Leture 1 Animal Behaviour

  • Introduction and learning outcomes

    • Relevance of animal behaviour to veterinary medicine

    • Adopt an analytical approach using Tinbergen’s Four Questions

    • Provide examples of animal communication

    • Explain key stages in lifecycles and factors influencing their expression

    • Explain maintenance behaviour and how it relates to animal welfare

    • Define and explain all terminology used

  • Clinically relevant indicators and management concepts

    • Clinical indicators: e.g. inappetence, mobility scores, Grimace scales

    • Safe handling: recognise signs of aggression and how to manage them

    • Management tools: recognise signs of oestrus; prepare for parturition; intervene when necessary during birth

    • Recognise problematic behaviours: agonistic and injurious behaviour; stereotypies; separation anxiety in dogs

    • Relevance to animal welfare: link behaviour to welfare assessments and husbandry practices

  • Tinbergen’s Four Questions (Understanding animal behaviour)

    • 1) Function (Adaptation)

    • Why is the behaviour performed? What fitness benefits does it confer?

    • Example: a behaviour increases an individual’s reproductive success or survival

    • 2) Evolution (Phylogeny)

    • How did the behaviour evolve? How has natural selection shaped it?

    • Example: social signalling behaviours conserved across related species

    • 3) Causation (Mechanism)

    • What are the underlying physiological, neural or environmental triggers?

    • Example: neural circuits and hormones triggering fleeing when threatened

    • 4) Development (Ontogeny)

    • How does the behaviour develop across the animal’s lifetime?

    • Example: learning and maturing through experiences and socialization

    • References noted in the material: Dawkins (2023)

    • Note: There are discussions of different major “types” of behaviour (e.g., feeding, mating, parental, social) and how they may be modulated by context and experience

  • Four main types of behaviour (illustrative examples)

    • 1) Feeding/sleeping behaviours

    • 2) Social/formational behaviours (e.g., maternal care, social learning)

    • 3) Reproductive/parental behaviours (e.g., oestrus signaling, parturition, maternal care)

    • 4) Interactional/fitness-signalling behaviours (e.g., signalling for territory, dominance, or warning)

    • Conceptual note: behaviour can be adaptive (fitness-beneficial) or maladaptive in some contexts

    • Example reference: observations of observational learning in primates (e.g., orangutans) and comparisons with domestic dogs

  • Know what’s normal: Ethograms

    • Definition: a structured record of animal behaviour

    • Purpose: to establish a baseline of normal behaviour so deviations can be diagnosed

    • Data formats: can focus on a single behaviour category or a sequence of behaviours

    • Data representations: pictorial (photos) or written descriptions

    • Example: Kappel et al. (2024) Ethogram of the domestic cat

    • Practical use: helps educate owners about normal interactions with humans and other animals; supports welfare assessments

  • Animal communication (multimodal)

    • Visual, Olfactory, Auditory, Tactile channels

    • Clinical indicators can be conveyed via these modalities (e.g., lameness, pain) and inform safe handling

    • Olfactory signals can communicate social bonds, reproductive state, territory markers

    • Tactile signals convey social bonds and safety cues during handling

    • Auditory signals can convey clinical state and emotions

    • Grimace scales as a pain assessment tool across species

    • Evangelista et al. (2022): Grimace scales developed for human neonates and extended to about 10 mammalian species

    • Grimace scales are validated and reliable but can be modulated by various factors

    • Mogil et al. (2020) provides broader context on grimace scales and pain assessment

  • Visual communication and feline emotions (ethogram example)

    • Nicholson & O’Carroll (2021) ethogram for feline emotions (visual signals)

    • Key facial/eye cues: eyes, ears, tail movements; body posture

    • Fear signals (examples):

    • Eyes: wide, round, dilated pupils or eyes tightly shut

    • Ears: flattened to the side or back

    • Tail and body: tucked, crouching, head lowered; arched back

    • Overall body: piloerection, tense muscles

    • Anger signals (examples):

    • Pupils: oblong and dilated; direct stare

    • Ears: swivelling sideways; inner pinnae visible

    • Body: lowered and rigid; inverted L shape; tail slapping ground

    • Piloerection along spine and tail; arched back

    • Play signals (examples):

    • Pupils: dilated

    • Head and body posture: upward and forward facing; vertical or inverted U shape

    • Play face cues when kittens are involved

    • Content/relationship cues:

    • Content: pupils small; upright and forward-facing; relaxed

    • Interest: dilated pupils; upright and directed toward stimulus; ear movement

    • Practical interpretation: links between visual signals and emotional state; helps with welfare assessments and owner education

  • How animals perceive their environment (field of view and approach routes)

    • Important concept: understanding what signals animals may miss if you approach from a blind spot

    • Relevance to safe handling and husbandry, including herding and crowding situations

    • Common postures indicating confidence or submission:

    • Confident dog: head up, tail high; pay attention to inguinal area signals of dominance

    • Submissive cues: head lowered, tail tucked, body relaxed or withdrawn

    • General guidance: approach with caution when signals indicate potential fear or aggression; respect individual variation

  • Social signaling in dogs and breed diversity

    • Breed differences can affect recognition and interpretation of social signals across breeds (e.g., Husky vs German Shepherd vs King Charles Spaniel)

    • Suboptimal socialisation can impair inter-dog signal recognition and social communication

    • Visual cues observed in specific contexts (illustrative examples):

    • Chin resting; mounting; vulva winking (breeding-related signals observed in some interactions)

    • Practical implications for veterinary practice: tailor handling and communication to breed-specific tendencies and prior socialization history

