PhDâ€theses - Ethologische Gesellschaft

Content Newsletter No. 64 

Content 

General Overview .......................................................................................................................2 

News from the Council....................................................................................................... 3 

A note from the Secretary............................................................................................................3 

The Niko Tinbergen Prize 2010 of the Ethological Society................................................... 4 

Research Update................................................................................................................ 6 

Overview ....................................................................................................................................6 

PhD‐theses..................................................................................................................................7 

Barbara Fischer...............................................................................................................................7 

Alexander Kotrschal .......................................................................................................................8 

Claudia A. F. Wascher.....................................................................................................................9 

Masters and Diplom theses .......................................................................................................10 

lka Bürgener .................................................................................................................................10 

Sarah Deventer.............................................................................................................................11 

Barbara Gerber.............................................................................................................................12 

Nicole Gonswa..............................................................................................................................13 

Anastasia Krasheninnikova...........................................................................................................14 

Dorothee Kremers........................................................................................................................15 

Antje Lembke ...............................................................................................................................16 

Anna Müller..................................................................................................................................17 

Britta Schindler.............................................................................................................................18 

Tilman C. Schneider......................................................................................................................20 

Anna Viktoria Schnöll ...................................................................................................................21 

Inka Spiller ....................................................................................................................................22 

Mieke Titulaer ..............................................................................................................................23 

Miriam Waldmann .......................................................................................................................24 

Marta Wastavino..........................................................................................................................25 

Stefanie Zimmer ...........................................................................................................................26 

Activities and Meetings.................................................................................................... 27 

Future meetings of the Ethologische Gesellschaft......................................................................27 

Reports from previous conferences...........................................................................................28 

Other Meetings.........................................................................................................................30 

12 th Conference of the Gesellschaft für Primatologie ..................................................................30 

Joint Meeting of the Animal Behaviour Society & International Ethological Conference............31 

13th Congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology................................................32 

Grant and promotion opportunities for members .....................................................................33 

Niko‐Tinbergen‐award..................................................................................................................33 

Research funds .............................................................................................................................34 

Workshops and graduate student meetings ................................................................................34 

Grants for travel subsidies............................................................................................................34 

Officers of the Ethologische Gesellschaft.......................................................................... 35 

Council......................................................................................................................................35 

Extended Council .......................................................................................................................35 

Animal Ethics Commissioners.....................................................................................................36 

Teaching Commissioner .............................................................................................................36 

Internet Links................................................................................................................... 37 

Miscellaneous.................................................................................................................. 38 

Your contact details ...................................................................................................................38 

1

General Overview 

Internals • General information for members (council reports, funding opportunities, etc) 

Activities and Meetings • This section provides information about meetings and activities of 

the EG, and about other meetings for those interested in animal behaviour. Those who 

organize a meeting or for other reasons would like to highlight an upcoming meeting should 

contact the secretary prior to deadline for the next Etho News. Given the numbers of 

different meetings, not all will be automatically included in Etho News. 

Portrait • In short articles of diverse formats (Biography, Interview, Laudation) members can 

discuss scientists and their work in the contexts of promotion, special honours or retirement. 

Events • In this category members can introduce scheduled projects and report about 

events (e.g. meetings) that already took place. 

Books • In this section new publications are introduced that are of interest to those 

interested in animal behavior. If you would like to drawn attention to a book or wrote book, 

please send a short book review; up to one page is sufficient. Please include additional 

information such as title, author, publisher, price and further general information. 

Research Update • This section is particularly relevant for young members of the society. 

You have the opportunity to present an abstract of your masters, Diplom, or PhD thesis or 

other research activities. Please remember that at least one person involved must be a 

member of the Ethological society (so either the student or one of the advisors). Summaries 

must fit on one page and should be submitted WITHOUT ANY SPECIAL FORMAT. Please 

provide information in the following order: 

Title 

Your name 

Your email 

Type of work supervised by , Institutional address; 

Text, followed by references (if adequate) and respective internet links. 

Discussion, Perspectives, Letters to the Secretary • This section offers space for 

suggestions, criticism and thought‐provoking ideas and visions that may still be callow. Short 

and to the point they should initiate discussion between the members (maximum of 2 

pages). 

Editorial Deadline: 31 st April 2011 Please send your contributions as e‐mail attachments 

(.doc or .rtf; not as pdf!) to: claudia.fichtel@gwdg.de 

Please check attachments for macro viruses before sending!!!

News from the Council 

A note from the Secretary 

News from the Council 

Dear colleagues, Göttingen, 22.12.2010 

the second issue of Etho News in 2010 again includes a number of abstracts from Master‐, 

and Diploma‐theses, conferences and the activities within the Ethologische Gesellschaft. We 

would like to thank those members who provided contributions to this issue. 

At this point I would like again to encourage young scientists to submit applications 

for the research grants. The deadline is January 01. 2011. Please submit your application to 

Dr. Sylvia Kaiser (kaisesy[a]uni‐muenster.de). For details about the application procedure see 

http://www.ethol‐ges.org/advancement/others.aspx. 

Lastly, I would like to draw your attention to the 6 th Topical Meeting of the 

Ethologische Gesellschaft, 17. ‐19. February in Zürich, Switzerland. This meeting will be 

organized by Prof. Dr. Barabara König and Prof. Dr. Redouan Bshary. The next membership 

meeting will take place at this conference on 18.02.2011. For details see: 

http://www.ecbb2010.org/ 

Hope to see you all in Zürich!!! 

I whish you all a merry Christmas and a happy New Year! 

Claudia Fichtel 

Secretary of the Ethologische Gesellschaft 

3

THE NIKO TINBERGEN PRIZE 2010 OF THE ETHOLOGICAL SOCIETY 

News from Members 

The Niko Tinbergen Prize 2010 of the Ethological Society was awarded to Dr Katharina 

Hirschenhauser, currently based at the University of Vienna and the Max‐Planck Institute for 

Ornithology, Seewiesen. Dr. Hirschenhauser has earned a solid reputation in behavioral 

endocrinology. Her key contributions include both empirical studies and meta‐analyses. The 

ceremony took place at the ECBB conference in Ferrara. 

Some comments from committee members who supported her candidature. Katharina 

Hirschenhauser was selected by a commission “because of her broad scientific interest, her 

scientific independence and her many, good publications.” Being able to develop her 

personal research profile as a post doc, “she depended on competitive grants during all that 

time. Such a career requires applying for grants practically all the time and involves maximal 

flexibility in the face of high financial insecurity. Only very determined and dedicated 

researchers would not lose faith on the way.” 

Some key papers of Dr. Hirschenhauser: 

Hirschenhauser, K., Weiß, B.M., Haberl, W., Möstl, E. and Kotrschal, K.: Female androgen 

patterns and within‐pair testosterone compatibility in domestic geese (Anser domesticus). 

Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 165, 195‐203 (2010) 

Hirschenhauser K., Wittek M., Johnston P. and Möstl E.: Social context rather than behavioral 

output or winning modulates postconflict testosterone responses in Japanese quail (Coturnix 

japonica). Physiol. Behav. 95, 457‐463 (2008) 

Hirschenhauser K. and Oliveira R.F.: Social modulation of androgens in male vertebrates: 

meta‐analyses of the "challenge hypothesis". Anim. Behav. 71, 265‐277 (2006) 

Wit friendly greetings 

Reduouan Bshary 

Dr. Hirschenhauser and Prof. Dr. Bshary (fighting with the flower wrapping … practice may help 

Mr. President ) during the ceremony of the Tinbergen award 2010. 

4

Abstract of Dr. Hirschenhauser’s Tinbergen Prize lecture at Ferrara 

News from Members 

HORMONES AS COORDINATORS AND FACILITATORS OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR, EXCITEMENT 

AND SUCCESS 

Katharina Hirschenhauser 

khirschenhauser@orn.mpg.de 

MPI for Ornithology, Dept. Behavioural Neurobiology, Seewiesen, Germany 

Social interactions may provoke changes of a wide array of hormones, activate different 

neuronal circuits and gene expression. Testosterone (T), the major sex steroid of male 

vertebrates, has been particularly well studied. On top of seasonally regulated patterns, 

short‐term T surges of variable magnitude may occur in response to social encounters. The 

degree of T responsiveness was shown to vary with social system, i.e. larger T responses in 

males from monogamous than in polygynous bird species (“challenge hypothesis). Thus, 

seasonal T levels are a function of the social environment. Meanwhile the phenomenon has 

been extended to males of all vertebrate taxa. However, despite the taxonomic breadth its 

functions remain puzzling. At the heart of analysis, time‐scale matters and I will present 

examples for the social modulation of T at both levels: (a) based on seasonal T patterns, the 

hormonal partner compatibility in geese as example for T acting as coordinator of social 

behaviour, pairbond maintenance and reproductive success; (b) immediate hormone 

changes may be viewed as facilitators of (future) behaviour and success, e.g. T surges in 

winners but not losers of a fight. Yet, in fish and quail mirror‐elicited fighting behaviour was 

dissociated from T. Recent evidence suggests that an individual perception of fighting vigour, 

both own and opponent’s, seems to activate the expression of a T surge rather than winning 

or losing itself. Why engage T when social experience alone would be sufficient for inducing 

the winner effect? Tests with quail reveal that T‐responsiveness is involved by facilitating 

behaviours affecting a “winner’s attitude” and thus, the mutual assessment. Currently, I 

focus on the ability to recall social information for future encounters. In sum, studying the 

social modulation of hormones may contribute to our understanding of the fine‐tuning 

mechanisms of social behaviour and “attitude”, the excitement of conflict, and when it pays 

to invest. Funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung. 

