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Poster Abstracts ASAB2019 Poster presentation abstracts 1 'Approach the danger!' Semantic modification in willow tit mobbing calls Toshitaka Suzuki1 1The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University, Japan In human speech, words can be strung into larger compositional structures (phrases or sentences), which often provide modified meanings to listeners. Although combinations of meaningful vocal elements have been documented for several birds and nonhuman primates, little is known about how receivers comprehend semantic modification in combined vocal sequences. Here, I report the evidence that birds combine meaningful vocal elements to convey a modified message to receivers. Willow tits (Poecile montanus) use combinations of warning and recruitment calls when mobbing a predatory hawk. Playback experiments showed that receiver tits exhibit mobbing-like behaviours (i.e. making hops and flights with calling) when hearing these call sequences. In contrast, separated warning and recruitment calls cause birds to either flee to the cover or approach the sound source. These results indicate that willow tits recognize call sequences as a modified message ('approach the danger'), but not as two separated messages (i.e., 'flee' and 'approach'). These findings provide a novel example of the creation of modified meanings in animal vocal sequences. 2 A Generalised Multi-Segmented Model to Describe Swimming Kinematics in Fishes Samuel Fetherstonhaugh1, Otar Akanyeti1 1Aberystwyth University, United Kingdom Undulatory body movements of fishes have evolved to be an effective propulsive method, inspiring many researchers attempts to quantify these complex biological mechanisms. Here, we propose a mathematical model and data processing pipeline to automatically describe the midline kinematics of fishes during steady swimming. Our model consists of a series of rigid segments of variable lengths, with each segment being able to pitch about their joint with their predecessor. We use data- driven approaches to estimate the variables of the model (e.g. number of segments and their lengths, and the amplitude and timing of each segment's movement) so that the difference between predicted and measured midlines is minimised. So far, we tested our approach by attempting to describe the midline kinematics of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss, n = 2 fish, total body length L 15.5 and 23 cm) over a range of swimming speeds (1 L s-1 to 3 L s-1). Preliminary results from our initial investigation suggest that the model is able to describe the midline kinematics of trout with at least 90% accuracy, as measured by mean absolute error normalised by the maximum tail beat span. The ultimate goal of this research is to develop an analytical tool that can automatically generate midlines that are very similar to those of live fishes. In the future, our model can be used by biologists to evaluate different swimming styles, by roboticists to develop new control algorithms and game designers to generate realistic movements for their fish avatars. 3 Achieving cohesive and mobile groups with limited number of neighbours James Strong1, Otar Akanyeti1 1University of Aberystwyth, United Kingdom Previous swarm research has clearly shown that simple rules of interactions among neighbours can lead to stable movement patterns at the group level, and for this there is no need for a centralized control strategy. To better understand the link between local interactions and emergent collective movements, we ask two questions: i) how many neighbours does each member need to take into account for a swarm to achieve a high performance (n)? and ii) how does n scale with group size (g)? To address these questions, we performed multi-agent simulations in a three- dimensional environment with obstacles. Each agent is programmed to have three behaviours agent/obstacle/tank avoidance, and alignment with and attraction to other agents. A winner-takes-all approach is used for decision making with avoidance and attraction having the highest and lowest priority, respectively. We used two metrics to evaluate the performance of the group; cohesion calculated based on the number of splits occurred within the group and mobility based on the displacement of the group. Our preliminary results suggest that there is a trade-off between cohesion and mobility; when n:g ratio is low, the swarm lacks cohesion but is highly mobile, and when n:g is high, the swarm is highly cohesive but stagnant. We hypothesise that there is an optimum n:g ratio which leads to highly cohesive and mobile swarms. 4 Acoustic environment affects hormonal level and behavior in mice Yui K. Matsumoto1, Yuichi Yamashita1, Osamu Ueno1, Manabu Honda1 1National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Japan Animals adjust their behavior adaptively under varying environmental conditions, which should require rapid endocrine response for sensory stimulation. However, little is known about whether and how environmental stimuli have an influence on physiology and behavior of animals. In this study, we investigated the influence of the acoustic environment on hormonal state and behavior in the C57BL/6J mouse. In experiment 1, we measured the corticosterone level of mice after 1-hour exposure to two acoustic stimuli: (i) rainforest sounds (n = 8) and (ii) no sounds (n = 8). We found that mice exposed to rainforest sounds showed a lower corticosterone level than those exposed to no sound. In experiment 2, we measured behavioral activities of mice in an open-field in combination with the playbacks of (i) rainforest sounds (n = 13), (ii) reversed rainforest sounds (n = 13), (iii) white noise (n = 12), or (iv) no sounds (n = 12). We found that behavioral activities of mice differed among the four treatments: mice exposed to reversed rainforest sounds showed the highest level of activity, following by those exposed to rainforest sounds, to no sounds, and to white noise. These results show that acoustic environments affect both hormonal state and exploratory behavior of the mice, emphasizing the importance of considering ambient sounds in environmental enrichment. 5 Age-dependent influences of general anaesthesia on the cognitive abilities of macaques Lena Jeanson1,2,3, Newsha Ghasemi Nejad1,2,3,4,5, Susann Boretius3,6, Julia Fischer1,2,3 1Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, German Primate Center, Germany, 2Leibniz-ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, Germany, 3Georg-August-University, Germany, 4Institute of Neuroinformatics, Univeristy of Zurich and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland, 5Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland, 6Functional Imaging Laboratory, German Primate Center, Germany Increasing life expectancy and advances in medicine are resulting in a growing number of elderly patients undergoing surgery under long-lasting general anaesthesia. Such long-term anaesthesia may particularly impact the cognitive abilities of aging humans (post-operative cognitive dysfunction, POCD) but until now, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The present study aimed to establish a non-human primate model for POCD by testing the physical and social cognitive abilities of young and old long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) before and after general anaesthesia (N = 13). Our study examined if general anaesthesia with isoflurane in the first part and with propofol in the second part of the study influenced cognitive abilities and if these effects were age-dependent. Statistical analysis did not reveal significant effects of age or anaesthetics on performance levels in physical and social cognitive tests which contradicts findings of cognitive impairment after general anaesthesia in humans. Further studies need to clarify whether the test battery may not be suited to detect and quantify impairments, or whether long-tailed macaques are generally less susceptible than humans to such cognitive impairments after general anaesthesia. 6 Are arboreal frugivores creating food patches for ground-dwelling fruit- eaters? Linnea W. Havmoeller1,2, Carter Loftus1, Rasmus W. Havmoeller1, Damien Caillaud1, Egbert Leigh2, Margaret Crofoot1,2 1University of California, Davis, United States, 2Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama Tropical rainforest ecosystems are enriched by a diverse set of complex interactions between plants and animals. Arboreal frugivores may play an important, and little studied role, as they create food patches for ground-dwelling animals. Arboreal frugivores regularly drop fruit from trees before they would naturally fall to ground, potentially facilitating sources of food for terrestrial species to exploit. If these food sources are important, we predict that terrestrial frugivores should eavesdrop on arboreal frugivores to maximise their feeding efficiency and alter their movement in response to cues and signals produced by arboreal frugivores. In this study, we test if interspecific transfer of information about food resources play a role in the structure and assembly of Neotropical frugivore communities on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. During an ecologically simple time-period when only one main tree species is fruiting, a combination of acoustic play-back experiments, remote camera- trap monitoring, and GPS tracking data is used to examine if terrestrial frugivores actively eavesdrop on signals and cues made by arboreal frugivores, are attracted by them, and adjust their food search in response. The preliminary results suggest
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