  • Grimace scales and pain assessment (application in practice)

    • Grimace scales provide a rapid, non-invasive way to gauge pain across species

    • Benefits: objective behavioural indicators can guide analgesia decisions

    • Limitations: can be influenced by context, age, breed, environment, and ongoing pain conditions

    • Key sources: Evangelista et al. (2022); Mogil et al. (2020)

  • Olfactory communication in animals

    • Functions of olfactory signals:

    • Spatial boundaries: territory marking, latrine sites, resource holding

    • Temporal information: “traffic lights” signaling occupancy or readiness

    • Sexual behavior: increased urination in females during receptivity; mounting behaviors

    • Maternal and teat-seeking behavior

    • Foraging and feed selection; scent-based recognition

    • Flehmen response (lip curl) and the vomeronasal organ: detection of pheromonal cues

    • Contexts of olfactory signaling:

    • Territorial delineation; social and reproductive cues; maternal behaviors; anxiety-related behaviours in cats and dogs

    • Practical note: olfactory cues can be used in management and training; interpreting scent marks can aid welfare assessments

  • Flehmen response

    • Also called lip curl or gaping in cats

    • Triggered by novel olfactory markers, especially during breeding or exposure to pheromonal cues

    • Involves curling the upper lips and exposing the vomeronasal organ to enhance pheromone detection

  • Auditory communication

    • Contextual or referential signals: vary with context, audience, perspective

    • Chickens: predator alarms vary with predator and audience effect; tidbits in social feeding games

    • Dogs: bark content varies with context (e.g., warning vs. play)

    • Cats: purring occurrence and meaning depends on context

    • Identifiers: some vocalisations are individual-specific and can facilitate recognition (e.g., territorial crow calls in roosters; mother-offspring recognition in lambs)

    • Management tool: use audio playback (e.g., sow lactation grunt) to synchronize nursing and milk let-down in sows (biostimulation example)

    • Practical take-away: understanding vocal contexts improves welfare, reduces stress during handling, and informs husbandry practices

  • Domestic cat vocalisations (ethogram reference)

    • Tavernier et al. (2020): published an ethogram of cat vocalisations

    • Vocalisations express internal states and emotions; influenced by genetics and environment

    • Purpose: categorize calls for better welfare assessment and owner education; supports understanding of feline needs

  • Maternal behaviour and scent cues (illustrative note)

    • In some species, olfactory cues can trigger maternal behaviours (e.g., flehmen or pheromone signaling linked to maternal responses in certain species)

    • Example references imply broader cross-species comparisons of how scent influences maternal care and bonding

  • Practical implications for veterinary practice and welfare

    • Use ethograms to establish normal behaviours for individual patients

    • Recognize multimodal signals to inform safe handling and welfare assessments

    • Consider breed- and individual-specific differences in social signaling when presenting to clients

    • Apply Grimace scales where appropriate to monitor pain and analgesia needs

    • Use context-rich auditory and olfactory cues judiciously (e.g., sound playback or scent-mark management) to support welfare and care protocols

  • Connections to foundational principles and real-world relevance

    • Ethology as a foundation for clinical assessment and welfare science

    • Tinbergen’s questions provide a structured framework for interpreting behaviour in health and disease

    • Ethograms and normal/abnormal behavioural recognition underpin diagnostic reasoning and client education

    • Understanding communication channels supports safe handling, effective enrichment, and improved welfare outcomes in veterinary settings

  • Ethical, philosophical, and practical implications

    • Recognize animal sentience and the ethical obligation to minimize distress during care

    • Interpret behaviours with caution to avoid anthropomorphism; rely on validated ethograms and species-specific knowledge

    • Consider welfare implications of management practices (e.g., confinement, noise exposure, handling procedures) and strive for enrichment and humane care

  • Key terminology recap (glossary in brief)

    • Ethogram: a catalog or table of all observed behaviours of a species used in behavioural studies

    • Grimace scale: a pain assessment tool based on facial expressions across species

    • Flehmen response: a behavior where an animal curl-lips to expose the vomeronasal system to pheromones

    • Referentiation: context-dependent vocal signals that convey specific information about the situation

    • Tidbitting: a foraging/mammalian behavioural phenomenon where food-related cues influence social feeding and competition

    • Biostimulation: the use of biological signals (e.g., lactation-related vocalizations) to elicit a physiological response

  • Equations and quantitative notes (where applicable)

    • Fitness concept (informal):

    • F=extreproductivesuccessext(survivaltoreproductiveage)imesextoffspringproducedF = ext{reproductive success} ext{ (survival to reproductive age)} imes ext{offspring produced}

    • These expressions illustrate the idea that behaviour can influence evolutionary success through multiple components of fitness; the exact form depends on species and context

  • Quick references and suggested readings (as cited in lecture)

    • Dawkins (2023) – Tinbergen’s Questions and behavioural analysis context

    • Evangelista et al. (2022) – Grimace scales and cross-species pain assessment

    • Mogil et al. (2020) – Broad discussion of grimace scales and pain research

    • Tavernier et al. (2020) – Cat vocalisation ethogram

    • Nicholson & O’Carroll (2021) – Feline emotions ethogram (visual signals)

    • Kappel et al. (2024) – Ethogram of the domestic cat

  • Summary takeaway

    • A comprehensive understanding of animal behaviour integrates functional, evolutionary, causal, and developmental perspectives with practical tools such as ethograms, Grimace scales, and multisensory communication analyses

    • This knowledge directly informs veterinary practice, welfare assessment, client education, and ethical care of animals in clinical and everyday settings