5

Research Update 

Overview 

PhD‐theses 


Fischer, Barbara: Evolution of plastic life‐histories 

Kotrschal, Alexander: The influence of early environment on later life – physiology, 

behaviour and evolution 

Wascher, Claudia A. F.: Heart‐rate in greylag geese (Anser anser): implications for the study 

of social systems 

Masters and Diplom theses 

Bürgener, Ika: The acoustic recognition system of wild boars (Sus scrofa) 

Deventer, Sarah: Sexual cannibalism: what do males have to offer? 

Gerber, Barbara: The influence of female body condition and predator threat on the brood 

care behaviour of mouthbreeding cichlids 

Gonswa, Nicole: Maternal care strategies in Phylloneta impressa (Theridiidae) 

Krasheninnikova, Anastasia: Means‐end comprehension in parrots: a comparative approach 

Kremers, Dorothee: Vocal repertoire of the Orcas (Orcinus orca) in the Loro Parque, Tenerife 

– Individual differences in their vocalizations 

Lembke, Anna: The influence of social interaction between male cavies and juvenile female 

cavies (Cavia aperea) and of male odors on the maturation of females 

Müller, Anna: The impact of social rank after confrontation with conspecifics on the 

reproductive competence of male Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) 

Schindler, Britta: Home sweet home‐ the influence of housing conditions on stress 

physiology, cognition and emotional behaviour in mice selectively bred for extremes 

in stress reactivity 

Schneider, Tilman: Microhabitat selection by European Bison (Bison bonasus) in Białowieża 

Primeval Forest, Poland 

Schnöll, Anna Viktoria: Testing for social diffusion of two novel foraging skills and 

conformity in wild redfronted lemurs (Eulemur rufifrons) 

Spiller, Ilka: Who determines the end of brood care in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata)? 

Titulaer, Mieke: Context‐dependent learning performance in relation to avian personalities 

Waldmann, Miriam: Relevance of acoustic parameters in the spectacled parrotlet’s (Forpus 

conspicillatus) contact call 

Wastinavo, Marta: Differences in activity budgets and social behaviours of three male 

alternative reproductive tactics in African stripped mouse (Rhabdomys pumilio) 

Zimmer, Stefanie: Determinants of natural mating success in the cannibalistic orb‐web 

spider Argiope bruennichi 

6

PhD‐theses 

EVOLUTION OF PLASTIC LIFE‐HISTORIES 

Barbara Fischer 

barbara.fischer@bio.uio.no 


PhD Thesis, 2010, Supervisors: PD Dr. Barbara Taborsky, PD Dr. Ulf Dieckmann, Dept. Behavioural 

Ecology, University of Bern, Switzerland and Evolution & Ecology Program, IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria 

Most environments fluctuate unpredictably at least to some degree, but surprisingly most life history 

models ignore stochastic environmental changes. By theoretical modelling we investigated the 

conditions favouring phenotypic plasticity of life histories, influences on the extent of plasticity in a 

trait and why and how much plasticity should change with age in stochastic environments. We 

analyzed how organisms should optimally allocate energy to reproduction vs. maintenance and how 

plastic they should be in their allocation decisions in environments differing by their degree of 

variability and predictability. It turned out that optimal reproductive investment should not increase 

monotonically with growing energy availability as one would intuitively assume. Instead, the reaction 

norm describing reproductive investment has a U‐shape, with high reproductive investment when 

energy availability is close to zero ('terminal investment') and when energy availability is high. At an 

intermediate level of energy availability, reproductive investment decreases to a minimum or even to 

zero. This indicates that in intermediate environments it can be optimal to skip reproductive events. 

Organisms may buffer the impact of environmental fluctuations by storing energy. So far, general life 

history models analysed optimal storage strategies in deterministic environments only. When 

incorporating stochastic changes of conditions, our model results suggest that when environments 

are almost constant, it is not optimal to store. Allocation to storage is favoured when environments 

become more variable and/or more predictable. Our results suggest that the simultaneous allocation 

of energy to reproduction, maintenance and storage can be optimal, which contrasts earlier findings 

from models in deterministic environments. Finally, we asked why plasticity should vary with age and 

whether there are windows of plasticity over life time. Many organisms possess 'plasticity windows', 

during which they are responsive towards external cues. When exposed to an environmental cue at a 

time outside the plasticity window, no adjustment occurs. We hypothesized that information gain 

through environmental sampling is a potential mechanism that can lead to the evolution of age‐ 

dependent plasticity. Our results suggest that this mechanism may indeed give rise to a remarkable 

diversity of age‐dependent plasticity patterns, ranging from lifelong plasticity to narrow plasticity 

windows. As a specific example of the evolution of plasticity we modelled how mothers should solve 

the offspring size‐number trade‐off when environmental cues are unreliable. Our model results 

suggest that plastic offspring size strategies are superior to fixed strategies when environmental cues 

are at least moderately reliable. The plasticity threshold depends on plasticity costs and the diffe‐ 

rence of resources available to mothers. Plastic strategies are increasingly favoured the more 

offspring survival varies between environmental states. The occurring switches between small and 

large offspring are predicted to be substantial, which is confirmed by those empirical studies that did 

find plasticity in offspring size to exist. 

Reference: Fischer, B., Taborsky, B. and Dieckmann, U. 2009. Unexpected patterns of plastic energy 

allocation in stochastic environments. American Naturalist, 173: 108‐120. 

7

THE INFLUENCE OF EARLY ENVIRONMENT ON LATER LIFE ‐ PHYSIOLOGY, BEHAVIOUR 

AND EVOLUTION 

Alexander Kotrschal 

alexander.kotrschal@ebc.uu.se 


PhD Thesis, 2010, supervised by PD Dr. Barbara Taborsky, Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology 

and Evolution, University of Bern, Switzerland 

Current affiliation: Animal Ecology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Sweden. 

Phenotypic plasticity is a universal feature of organisms. Environmentally induced parental 

effects represent a form of phenotypic plasticity spanning generations. There is rapidly 

growing evidence that the environmental conditions experienced by females around 

reproduction can influence offspring phenotype in plants and animals. However, even 

environmental conditions experienced long before reproduction during the juvenile period 

of females can mediate crucial life‐history traits. Females of the cichlid fish Simochromis 

pleurospilus are known adjust offspring size in response to own juvenile nutrition. We tested 

whether these condition enable them to predict the postnatal conditions of their offspring 

better than the current conditions do, which requires certain conditions of habitat 

variability, distribution of juveniles and adults and gene flow between populations to hold. 

By combining detailed ecological and population surveys with fine‐scaled population 

genetics we confirmed that these requirements hold for our study species in their natural 

environment. Next we investigated the physiological consequences for juveniles of growing 

up in poor or rich environments and found a persistent alteration in metabolic rate and food 

conversion efficiency. In preparation of this study we developed a non‐invasive method to 

determine fat storage to be used in small, live fish. This technique estimates fat based on 

measures of swim bladder size, and predicts visceral fat content better than available 

morphometric condition indices. Besides physiology, we detected that the early nutritional 

conditions also affect learning abilities. Unexpectedly, the absolute amount of food did not 

affect learning. Instead we found that a single ration switch experienced by juveniles 

enhanced their learning abilities both as juveniles and as adults (Kotrschal & Taborsky, 

2010a). This appears to represent an adaptive strategy, as higher cognitive abilities may 

confer a survival advantage in variable environments. Overly fast growth during a specific, 

short time window during the development negatively influenced adult learning abilities, 

however. Although it was not possible to test mating preferences in dependence of early 

nutrition, we detected that our study species has a very peculiar mating system which 

posses features of both resource defence mating systems and exploded leks: The 

distribution of males, females and resources clearly resembles leks. Male territory defence, 

however, seems to enhance the quality of resources and thus generates critical resources for 

females, which attracts females in the vicinity of courting males (Kotrschal & Taborsky, 

2010b). 

