Scent-marking investment and motor patterns are affected by the age and sex of wild brown bears
Members of the Carnivora employ a wide range of postures and patterns to mark their scent onto objects and thereby communicate with conspecifics. Despite much anecdotal evidence on the marking behaviour of ursids, empirical evidence of scent-marking motor patterns displayed by wild populations is la...
Published in: | Animal Behaviour |
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10545/584226 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.05.017 |
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ftunivderby:oai:derby.openrepository.com:10545/584226 2023-05-15T18:42:14+02:00 Scent-marking investment and motor patterns are affected by the age and sex of wild brown bears Clapham, Melanie Nevin, Owen T. Rosell, Frank Ramsey, Andrew University of Derby 2014-07-01 http://hdl.handle.net/10545/584226 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.05.017 en eng Elsevier Vo. 94 http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003347214002371 Clapham, M, Nevin, O, Ramsey, A, & Rosell, F 2014, 'Scent-marking investment and motor patterns are affected by the age and sex of wild brown bears', Animal Behaviour, 94, pp. 107-116 33472 doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.05.017 http://hdl.handle.net/10545/584226 Animal Behaviour Archived with thanks to Animal Behaviour Camera trapping Chemical signalling Development Intrasexual competition Article 2014 ftunivderby https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.05.017 2020-09-04T06:43:01Z Members of the Carnivora employ a wide range of postures and patterns to mark their scent onto objects and thereby communicate with conspecifics. Despite much anecdotal evidence on the marking behaviour of ursids, empirical evidence of scent-marking motor patterns displayed by wild populations is lacking. Analysing the time that different age and sex classes spend at scent-marking trees and the behaviours involved at different times of year could provide further insight into the function of marking. We used camera traps stationed at scent-marking trees to investigate scent-marking behaviour by wild brown bears, Ursus arctos. Through image-based data, we found evidence to support the hypothesis that time investment and scent-marking motor patterns are dictated by the age and sex of the bear. Adult males spent more time scent marking and displayed a more complex behavioural sequence of marking than adult females and juveniles. Adult male behaviour at marking trees was consistent throughout the year, indicating a continued benefit of chemical signalling outside of the breeding season. Juvenile bear behaviour at marking trees changed with age. Young dependent cubs were more likely to imitate their mother's behaviour, whereas older dependent cubs were more likely to engage in marking behaviour independently. The marking motor patterns of independent subadults were more simplistic than those of younger dependent cubs, suggesting a change in behaviour with independence. We suggest that these findings further support the hypothesis that scent-marking behaviour by brown bears functions in intrasexual competition between adult males. Cub behaviour at marking trees suggests an influence of social learning. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ursus arctos UDORA - The University of Derby Online Research Archive Animal Behaviour 94 107 116 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
UDORA - The University of Derby Online Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivderby |
language |
English |
topic |
Camera trapping Chemical signalling Development Intrasexual competition |
spellingShingle |
Camera trapping Chemical signalling Development Intrasexual competition Clapham, Melanie Nevin, Owen T. Rosell, Frank Ramsey, Andrew Scent-marking investment and motor patterns are affected by the age and sex of wild brown bears |
topic_facet |
Camera trapping Chemical signalling Development Intrasexual competition |
description |
Members of the Carnivora employ a wide range of postures and patterns to mark their scent onto objects and thereby communicate with conspecifics. Despite much anecdotal evidence on the marking behaviour of ursids, empirical evidence of scent-marking motor patterns displayed by wild populations is lacking. Analysing the time that different age and sex classes spend at scent-marking trees and the behaviours involved at different times of year could provide further insight into the function of marking. We used camera traps stationed at scent-marking trees to investigate scent-marking behaviour by wild brown bears, Ursus arctos. Through image-based data, we found evidence to support the hypothesis that time investment and scent-marking motor patterns are dictated by the age and sex of the bear. Adult males spent more time scent marking and displayed a more complex behavioural sequence of marking than adult females and juveniles. Adult male behaviour at marking trees was consistent throughout the year, indicating a continued benefit of chemical signalling outside of the breeding season. Juvenile bear behaviour at marking trees changed with age. Young dependent cubs were more likely to imitate their mother's behaviour, whereas older dependent cubs were more likely to engage in marking behaviour independently. The marking motor patterns of independent subadults were more simplistic than those of younger dependent cubs, suggesting a change in behaviour with independence. We suggest that these findings further support the hypothesis that scent-marking behaviour by brown bears functions in intrasexual competition between adult males. Cub behaviour at marking trees suggests an influence of social learning. |
author2 |
University of Derby |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Clapham, Melanie Nevin, Owen T. Rosell, Frank Ramsey, Andrew |
author_facet |
Clapham, Melanie Nevin, Owen T. Rosell, Frank Ramsey, Andrew |
author_sort |
Clapham, Melanie |
title |
Scent-marking investment and motor patterns are affected by the age and sex of wild brown bears |
title_short |
Scent-marking investment and motor patterns are affected by the age and sex of wild brown bears |
title_full |
Scent-marking investment and motor patterns are affected by the age and sex of wild brown bears |
title_fullStr |
Scent-marking investment and motor patterns are affected by the age and sex of wild brown bears |
title_full_unstemmed |
Scent-marking investment and motor patterns are affected by the age and sex of wild brown bears |
title_sort |
scent-marking investment and motor patterns are affected by the age and sex of wild brown bears |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10545/584226 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.05.017 |
genre |
Ursus arctos |
genre_facet |
Ursus arctos |
op_relation |
Vo. 94 http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003347214002371 Clapham, M, Nevin, O, Ramsey, A, & Rosell, F 2014, 'Scent-marking investment and motor patterns are affected by the age and sex of wild brown bears', Animal Behaviour, 94, pp. 107-116 33472 doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.05.017 http://hdl.handle.net/10545/584226 Animal Behaviour |
op_rights |
Archived with thanks to Animal Behaviour |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.05.017 |
container_title |
Animal Behaviour |
container_volume |
94 |
container_start_page |
107 |
op_container_end_page |
116 |
_version_ |
1766231858309234688 |