Blackpool, FY3 8PP, UK
| | - Matthew Sullivan
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Chester Street, Manchester, M1 5GD, UK
| | - Robyn A Grant
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Chester Street, Manchester, M1 5GD, UK
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Affiliation(s)
- Robyn A. Grant
- Department of Natural Sciences Manchester Metropolitan University John Dalton Building, Chester Street ManchesterM1 5GDUK
| | - Victor G. A. Goss
- School of Engineering London South Bank University Borough Road LondonSE1 0AAUK
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