Kotrschal, A. & Taborsky, B. 2010a. Environmental change enhances cognitive abilities in fish. 

PLoS Biology 8: e1000351. 

Kotrschal, A. & Taborsky, B. 2010b. Resource Defence or Exploded Lek ‐ A Question of 

Perspective. Ethology 116: 1‐10. 

8

HEART RATE IN GREYLAG GEESE (ANSER ANSER): IMPLICATIONS FOR THE STUDY OF 

SOCIAL SYSTEMS 

Claudia A. F. Wascher 

claudia.wascher@klf.ac.at 


PhD thesis, supervised by Prof. Dr. K. Kotrschal, Konrad Lorenz Forschungsstelle, Universität Wien 

Social contexts are among the most potent stressors, affecting individual behaviour, 

physiology and the immune system. Although energetically costly, short‐term elevation of 

the stress response is adaptive and unavoidable in coping with challenges. In contrast 

chronic activation of the stress axes may have pathological consequences. Therefore, in 

terms of an individual’s fitness and well being, it is of major importance to respond to 

stressors adequately. However, not all members of a population are equally affected, 

individuals differ in their responses to stressors according their social embedding, 

personality, status, sex, age, etc.. In the course of my PhD I investigated the individual 

investment in the social domain as measured by heart rate (HR). I recorded HR of 25 greylag 

geese with fully implanted sensor‐transmitter packages for 18 months. Besides physical 

activity, social interactions proved to be the strongest HR modulators. In agonistic 

encounters HR increased to a greater extend, when the risk of being defeated was higher 

(e.g. in interactions with an opponent who wins a higher percentage of interactions). The 

present results suggest that individuals modulate their HR very flexible according to the 

relevance of single agonistic encounters. Even more impressive, HR was not only modulated 

by active involvement in stressful events, but also by watching interactions (“bystander 

effect”). Also here, the relevance of the event determines the immediate physiological 

response. Greylag geese responded stronger watching social (e.g. agonistic encounters, 

arriving or departing geese) than non‐social events (e.g. vehicles passing by, thunder). 

Furthermore, HR response differed, depending on the individuals involved in an event. 

Geese responded stronger when watching interactions, in which the pair‐partner or a family 

member was involved compared to events with non‐associated individuals. A similar picture 

appeared, when comparing HR responses to conspecifics vocalisations. HR was significantly 

higher if the pair‐partner called, compared to non‐associated geese. One of the key 

mechanisms to optimize the investment into the social domain is social support, which is 

defined as the stress‐reducing effect of the presence of a familiar social partner. Here, for 

the first time, effects of passive social support with respect to HR are reported in non‐human 

animals. In a stressful situation, unpaired individuals showed a significantly higher HR than 

paired individuals, which indicates that having a social ally, effects an individual’s physiology. 

To sum up, I found social events to have pronounced effects on an individual’s physiology. 

This may have serious consequences with respect to energy expenditure and probably may 

even affect an animal’s health or reproductive success. Still, individuals modulated their HR 

response according to the relevance of single events (e.g. risk of being defeated, social ally 

involved). Also, social support has been shown to have stress reducing effects with respect 

to HR. Therefore, living in social groups for greylag geese seems potentially energetically 

costly, but the individual investment is optimized by flexible modulation of the physiological 

stress response according to subsequent needs and requirements. 

9

Masters and Diplom theses 

THE ACOUSTIC RECOGNITION SYSTEM OF WILD BOARS (SUS SCROFA) 

lka Bürgener 

smanti@gmx.net 


Diploma thesis, supervised by Dr. R. Wanker and Prof. Dr. J. Schneider, Department of Biology, 

Zoological Institute & Museum, University of Hamburg 

Species, which live in complex social systems, evolve a broad vocal repertoire. Wild boars 

(Sus scrofa) live in matrilineal groups with a pattern of fission‐fusion and use a wide range of 

vocalizations. Several studies investigated the ability of individual recognition in both 

domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domestica) and wild boars but it is unknown to which extend 

acoustic cues are involved. Aim of this study was to examine the recognition ability by 

acoustic cues of wild boars, and more specifically to determine whether their vocalizations 

possess individual signatures and whether there are group‐specific calls. Furthermore I 

investigated whether infrasonic elements are present in long‐distance communication of the 

wild boars . I recorded the vocalizations of four wild boar groups in four different wildlife 

parks. The contact grunts were measured, analysed and classified by individuals. Playback 

experiments were carried out with one group to test the ability to discriminate familiar and 

unfamiliar conspecifics by their grunts. I found that contact grunts contain both individual 

and group‐specific signatures, but the playback experiment failed to verify that they can 

discriminate conspecifics by their contact grunts. Furthermore it turns out that wild boars do 

not use infrasonic calls for long‐distance communication, but their grunts contain very low 

frequencies, which may reach into the infrasonic range. These grunts were uttered in 

conflict situations, suggesting that the wild boars may intensify their aggressive message 

with these low frequencies. 

10

SEXUAL CANNIBALISM: WHAT DO MALES HAVE TO OFFER? 

Sarah Deventer 

sari_australia@hotmail.com 


Diploma thesis, supervised by Prof. Dr. J.M. Schneider & Prof. M.E. Herberstein, Department of 

Biology, Zoological Institute & Museum, University of Hamburg 

The occurrence of sexual cannibalism is well documented, but why this extreme behaviour 

evolved in the first place is only partially known, and explanations are often species specific 

and not mutually exclusive. Some hypotheses incorporate the nutritional aspect of 

consumption of males. It is conceivable that conspecific males constitute a higher quality 

food for females than their usual diet due to the fact that males should hold nutrients which 

females of the same species also need, already in the right proportions. Moreover, males 

could contain essential nutrients that are absent in alternative prey or at least hold higher 

amounts of these desirable nutrients. A number of studies showed a positive effect of sexual 

cannibalism on female fecundity. However, it is not clear if this increased fecundity is only 

due to the fact that cannibalistic females gained additional food in those studies. Thus the 

question arises if females still retain a fecundity advantage when cannibalising a male 

compared to ingestion of a comparably sized other prey. 

The aim of this study was to compare female feeding rate between a sexual cannibalistic and 

a non‐cannibalistic feeding event, and, importantly, to assess how this translates into the 

eggs and spiderlings. We predicted a fecundity benefit (in terms of number and/or quality of 

offspring) from sexual cannibalism compared to consumption of comparably sized other 

prey. 

We found that spiderlings from females that consumed a male hatched slightly earlier, and 

started web construction sooner than from the control group. Three further offspring 

parameters (size, mass and survival duration under food deprivation) were positively and 

exclusively correlated to spiderlings’ lipid content. Although crickets hold more lipids than 

males and females took advantage of that, those three mentioned lipid‐dependent offspring 

parameters were not affected by whether the female consumed a male or a cricket. 

These results can be interpreted against, or in favour of the hypothesis that conspecific 

males constitute a high quality food for females. Nevertheless, these results show that males 

contain a different nutritional aspect than crickets (besides their lack of lipids) that 

influenced offspring. These differential effects are quite subtle, and not detectable in the 

commonly quantified measures of fecundity (egg sac weight or number of offspring). To our 

knowledge, this is the first study directly comparing the consequences of sexual cannibalism 

and a heterospecific feeding event on offspring, looking at offspring quality and behaviour. 

The results of this study extend the foraging hypothesis in relation to sexual cannibalism by 

adding the aspect of male nutritional content, and highlight the need for more research on 

the nutritional value of cannibalism, not (only) as an additional food source, but more 

specifically in comparison to the usual prey of females. 

11


THE INFLUENCE OF FEMALE BODY CONDITION AND PREDATOR THREAT ON THE BROOD CARE 

BEHAVIOUR OF MOUTHBROODING CICHLIDS 

Barbara Gerber 

gerberb1@hotmail.com 

Master Thesis, 2010, supervised by PD Dr. Barbara Taborsky, Behavioural Ecology, Institute of 

Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Switzerland 

When parental environmental conditions affect brood care decisions they can have a trans‐ 

generational impact on offspring phenotype and survival. Parental energetic needs and 

offspring predation pressure have both been recognized as important factors influencing the 

quality of parental care, but surprisingly they are rarely manipulated simultaneously to 

investigate how parents adjust care to these potentially conflicting demands. In the 

maternally mouthbrooding cichlid Simochromis pleurosplius, we manipulated female body 

condition before spawning by different rations and perceived offspring predation risk by 

visual presentation of a natural predator during brood care in a two‐by‐two factorial 

experiment. We found that females on a low body condition produced smaller, but more 

young and engaged less in brood care behaviour than females with a high body conditons. 

