Acoustic characteristics of courtship and agonistic vocalizations in Przwewalskii's wild horse and in domestic horse

Alberghina, Daniela; Caudullo, Eugenia; Chan, Winnie Y.; Bandi, Namkhai; Panzera, Michele

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2015.10.003

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…These results do not conform to Morton’s “motivation-structural rule” 11 , which suggests that animals often produce low-frequency calls in hostile contexts and high tonal calls in fearful, appeasing or friendly contexts. Nevertheless, squeals can sometimes be described as calls indicating fear or attempt to appease, as they are often produced by the victims of an aggression or a sexual encounter 29 . As highlighted by August and Anderson 40 , friendliness and fear represent very different motivational states, and calls produced in these contexts seem to present considerable variation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly to the closely related domestic horse, it produces three main types of calls: squeals, nickers and whinnies 28 – 31 . First analyses of this species’ calls seem to suggest that Przewalski’s stallions’ separation calls tend to be shorter than those produced by domestic stallions, while Przewalski’s mares’ separation calls show a lower frequency than those produced by domestic mares 28 , 29 . However, these two studies only focused on nickers and squeals and on a limited sample size and number of acoustic parameters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

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Vocal expression of emotional valence in Przewalski’s horses (Equus przewalskii)

Maigrot

Hillmann

Anne

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Vocal expression of emotions has been suggested to be conserved throughout evolution. However, since vocal indicators of emotions have never been compared between closely related species using similar methods, it remains unclear whether this is the case. Here, we investigated vocal indicators of emotional valence (negative versus positive) in Przewalski’s horses, in order to find out if expression of valence is similar between species and notably among Equidae through a comparison with previous results obtained in domestic horse whinnies. We observed Przewalski’s horses in naturally occurring contexts characterised by positive or negative valence. As emotional arousal (bodily activation) can act as a confounding factor in the search for indicators of valence, we controlled for its effect on vocal parameters using a behavioural indicator (movement). We found that positive and negative situations were associated with specific types of calls. Additionally, the acoustic structure of calls differed according to the valence. There were some similarities but also striking differences in expression of valence between Przewalski’s and domestic horses, suggesting that vocal expression of emotional valence, unlike emotional arousal, could be species specific rather than conserved throughout evolution.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Vocal expression of emotional valence in Przewalski’s horses (Equus przewalskii)

Maigrot

Hillmann

Anne

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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“…In free-ranging horses differences in squeal duration and frequency have been shown to differ in relation to dominance in stallions, communicating status and fighting ability and potentially arousal (Rubenstein and Hack, 1992). Differences between nickers and squeals in Przewalski's horses were attributed to differing motivational states and again, communicate affiliative or agonistic intention (Alberghina et al, 2016). In domestic horses, spectral differences in vocalisation in response to positive (feed expectation) and negative (mare-foal separation) occurrences were found (Pond et al, 2010).…”

Section: Behavioural Signs Of Spontaneous Emotional Responsementioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing equine emotional state

Hall

Randle

Pearson

et al. 2018

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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The scientific study of animal emotion has recently become an important focus for animal behaviour and welfare researchers. For horses used by humans for work, recreation or sport, the question of the significance of their life experiences in terms of their emotional response, is an important one if we are to provide for their welfare needs. Horses have received relatively less scientific attention than many livestock species when it comes to investigating emotional state or affective experience, although their behavioural responses during sporting or recreational performance are often described anecdotally using terminology indicating an underlying presumption of equine emotions. Indeed, the international governing body for equestrian sport, the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), include the concept of 'the Happy Equine Athlete' into their rules, as a key objective during training and competition. This review presents available evidence to date of the physiological, behavioural and cognitive components of equine emotion and evaluates the extent to which the question concerning 'how horses feel' can be answered. The characterization of equine emotion in terms of level of arousal and valence, based on physiological, behavioural and cognitive indicators, offers a way forward to determine the impact of different situations and experiences on horses during their working lives. There is a need to develop robust validated methods for accessing equine emotions, to underpin a universally agreed method for/approach to providing an accurate assessment of equine welfare that can be utilized in a variety of contexts. This will 2 provide a means of monitoring and improving the horse's experience, ensuring that the horse enjoys a good life, rather than one that is just worth living.

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“…For example, dogs have been shown to have empathy (Custance & Mayer 2012) and are able to read human facial expression (Müller et al, 2015) as well as follow human referential gestures (Hare & Tomasello, 2005;Soproni et al, 2002), and perform referential gestures for humans (Worsley & O'Hara, 2018). Significantly, semantic meaning has been attributed to some horse vocalizations (Alberghina et al, 2016), whilst some agricultural species such as goats, which have been domesticated for production (not companion) purposes, have also been found to have the ability to read human facial expressions (Nawroth et al, 2018). Further, in wild animals, the vocalizations of some bird species have been found to contain information as to the identity of the signaler (Couchoux & Dabelsteen, 2015;Ręk & Osiejuk, 2011), and a simple binary cognitive model based upon reinforcement and prohibition does not fully account for these phenomena, which may well be emergent properties of more basic neurological 'reward' system, but a complex one which is acting dynamically and synergistically (Lewis, 2021a).…”

Section: Training As a Form Of Communication And Animal Welfarementioning

confidence: 99%

A Biosemiotic Perspective on Reward-Based Animal Training Techniques

Lewis

2021

Biosemiotics

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In this paper, I examine the way humans interact with domestic companion animals, with a focus on ‘positive reward-based training’ methods, particularly for dogs. From a biosemiotic perspective, I discuss the role of animal training in today’s society and examine what binary reward- based reinforcement schedules communicate, semiotically. I also examine the extent to which reward-based training methods promote better welfare, when compared to the more traditional methods which rely on aversive stimuli and punishment, if and when they are relied upon excessively. I conclude that when used as the primary means of communication, they have the potential to be detrimental to animal welfare, because the underlying social signal is control and resource dominance. As an alternative view to behaviourist-based learning theory and conditioning, I outline how enactivist theories of cognition support a semiotic approach to interspecific human-animal communication. I therefore propose a move toward a dynamic semiosis and mutual understanding based upon Peirce’s phenomenology, resulting in a more balanced merging of Umwelten. The aim is to create rich and more complex semiospheres around humans and domestic animals, which allow for individual agency and autonomy.

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Acoustic characteristics of courtship and agonistic vocalizations in Przwewalskii's wild horse and in domestic horse

Cited by 5 publications

References 39 publications

Vocal expression of emotional valence in Przewalski’s horses (Equus przewalskii)

Vocal expression of emotional valence in Przewalski’s horses (Equus przewalskii)

Assessing equine emotional state

A Biosemiotic Perspective on Reward-Based Animal Training Techniques

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