Final clutch size and, related to this, female protective behaviour, was interactively 

determined by maternal nutrition and predator exposure. Surprisingly, high food females 

without a predator experience had smaller clutches than all other females. Our results 

highlight the importance to investigate the critical selective forces on parents and offspring 

in combination, if we aim to understand reproductive strategies. 

12

MATERNAL CARE STRATEGIES IN PHYLLONETA IMPRESSA (THERIDIIDAE) 

Nicole Gonswa 

nicolegonswa@alice‐dsl.net 


Diploma thesis, supervised by Prof. Dr. J.M. Schneider, Department of Biology, Zoological Institute & 

Museum, University of Hamburg 

Semelparous life‐history strategies evolve if chances of future reproduction are low due to 

extrinsic and intrinsic causes and often involve extreme forms of brood care. Brood care 

generally benefits the offspring by increasing survival and growth, and with maximal 

investment in a single brood or clutch females maximizes the number and/or the quality of 

their current young at the expense of future offspring. Semelparity in spiders evolved in 

several families and in some cases involves matriphagy: the consumption of the mother by 

the young. Obligate matriphagy as found in the eresid spider Stegodyphus lineatus implies 

that females forgo all possibilities of future reproduction even if their single brood turns out 

to provide suboptimal returns. However, conditions are rarely predictable and females 

should benefit if they retain the ability to opt for a second clutch if the first one survives and 

grows well without her terminal investment. 

I investigated whether the maternal care behaviour of Phylloneta impressa, a 

subsocial spider with excessive maternal care, shows plasticity. Females provide their young 

with regurgitated fluid and prey and finally, matriphagy terminates brood care. I collected 

females with cocoons and raised the offspring of these spiders to maturity in the laboratory. 

After maturation, females were mated and assigned to three different food treatments 

(high, low, no food availability) and maternal care behaviour and growth of young was 

documented. 

I found that these spiders practice facultative semelparity and flexibly adapt their 

brood care to the food availability and offspring needs. In the high food treatment, maternal 

care duration was shorter but the offspring developed slower than in other treatments. 

None of the females in the high food treatment was eaten by their young and 33 % of 

females survived the maternal care period and were able to successfully produce a second 

clutch. Matriphagy occurred only in broods with limited or no food. Additionally the 

occurrence of matriphagy depended on the number of spiderlings in the brood and was not 

observed in small broods. Matriphagy is the only form of cannibalism that was observed 

during my experiments; no siblicid was seen. 

My results show that a high plasticity is not excluded by the occurrence of 

matriphagy as an extreme form of brood care. My results further support the notion that 

matriphagy must not involve major physiological changes that preclude future reproduction. 

P. impressa opportunistally adjust their maternal investment in the current brood to 

offspring needs which are a function of the brood size and the availability of prey. 

13

MEANS‐END COMPREHENSION IN PARROTS: A COMPARATIVE APPROACH 

Anastasia Krasheninnikova 

anastacia.k@web.de 


Master thesis, supervised by Dr. Ralf Wanker and Prof. Dr. Jutta Schneider, Department of Biology, 

University of Hamburg, Martin‐Luther‐king‐Platz 3, 20146, Hamburg, Germany 

Two opposing theories explain the evolutionary history of intelligence. The “adaptive 

specialization approach” suggests that differences in the ecological and social problems 

faced by a species lead to domain‐specific cognitive abilities. Alternatively, the “general 

process view” proposes a broader set of cognitive abilities as a consequence of the evolution 

of large brains. 

The aim of this study was a comparative approach to test the cognitive abilities of 

several distantly related parrot species with a means‐end problem, the string discrimination 

paradigm. I have presented subjects with string‐pulling tasks where I have varied the spatial 

relationship between the strings, the presence of a reward and the physical contact between 

the string and the reward to determine whether the parrots perform differently in cognitive 

tasks requiring means‐end comprehension. 

The results suggest that the ability to pull the string is a domain‐general capability in 

psittacids, but the degree of means‐end comprehension vary according to the different 

degree of the social complexity of the tested species. The more complex the social system, 

the more advanced the cognitive capabilities. This is the first evidence of the evolutionary 

history of certain cognitive skills in parrots and the role that the social complexity may play 

in this process. 

14


VOCAL REPERTOIRE OF THE ORCAS (ORCINUS ORCA) IN THE LORO PARQUE, TENERIFE – 

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN THEIR VOCALIZATIONS 

Dorothee Kremers 

dorothee.kremers@googlemail.com 

Diploma thesis, supervised by Dr. Ralf Wanker, Biozentrum Grindel, University of Hamburg, Martin‐ 

Luther‐King‐Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany 

In several mammalian species a complex vocal repertoire seems to be correlated with a 

complex social system. Orcas live in such a highly social system and use complex 

vocalizations. This study tested if orcas possess individual differences in their vocalizations 

that might indicate vocal individual recognition. The vocalizations of four orcas were for the 

first time recorded with reliable information about the sender’s identity. Within call types 

there were individual differences. Even the composition of the repertoire differed between 

individuals. The first evidence for individual specific vocalizations in orcas was found 

because three individuals produced individual specific calls. Furthermore, the yet untested 

assumption that call diversity in captive orcas could be decreased was tested. For that 

reason the vocalizations were compared with the vocalizations of free‐living orcas. The 

repertoire of the captive orcas included all types of vocalizations known from field studies. 

Some of the call types showed similarities with call types described for free‐living orcas. The 

results suggest that these individual specific calls might be used for individual recognition in 

this species and that the assumption of repertoire degeneration in captive orcas has to be 

reconsidered 

15


THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL INTERACTION BETWEEN MALE CAVIES AND JUVENILE FEMALE CAVIES 

(CAVIA APEREA) AND OF MALE ODORS ON THE MATURATION OF FEMALES 

Antje Lembke 

antje.lembke@gmx.de 

Masters Thesis, supervised by Prof. Dr. Fritz Trillmich, Department of Animal Behavior, and Prof. Dr. 

C. Müller, Dept. Chemical Ecology, University of Bielefeld 

This study targeted the topic of male influence on the timing of female maturation. The 

timing of female maturation is a crucial factor in the life history, especially of small, short 

lived mammals. In mice the male influence is well known as the ‘Vandenberg effect’, elicited 

by male urinary proteins. In the precocial caviomorph, Cavia aperea the male effect is not 

elicited by metabolites in urine. The mechanism behind this effect is still unknown. I tested 

the hypothesis that male behavior and male odor contribute to the acceleration of puberty 

in females. 

In the behavioral experiment, the female onset of fertility was examined. A pair of 

females was housed either next to castrates or next to a male, separated by wire mesh. One 

of the two females was put into contact with the male or castrate every four days for one 

hour. During this time the behavior was recorded. Females housed next to males matured 

significantly earlier than females housed next to castrates. The physical contact did not make 

a difference in the onset of estrus in the females. Males and castrates did not differ in any of 

the behaviors towards females recorded and no significant correlation was found in the 

overall activity of males and castrates with the onset of estrus in the females. 

To investigate olfactory stimuli, samples of perineal secretion were collected and 

analyzed by gas‐chromatography and mass‐spectrometry (GCMS). The spectra of males and 

castrates differed significantly. Various peaks were found in male perineal gland secretion 

only, but no metabolites were found exclusively in castrates. The number of peaks found in 

the male or castrate secretion was correlated with the onset of fertility of the corresponding 

female in contact. The results of my experiments suggest that the difference in perineal 

gland scent between fertile males and castrates could account for the difference in the 

timing of puberty in female cavies. Further characterization of the active substances is 

needed. 

16


THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL RANK AFTER CONFRONTATION WITH CONSPECIFICS ON THE 

REPRODUCTIVE COMPETENCE OF MALE DJUNGARIAN HAMSTERS (PHODOPUS SUNGORUS, 

PALLAS 1773) 

Anna Müller 

anna_mueller@gmx.net 

Diploma Thesis, Supervisors: Dr. Peter Fritzsche, PD Dr. Dietmar Weinert, Institute of 

Biology/Zoology, University of Halle 

Dominance is a central feature of agonistic behaviour across a wide range of taxonomic 

groups and important in order to occupy new limited territories, resources or to increase the 

access to mates within a social group with a hierarchical background. In laboratory analyses, 

hamsters seem to be excellent model organisms for studying fundamentally functional and 

mechanistic characteristics of aggression processes. Several researchers described high‐ 

aggressive fights between male Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) sometimes 

resulting in death of one individual of the encounter pairs. But relatively little is known 

about the social behaviour of these animals. Therefore males of Phodopus sungorus were 

used in this study to analyse dominance/subordination‐relationships and their possible 

impact on fertility and reproductive success. Males were confronted as dyadic encounters in 

a neutral arena and in their housing cages to define agonistic and submissive behavioural 

patterns as well as to characterize them by means of morphological and physiological 

parameters. Furthermore, it was investigated whether females choose males depending on 

their social status. 

Specific dyadic encounter‐experiments showed that the males were able to form 

stable dominance/subordination‐relationships under laboratory conditions and could be 

classified into dominant and subordinate individuals by characteristic agonistic and 

submissive behavioural patterns. A comparison of dominant, subordinate and singly caged 

individuals revealed significant larger and heavier testis and a higher number and density of 

sperms in dominant males. Whereas no differences in plasma testosterone could be found, 

subordinate males had higher corticosterone levels in their faeces. Finally, females of 

P. sungorus in the oestrus phase preferred dominant males compared to the other phases of 

the sexual cycle. 

17


HOME SWEET HOME – THE INFLUENCE OF HOUSING CONDITIONS ON STRESS PHYSIOLOGY, 

COGNITION AND EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOUR IN MICE SELECTIVELY BRED 

FOR EXTREMES IN STRESS REACTIVITY 

Britta Schindler 

britta.schindler@gmx.net 

Diploma thesis, supervised by Dr. Chadi Touma, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Research Group 

of Psychoneuroendocrinology, Kraepelinstr. 2‐10, D‐80804 Munich 

It has repeatedly been shown that environmental factors can substantially affect the 

phenotype of an individual, including social behaviour, changes of body and organ weight as 

well as neuroendocrine parameters. Furthermore, it has been reported that specific brain 

regions such as the hippocampus, which is important for learning and memory, are also 

influenced by the environment. An ideal system to study these gene‐environment 

interactions is to make use of animal models that show a strong genetic predisposition for 

certain endophenotypes. Such a model was recently established in our group. This ‘stress 

reactivity’ (SR) mouse model consists of three independent mouse lines selectively bred for a 

high (HR), intermediate (IR) or low (LR) secretion of corticosterone from the adrenals in 

response to a standardised, psychological stressor (15‐min restraint), i.e. showing a hyper‐ or 

a hypo‐reactivity of the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenocortical (HPA) axis. 

The goal of the present study was therefore to investigate the impact of non‐social 

environmental factors such as different housing conditions on specific phenotypes of the SR 

mouse model. Of each breeding line, 32 juvenile males were divided into two groups and 

kept in groups of four, either under enriched (EN) or standard (ST) housing conditions. In 

addition to the bedding and nesting material provided in the ST cages, the EN cages were 

equipped with a shelter, a wooden climbing frame as well as with extra bedding and nesting 

material. In order to analyse potential differences in the agonistic, socio‐positive and play 

behaviour as well as in general activities, we recorded the home cage behaviour of the 

animals at three time points (once per week during the first hour of the light phase). 

Furthermore, we monitored the body weight of the animals, food intake and coat status to 

document the welfare of the animals as well as changes in energy metabolism. After 

exposing the animals for six weeks to the respective housing conditions, they were subjected 

to a battery of behavioural tests assessing their emotionality, including explorative drive 

(open field test, OF), anxiety‐related behaviour (elevated plus‐maze test, EPM) and stress 

coping behaviour (forced swim test, FST). Moreover, spatial learning abilities were assessed 

in the Y‐maze test and potential effects on HPA axis reactivity were analysed by subjecting 

the animals to a ‘stress reactivity’ test (SRT). 

The results of our experiment revealed that housing under enriched conditions 

influenced several behavioural and neuroendocrine parameters in the SR mouse model. 

Compared to ST housed animals, EN housed mice of all three lines showed a higher variety 

of behaviours performed in the home cage and significantly less agonistic interactions were 

observed. This coincided with decreased corticosterone levels in HR‐EN mice immediately 

before the SRT, although the corticosterone response to the stressor was not influenced and 

the characteristic HPA axis reactivity differences between HR, IR and LR mice persisted in 

both housing conditions. Similarly, stress coping behaviour in the FST was modified towards 

more active coping under EN housing conditions (more ‘struggling’ in IR mice and less 

18


‘floating’ in HR and LR animals), but without abolishing the significant differences between 

the three mouse lines. No effects were observed on locomotor activity and anxiety‐related 

behaviours in the OF and EPM test. Regarding spatial memory, IR and LR mice housed under 

ST or EN conditions showed a significantly higher time spent in the novel arm compared to 

the familiar arms during the retrieval phase of the Y‐maze test. HR mice, however, only 

discriminated between the two types of arms when they have been housed in EN cages. 

Thus, our study shed light on the complex interaction between environmental factors 

and genetic predispositions to develop endophenotypes relevant for the aetiology of 

affective disorders such as major depression. 

19


MICROHABITAT SELECTION BY EUROPEAN BISON (BISON BONASUS) IN BIAŁOWIEŻA PRIMEVAL 

FOREST, POLAND 

Tilman C. Schneider 

tilman.carlo@googlemail.com 

Master Thesis, supervised by Prof. Dr. Peter Kappeler, Anthropologie/Soziobiologie, Georg‐August 

Universität Göttingen, Dr. Rafał Kowalczyk, Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences 

Resting site selection by European bison (Bison bonasus, L., 1758), the largest terrestrial 

mammal of Europe, was studied in the free‐ranging population in Białowieża Primeval Forest 

(Poland) in 2009‐2010. In total, 104 sites of 21 bison (both collared and uncollared) were 

analysed to determine the most important microhabitat characteristics selected by resting 

bison during summer and winter. I examined whether bison selected characteristic resting 

sites providing shelter from disturbances and precipitation, and how supplementary winter 

feeding influenced the microhabitat selection by bison. Resting sites were identified on the 

basis of GPS locations and activity records, as well as direct observations, and were 

compared with control sites. In 95% of locations prescribed on the basis of GPS collar data, a 

bison bed was found. Habitat types, forest stand characteristics and distances of the sites to 

roads and open areas and the harassment by pest insects were recorded. Microhabitat 

selection by bison did not differ significantly between the sexes. During summer and winter, 

bison resting sites displayed a high tree density, low visibility and high complexity (structures 

providing cover). Summer resting sites were also characterised by a lower abundance of 

blood‐sucking insects and denser canopy than control sites. Winter resting sites showed a 

lower complexity and higher visibility than summer sites, and were less often located in 

mixed forest habitats. During winter, bison rested more frequently in forest below 50 years 

of age than in older forest. Resting sites of non‐supplied bison were more often located in 

young coniferous forests, were lower in visibility and situated closer to open areas than sites 

of bison using supplementary winter feeding, suggesting a trade‐off between food and 

cover. Statistical models revealed tree density, visibility and the distance to roads as crucial 

variables distinguishing resting sites of supplied and non‐supplied bison. The results indicate 

that European bison select their resting sites in areas of mosaic habitat structure providing 

cover from disturbances with access to profitable natural forage grounds. 

20

TESTING FOR SOCIAL DIFFUSION OF TWO NOVEL FORAGING SKILLS AND CONFORMITY IN 

WILD REDFRONTED LEMURS (EULEMUR RUFIFRONS) 

Anna Viktoria Schnöll 

a0402262@unet.univie.ac.at 


Diplom Thesis, supervised by Dr. Claudia Fichtel, Prof. Dr. Peter Kappeler, Abt. Verhaltensökologie & 

Soziobiologie, Deutsches Primatenzentrum , Göttingen, Prof. Dr. Ludwig HIber, Abt. Kognitive 

Biologie, Universität Wien 

Recent research revealed that traditions are not a unique feature of human culture, but that 

they can be found in animal societies as well. However, the underlying mechanisms and 

conditions leading to social diffusion of newly invented behaviours, as well as the 

importance of the formation of traditions for animals living in the wild, are still poorly 

understood. To address these questions, I conducted a social diffusion experiment with 

three wild groups of redfronted lemurs (Eulemur rufifrons). I used a ‘two‐option’ feeding 

box, where animals could either open or push a door to get access to a fruit reward to study 

whether and how the trait spreads through the groups. Half of the 28 study animals were 

able to learn the new feeding skills and mainly kept a seeded technique (groups with 

training) or adjusted (group without training) their behaviour to the majority of the group. 

Individuals observing others more often needed fewer trials until they could successfully 

open the door, indicating that social learning played an important role in acquiring the task. 

An option bias analysis suggested that social learning was involved in the spread of the novel 

behaviours, whereas a network‐based diffusion analysis indicated pure asocial learning. 

Moreover, redfronted lemurs invented a third technique for accessing the reward: 

scrounging. Interestingly they did not scrounge more often from kin. Thus, redfronted 

lemurs are able to form behavioural traditions. In addition, these results suggest that the 

study animals did not simply keep the first rewarded technique but showed a high flexibility 

in choosing between social and individual learning. 

21


WHO DETERMINES THE END OF BROOD CARE IN THE ZEBRA FINCH (TAENIOPYGIA GUTTATA)? 

Inka Spiller 

inka.spiller@uni‐oldenburg.de 

Bachelor Thesis, Supervisor: Fritz Trillmich & Tobias Krause; Dept of Animal Behaviour, University of 

Bielefeld 

A long‐standing question concerns the ending of brood care in mammals and birds: This is 

supposed to lead to parent‐offspring conflict, with parents selected to end care earlier than 

offspring would like. Who decides in this: parent(s) or offspring? I studied this question in an 

altricial birds, the Australian zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) by cross–fostering young of 

different ages. In one treatment the parents received 3 ‐ 15 days younger chicks and in the 

other chicks that were 3 ‐ 7 days older than their own. In addition, there were two control 

groups: In the first, parents were permitted to rear their own chicks and in the second they 

received cross‐fostered chicks of the same age (+/‐ 2 days). 

Parents extended brood care when they received younger chicks and shortened it 

when getting older ones. Young always fledged when about 18‐20 days old, independent of 

treatment and at the same time as the two control groups. To determine whether parents 

stop feeding when chicks present stimuli normally shown by 19 day old young, I kept young 

of 5 broods artificially for up to 6 days longer in the nest. These young were equally fed by 

the parents. The results demonstrate unequivocally that young determine the age of 

fledging. 

After fledging, parents fed chicks of all treatment groups for approximately the same 

duration whether they had received older, younger, or equal‐aged chicks. Also the ones that 

had been fed in the nest for longer than normal were fed outside the nest for about the 

same period. My results demonstrate that in this altricial bird young determine the age at 

fledging and increased time of brood care in the nest does not shorten parental care after 

fledging. Thus there is little evidence for parent‐offspring conflict. 

22

CONTEXT‐DEPENDENT LEARNING PERFORMANCE IN RELATION TO AVIAN PERSONALITIES 

Mieke Titulaer 

m.titulaer@nioo.knaw.nl 


Master thesis, supervised by Prof. Dr. Marc Naguib and Dr. Kees van Oers, Department of Animal 

Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO‐KNAW), Heteren, the Netherlands 

Adaptation to environmental changes is facilitated by good learning abilities. Individuals 

differ in their learning abilities, but little is known on how such variation is linked to 

consistent behavioural differences among individuals (personality traits). Great tits (Parus 

major) differ consistently in their exploratory behaviour in a novel environment, and this 

correlates with a range of behavioural traits. It thus can be used as proxy for personality. 

Here we subjected birds to a dimensional shift learning paradigm to study the link between 

learning and personality. The learning paradigm included several stages differing in 

complexity. First, the birds were trained to find food under one of two colours or at one of 

two locations, after which the previously unrewarded colour or location became rewarded 

(reversal). Then, two new colours and locations were given (intra‐dimensional shift) and 

finally, the rewarded dimension was changed from colour to location or vice versa (extra‐ 

dimensional shift). Previous studies have shown that fast exploring individuals are less 

flexible than slow explorers. Therefore we expected slow explorers to perform better in the 

reversal and extra‐dimensional shift, which are established measures of flexibility. The 

results show that reversal learning was the most difficult stage and apparently it was the 

only stage in which personality differences in performance were found, but in opposite 

direction for males and females. Fast exploring males showed more flexible learning abilities 

than slow males, whereas in females slow explorers outperforming fast explorers. The sex‐ 

specific relationship between exploratory behaviour and performance on the reversal task 

shows that personality may have important consequences for the capacity of an animal to 

adapt to the environment, depending on sex and context, with possible fitness implications 

in the wild. These context‐dependent and sex‐specific personality effects are in line with 

field studies and show the importance of experimental work for uncovering mechanisms of 

evolutionary processes in the wild. 

23

RELEVANCE OF ACOUSTIC PARAMETERS IN THE SPECTACLED PARROTLETS´ 

(FORPUS CONSPICILLATUS) CONTACT CALL 

Miriam Waldmann 

miriamwaldmann@hotmail.com 


Diploma thesis, supervised by Dr. R. Wanker and Prof. Dr. J. Schneider, Department of Biology, 

Zoological Institute & Museum, University of Hamburg 

A fundamental attribute of the human language is its complex structure, which enables us to 

communicate in sentences. It is still not known how the ability for syntax evolved. One 

hypothesis is that complex social structures facilitated this ability (Social Brain Hypothesis). 

The Machiavellian Intelligence or Social Brain Hypothesis assumes that brain evolution was 

determined by complex social systems. Investigating cases of convergent evolution of 

communication is a particularly promising approach in this context. Spectacled parrotlets 

evolved a sophisticated communication and with their contact calls they transmit 

information about who is calling, which bird is called and which group the caller belongs to. 

In this study, I examined whether the information embedded within the contact call of the 

spectacled parrotlets (Forpus conspicillatus) is structured. Firstly, I compared results of 

previous theses about contact calls. I found that different combinations of the call 

parameters contain different information. The relevant call parameters are minimum and 

maximum frequency, bandwidth, start and end frequency, peak frequency (maximum 

accentuated frequency), call duration and modulation (this means changes of direction in 

the fundamental frequency from rising to falling and vice versa). Secondly, I used playback 

experiments and compared responses to natural and artificially modified calls to verify the 

units responsible for coding receiver identity. The modified calls elicited responses and these 

responses differed from controls in the number of replies. The manipulation was successful 

in that calls were recognised but the information about the receiver was no longer present. 

More such studies are required to elucidate how further information is coded within the 

structure of the contact call. 

24


DIFFERENCES IN ACTIVITY BUDGETS AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOURS OF THREE MALE ALTERNATIVE 

REPRODUCTIVE TACTICS IN THE AFRICAN STRIPED MOUSE (RHABDOMYS PUMILIO) 

Marta Wastavino 

marta.wastavino@gmail.com 

Master Thesis, supervised by PD Dr. Carsten Schradin, Institute of Evolutionary Biology and 

Environmental Studies, University of Zürich 

Alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) evolved in various animal taxa, from crustaceans to 

mammals. Conditional ARTs evolved when a single male is able to monopolize access to 

several breeding females. In such a case, other less successful males would develop an 

alternative reproductive tactic, which will allow them to get at least some reproductive 

success (“best of a bad job”). Some recent studies suggested that ARTs might differ in 

activity and energy budgets, such that they differ in energetic costs, which could influence 

reproductive success. I investigated differences in activity budgets and social behaviours of 

three ARTs in the group living African striped mouse (Rhabdomys pumilio) of the South 

African Succulent Karoo: 1. territorial dominant males defending a harem of 2‐4 females 

and their offspring (extended family groups), 2. roaming solitary individuals and 3. adult 

natally philopatric males living in extended family groups. I collected behavioural data 

through focal‐animal observations in the field, observing 10 territorial breeders, 7 roamers 

and 10 philopatric males. Additionally, I performed 18 experiments in an artificial arena to 

study differences in aggression between roamers and breeders. I found that I) philopatric 

individuals allocate their energies in survival rather than reproduction. Males following this 

tactic showed high level of sociopositive behaviours and trended to travel less but forage 

more than males of the two other tactics. II) The behaviour of roaming males is a trade‐off 

between survival and mating i.e., roamers intrude other male territories to seek copulations 

with their females, but they actively avoid risky encounters with territory owners. III) 

Territorial males use most of their resources for reproduction, showing high levels of 

aggressiveness towards roamers but amicable behaviours towards individuals of their social 

group. In conclusion, the study revealed significant behavioural differences between male 

ARTs in striped mice, especially regarding their activity budgets and correlated energy 

budgets, indicating differential investment strategies into survival and reproduction. 

25

DETERMINANTS OF NATURAL MATING SUCCESS IN THE CANNIBALISTIC ORB‐WEB SPIDER 

ARGIOPE BRUENNICHI 

Stefanie Zimmer 

zimmer.steffi@googlemail.com 


Diploma thesis, supervised by Prof. Dr. J.M. Schneider, Department of Biology, Zoological Institute & 

Museum, University of Hamburg 

Classical sex roles define the most common scenario of promiscuous males and choosy 

females which result in polygynous mating systems. Low male mating rates are generally 

associated with bi‐parental brood care but occur without paternal investment in various taxa 

and have evolved several times independently in spiders. Low male mating frequencies are 

associated with remarkable male mating strategies and are predicted to evolve under a 

male‐biased effective sex ratio which means that more males than females get to mate. 

While male reproductive strategies are well documented and male mating rates are easy to 

quantify, especially in sexually cannibalistic species, female reproductive strategies, the 

optimal female mating rate, and the factors that affect the evolution of female mating rates 

are still unclear. 

In this study, I examined natural female mating rates and tested the assumption of a male‐ 

biased sex ratio and female polyandry in a population of Argiope bruennichi in the field. An 

experimental setup was designed that allowed to control female mating status prior to 

observations and to monitor mating rates, as well as environmental factors. I predicted 

variation in female mating frequencies as a result of (i) spatial and temporal heterogeneity 

and (ii) female traits, such as female maturation date, adult weight, and competition with 

other females. The possible influence of weather conditions was also assessed. Females had 

a low average mating rate of 1.3 and the majority copulated only once. The low degree of 

variation was not explained by any of the proposed factors. Male activity and the probability 

of copulation were influenced by factors that affected pheromone dispersion such as virgin 

female density and wind speed. I conclude that either the assumptions of the theory have to 

be reconsidered or alternatively, A. bruennichi males appear to maintain monogynous and 

bigynous mating strategies in the absence of obvious advantages over polygamy. 

26

Activities and Meetings 

Future meetings of the Ethologische Gesellschaft 

Zürich, 17 ‐ 19 February 2011 

Dear colleagues, 


it is a great pleasure to invite you to the next topical meeting of the Ethological Society, 

which will take place in Zürich, 17.‐19.2.2011. The topic will be on cooperation and conflict. 

However, we have reserved two sessions for free contributions, and of course we will accept 

posters of an any subject as well. Therefore, we hope to provide an attractive setting for 

behavioural biologists in general. Also, as you will see from the list of invited speakers, the 

approaches taken by these guests is very variable, ranging from physiology to evolutiony 

biology. 

Confirmed plenray speakers are: Sarah Brosnan (Geogia State University), Mike Cant 

(University of Exeter), Franjo Weissing (University of Groningen), Carsten Schradin 

(University of Zürich), and Nina Wedell (University of Exeter). 

The website with more detailed information concerning, travel, accommodation, program, 

etc. will soon be up. Claudia Fichtel will announce this information in a separate email. 

Deadline for abstract submission will be the 31 st of December. Mid January, contributors will 

be informed whether their presentation will be oral or a poster. 

We are looking forward to welcoming you in Zürich 

Barbara König and Redouan Bshary 

Future meetings of the Ethologische Gesellschaft 

For the forthcoming years, we encourage proposals for such topical conferences, which have 

been quite successful since we started these meeting in 2006. Organizers are free to choose 

a main topic for the conference as well as the size and duration of the meeting. We prefer 

meetings to be scheduled in February, to avoid overlap with other commitments during the 

main “conference and holiday seasons”. From our own experience, having the meetings at 

your own place is fun and inspiring. The workloads of organizing the meeting also is not too 

high, given that after all the meetings will remain comparatively small and thus are ideal for 

discussions and vigorous exchange of ideas. 

27

Reports from previous conferences 

THE HOTTEST CONFERENCE OF THE YEAR! 


What do you normally do with the program booklet you receive at a conference? Probably, 

you mark the talks you plan to attend. You might write down comments or ideas you get 

during an interesting lecture. Maybe you even paint little stars or boxes while waiting for a 

less exciting presentation to end. 

Now, please imagine a lecture hall, where almost all the audience is fanning 

themselves air with the program booklet. Different techniques are applied: Some fold the 

booklet in the middle, to have a more robust hand fan. Some hold it on the long edge; some 

on the small. Some with the right hand; some with the left. Some fan quickly; some slowly. 

But all fan. Welcome to the V European Conference on Behavioural Biology! 

Like every two years, behavioural biologists from all over Europe met to discuss 

results, exchange ideas and chat with old colleagues. This year the ECBB took place in 

Ferrara, Italy. Choosing an Italian city in the mid of July resulted in the supposedly hottest 

conference of the year. Despite the extreme temperatures, Leonida Fusani, associate 

professor at the University of Ferrara, and his team, managed to organise a sympathetic and 

successful conference. 

Elisabetta Visalberghi started the series of talks, by presenting the fascinating tool 

using abilities of capuchins: Those little monkeys not only use stone tools to crack open nuts. 

They also carefully select and transport the most appropriate tool for a specific task; an 

ability so far mostly associated with great apes and humans. The human abilities of tool use 

could be observed on the next day: Redouan Bshary, presenting the well‐deserved 

Tinbergen award to Katharina Hirschenhauser with warm and appreciatory words, applied 

all his manual skills to unwrap the bouquet of flowers. After finally receiving award and 

flowers, Katharina gave us an appealing overview of her work on hormones and behaviour. 

We learnt that the self‐perception of a fighter might be more important in the activation of 

testosterone associated genes than the actual outcome of the fight. In her plenary talk, Joan 

Strassmann gave an interesting introduction on the concept of organismality, applying this 

to her groups present work on Dictyostelium discoideum. Her vivid and inspiring 

presentation could even bring a true mammalogist to forget that it is "only" microbes, she is 

talking about. 

While Joan succeeded in presenting a whole world in a petri dish, Martin Wikelski 

needed the entire globe. He gave us a broad overview of what he and his co‐workers were 

and are achieving with the help of aircrafts, online databases (e.g. 

http://www.movebank.org/) and possibly NASA. And also, what he might be doing, if there 

was the money for it. To get a better grip on this money, he suggested, we European 

behavioural biologists should unite forces. Also Joan Strassmann had an idea of how 

corporative behaviour could improve our working success: She proposed, everybody should 

28


load interesting videos of their work onto youtube, to enhance teaching quality in the 

different institutes working on ethology. Joan already is offering an amazing collection of 

them (http://www.youtube.com/user/strassm). In general, everybody agreed that working 

together more closely would be fruitful in different aspects. 

Apart from the plenary talks, there have been around 150 presentations and 100 

posters from researchers of every level of his or her career and every possible field of 

ethology. We learnt, e.g., that male topi antelopes deceive the females to keep them close 

for mating; how Galapagos sea lions cope with their rivals; that mangrove snails can foresee 

the future; and that the perceived attractiveness of human male body hair depends on the 

fertility of a woman. With so many interesting topics in four parallel sessions, everybody had 

to make their own trade‐off: Do I got to the room with the most interesting talk or to the 

room with best air‐conditioning. So, Peter McGregor, chairing the session on "Audience 

effect" in D6 appreciated the choice of his audience with the words: "Thanks for coming to 

the physically most challenging room!" 

Sure enough, from time to time it was just too hot in the lecture halls for fruitful 

scientific discussions. But the cloister, where we enjoyed our lunch and coffee breaks, made 

up for that: Standing in the shadow of the cool arcades or sitting barefoot on the grass, 

discussions were productive and lively. This nice atmosphere of familial discussions was 

continued at the buffet dinner in the impressive Sala San Francesco. At the moment of good‐ 

buy, it seemed clear that everybody is looking forward to the VI European Conference on 

Behavioural Biology. 

Just maybe not in Italy in July. 

Sophie von Merten 

Ökologische Neurobiologie, Max Planck Institut fürOrnithologie, Seewiesen 

29

Other Meetings 

12 th Conference of the Gesellschaft für Primatologie 

Utrecht, Netherlands, 30. March – 02. April 2011 


We are proud to invite you for the 12th conference of the Gesellschaft für Primatologie. 

The meeting will be held from March 30 to April 1, 2011 in the city of Utrecht, the 

Netherlands that is famous for the tower of its ‘Dom’ church and has a beautiful and 

authentic city centre including touristic attractions. 

The congress will start with an opening lecture on Wednesday evening followed by drinks 

and snacks in the historic academic building in the city centre within walking distance of 

many hotels. On Thursday and Friday, a number of invited speakers will give their inspiring 

talks on the campus of Utrecht University. 

Besides the interesting scientific program we offer an interesting social program. In 

the afternoon of Wednesday March 30 there is a unique possibility to visit the modern 

primate facilities of the Biomedical Primate Research Centre (BPRC) in Rijswijk, which is the 

largest primate research centre in Europe. On Friday evening the meeting will be closed with 

a farewell party in the city centre of Utrecht. The deadline of early bird registration and 

submission of contributions is December 10, 2010. 

We hope we meet you in Utrecht! 

The organizing committee Dr. E.H.M. Sterck, Utrecht University and BPRC, Rijswijk Ms. A.L. 

Louwerse, BPRC, Rijswijk Drs. E.J. den Heijer, Utrecht University 

Further details: https://sites.google.com/site/gfp2011/home 

30


Joint Meeting of the Animal Behaviour Society & International Ethological Conference 

Bloomington, USA, 25.– 30. July 2011 

Further details: http://www.indiana.edu/%7Ebehav11/ 

31

13th Congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology 

Tübingen, Germany, 20. – 25. August 2011 

Further details: www.eseb2011.de/index.htm 


32

Grant and promotion opportunities for members 

Niko‐Tinbergen‐award 


The Ethologische Gesellschaft awards the Niko Tinbergen Prize every other year for 

outstanding post‐doc level researchers in behavioural biology or closely related fields. The 

award entails: 

1. A certificate stating the name of the candidate. The certificate is signed by the 

president of the society; 

2. A cheque of 1,500 Euro which is donated by the journal Ethology. 

The candidate should have been member of the Ethologische Gesellschaft for at least two 

years. Key papers must have been written in English and published in peer reviewed 

journals. In case of multiple authorships, the contributions of the candidate need to be 

stated in the nomination. 

Any member of the Ethologische Gesellschaft is eligible to nominate candidates. A 

nomination needs to include a brief summary of the candidate's scientific achievements, a 

curriculum vitae and a list of three outstanding publications. Nominations need to be sent to 

the manager of the Ethologische Gesellschaft. The committee in charge of judging 

applications consists of the council and extended council of the Ethologische Gesellschaft, 

but other members of the society may be asked to join the committee. 

The deadline for the nomination of the next award is 31. December 2011. The Tinbergen 

award 2009 was given at this meeting to Dr. Katharina Hirschenauser at the Max Planck 

Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany. Award winners are asked to write a short 

summary of their research for the next Etho News. 

also see: http://www.ethol‐ges.org/advancement/tinbergen.aspx 

33

Research funds 


The goal of funding is to support 

• Particularly promising pilot studies or investigations at an early stage that would not 

normally be eligible to funding from governmental organizations or science foundations. 

• High quality small projects or complementing research that otherwise stands little chances 

of being funded because of its small scale (despite of its value). 

• Applicants need to be actively involved in the project. 

Deadlines for submission are 1 st January and 31 st July in each year. Applications have to be 

sent by email to the manager (Jürgen Heinze). The EG provides a total of 2000 Euro for the 

research fund each year. 

For further details (in German) see: http://www.ethol‐ges.org/advancement/others.aspx 

Research grants awarded in 2010 

Kristine Meise (University of Bielefeld) 

Einfluss sozialer Parameter auf den Fortpflanzungserfolg nicht‐territorialer Galápagos 

Seelöwen Männchen (Zalophus wollebaeki). 

Workshops and graduate student meetings 

Organizers of the annual 'Topical meetings of the Ethologische Gesellschaft' will be 

supported with up to 1000 Euro; organizers of graduate student meetings in behavioural 

biology may apply for up to 500 Euro. Deadlines for submission are 1 st January and 31 st July 

in each year. Applications have to be sent by email to the managing director (Sylvia Kaiser). 


Grants for travel subsidies 

Members of EG without permanent income may apply for a contribution of up to 200 Euro 

for active participation (poster or talk) at the European meetings (ECBB) and for up to 100 

Euro for the 'Topical meetings of the Ethologische Gesellschaft'. Applications should be sent 

to the manager (Sylvia Kaiser) at any time. 


34

Officers of the Ethologische Gesellschaft 


Council 

Prof. Dr. Redouan Bshary (President) 

Institute of Zoology• Université de Neuchâtel• Rue Emile‐Argand 11• CH‐2009 Neuchâtel • 

Tel +41 32 7183005• redouan.bshary[a]unine.ch 

Prof. Dr. Peter Kappeler (Vice‐president) 

Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology Unit • German Primate Center and University of 

Göttingen • Kellnerweg 4 • D‐37077 Göttingen • Tel +49 551 397317 • pkappel[a]gwdg.de 

Prof. Dr. Sylvia Kaiser (Manager) 

Department of Animal Behavior • University of Münster • Badestr. 13 • D–48149 Münster • 

Tel +49‐251‐8324676 • kaisesy[a]uni‐muenster.de 

Dr. Elke Scheibler (Treasurer) 

Department of Physiology • University of Stuttgart • Pfaffenwaldring 57 • D‐70550 Stuttgart 

• +49‐711‐685‐65004 • elke.scheibler[a]bio.uni‐stuttgart.de 

Dr. Claudia Fichtel (Secretary) 

Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology Unit • German Primate Center • D‐37077 Göttingen • Tel 

+49 551 3851467 • claudia.fichtel[a]gwdg.de 

Extended Council 

Prof. Dr. Thomas Bugnyar 

Department of Cognitive Biology • University of Vienna • Althanstraße 14 • 

A‐1090 Wien • Tel +43‐1‐4277‐54446 • thomas.bugnyar[a]univie.ac.at 

PD Dr. Wolfgang Goymann 

Behavioral Neurobiology • Max Planck Institut für Ornithlogy • Eberhard‐Gwinner‐Straße 

Haus Nr. 6 • D‐82319 Seewiesen • Tel.: +49‐8157‐932301 • goyman[a]orn.mpg.de 

Prof. Dr. Charlotte Hemelrijk 

Theoretical Biology Group • Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies • University of 

Groningen • Kerklaam 30 • NL 9751 Harem • +31 50 7638084 • c.k.hemelrijk[a]rug.nl 

Prof. Dr. Silke Kipper 

Department of Animal Behavior • University of Berlin • Takustr. 6 • D‐14195 Berlin • 

Tel +49‐30‐838 53468 • silkip[a]zedat.fu‐berlin.de 

Dr. Judith Korb 

Department of Animal Behavior • University of Osnabrück • Barbarastr. 11• 

D‐49076 Osnabrück • Tel +49‐541‐969 3496 • Judith.Korb[a]biologie.uni‐osnabrueck.de 

Prof. Dr. Marc Naguib 

Institute of Ecology P.O. • Box 40 6666 • ZG Heteren • The Netherlands • 

Tel: +31 264791 255 • m.naguib[a]nioo.knaw.nl 

Prof. Dr. Jutta Schneider 

Department of Animal Behavior • Biozentrum Grindel und Zoologisches Museum • 

University of Hamburg • Martin‐Luther‐King Platz 3 • D‐20146 Hamburg • 

Tel.: +49‐40‐428383878 • Jutta.Schneider[a]uni‐hamburg.de 

PD Dr. Barbara Taborsky 

Institute of Ecology and Evolution • University of Bern • Baltzerstrasse 6 • CH‐3012 Bern • 

Tel: +41 31 631 91 57 • barbara.taborsky[a]iee.unibe.ch 

35


Animal Ethics Commissioners 

Prof. Dr. Hanno Würbel (Coordinator) 

Universität Giessen • Institut für Veterinärphysiologie • Frankfurterstr. 104 • DE–35392 

Giessen Tel: +49 641 99 38751• hanno.würbel[a]vetmed.uni‐giessen.de 

Ass. Prof. Dr. Eva Millesi 

Universität Wien • Institut für Zoologie • Althanstr. 14 • A–1090 Wien Tel: +43 1 4277 

54465• eva.millesi[a]univie.ac.at 

Teaching Commissioner 

Prof. Dr. Klaudia Witte 

Institut für Ökologie & Verhaltensbiologie • Universität Siegen • Adolf‐Reichwein‐Str. 2 

• 57068 Siegen Tel: +49 0271‐740‐3297, witte[a]biologie.uni‐siegen.de 

36

Internet Links 

Internet Links 

Ethologische Gesellschaft: 

http://www.ethol‐ges.org 

Our new webpage provides information on the Ethologische Gesellschaft. It provides 

information on the societies' funds for research and young scientists, links to other societies 

supporting research in animal behaviour, scientific meetings and job offers. 

Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB) 

http://asab.nottingham.ac.uk/ 

Webpage of the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB, UK): This is one of the 

most comprehensive websites of all European societies in behavioural biology 

Netherlands Society of Behavioural Biology (NVG) 

http://www.gedragsbiologie.org/ 

Webpage of the Netherlands Society of Behavioural Biology (NVG, NL): 

International Society for Behavioral Ecology 

http://web.unbc.ca/isbe/ 

Webpage of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology with links to their journal 

Behavioral Ecology. 

Deutsche Zoologische Gesellschaft 

http://www.dzg‐ev.de/ 

Webpage der Deutschen Zoologischen Gesellschaft. 

Ethology 

http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0179‐1613&site=1 

Webpage of ETHOLOGY, the official journal of the EG. Here you will find online access to the 

journal, access to manuscript submission, and you can sign up for the electronic alerting 

service (e‐tocs). If your library has no electronic subscription to the journal, you get special 

conditions as an EG‐member (e.g. 30 Euro or 20 Pounds for one year online access). 

Nature Science Update 

http://www.nature.com/news 

Nature Science Update – media releases of scientific research or the general public. 

New Scientist. 

http://www.newscientist.com/news.ns 

News from the Journal New Scientist. 

for more links see: 

http://www.ethol‐ges.org/links.aspx 

37

Miscellaneous 

Your contact details 

Miscellaneous 

We have difficulties reaching some members of the Ethological Society who have changed 

addresses in recent years. Thus, please notify us when you have changed your mailing or 

email address!!: 

To do so, please contact Dr. Elke Scheibler (Treasurer), elke.scheibler[a]bio.uni‐stuttgart.de. 

38

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