User:Cll073/sandbox

= Article Evaluation

Purpose of comfort behaviours: A very thorough interesting paragraph. In the sentence “Other physical purposes for comfort behaviours include reduction in heart rate” but it seems like that may be a result of the comfort behaviours not a function. Also as a general note maybe use only one spelling of the word “behaviour/behavior” and be consistent with it throughout the paper. The sentence “Those without those comfort behaviours…” in the last paragraph of the may flow better if one of the “those” is taken out. Types of comfort behaviours: In the autogrooming paragraphing in line 9 there is a typo where autogrooming is referred to as allogrooming. In the dust bathing paragraph there is another small typo, “degus” should be capitalized. Other than these small typos the article is very informative, appears to be well researched and cited, is very cohesive with a great logical flow and is neutral. It also appears to cover most of the aspects of the topic thoroughly.

Peer Review

I think that this is a well written article on an interesting topic. In general, your contributions were well written and coherent. Additionally, your lead section on the purpose of comfort behaviours is informative and describes the topics that you covered in the following paragraphs quite well. Your paragraphs include the most relevant information about the topic and I feel that after reading through your article I now understand and am informed with regards to the purpose of comfort behaviours and the types of comfort behaviours. I think you did a great job at organizing your sections and integrating your sources into the content. The content is written in a neutral tone and balanced which is very important. As for suggestions on improving the article, there are some minor changes that I would suggest. First of all, I think that some of your topic sentences require a citation, the sentences themselves are well written and do a great job at introducing the content that you will be talking about however, I think some of contain information that requires an appropriate source. For example:

• "There are many adaptive and functional purposes for comfort behaviours"- if you've drawn this conclusion from your sources, you could provide a citation for a few of them
• "Autogrooming is any grooming behaviour performed by an animal on its own body"- I think it would be beneficial to provide a citation to this definition
• "Allogrooming is any behaviour preformed by an animal on its own body"- I think this definition could also use a citation.

I also think that the sentence "this comfort behaviour is so important that in the absence of..." could be changed to something a little more formal and neutral such as "This comfort behaviour has an important impact on infant monkeys, in the absence of this behaviour..."

Finally, although this wasn't required for the fist draft of the article, I think that including some links (especially to the different types of comfort behaviours and some terms like ecoparasites, preening and dustbathing) and pictures would really add to your article. Overall, excellent job!

Purpose of Comfort Behaviours

There are many adaptive and functional purposes for comfort behaviors among a diverse group of animals. One function of comfort behaviours is hygiene, particularly in the form of ectoparasite removal. The animal removes the ectoparasites through the scratching or brushing of their own bodies, or the grooming of others. Through licking and brushing, animals such as the red squirrel clean wounds and remove dirt and debris from their bodies, also aiding in hygiene. Other physical purposes for comfort behaviours includes reduction in heart rates as seen in horses, and thermoregulation.

There are reproductive purposes for comfort behaviours in several types of animals. It is necessary in the search for mating partners in animals such as the wren, where reciprocal and continued preening is involved in mating. Similarly, in chickens, dust bathing occurs as female sexual behaviour. During gestation, grooming and licking of areas critical for reproduction is increased in rats. Finally, in cats, the mother cares for her newly born kittens through comfort behaviours, licking and rubbing the kitten's head.

Mother monkey hugs her baby creating contact comfort.

Comfort behaviours can function to communicate socially during breeding season such as in the Degus, and form bonds and social structure within groups. It also can have implications on social outcomes of an animal. In infant monkeys it was found that contact comfort from their mothers was necessary to encourage positive social outcomes. The monkey's without those comfort behaviours developed fear and anxiety. This comfort behaviour has an important impact because in the absence of a mother, juvenile monkeys cling to each other for contact comfort.

Types of Comfort Behaviours

Autogrooming

Squirrel scratching its armpit with its hindlimb claws - a process of autogrooming.

Autogrooming is any grooming behaviour performed by an animal on its own body. This behaviour typically includes licking, chewing, clawing, and rubbing. This comfort behaviour is typically performed for hygienic purposes as seen in the red squirrel. The red squirrel removes parasites and dirt from its fur by licking and chewing its body (tail, belly and genitals), scratching harder to reach areas (such as under the legs) with its claws, brushing and rubbing facial areas with its front paws, or shaking its body and brushing against objects. This self-grooming increases in frequency during the spring when more black flies are present in the environment. In some animals such as the rat, autogrooming can have reproductive purposes. During pregnancy, the frequency of autogrooming in the critical reproductive areas, (nipple lines, genitals, and pelvis), increases whereas the frequency of licking in the areas not critical for reproduction decreased. As pregnancy progressed, the rate of licking in the critical areas increases.

Allogrooming

A mother cat licks the head of her kitten - a process of allogrooming.

Allogrooming is any behaviour performed by one animal on another. This behaviour could include licking, rubbing or preening. Allogrooming can have a reproductive function such as seen in wrens. Reciprocal preening initiated by either males or females can aid in mating. Additionally, this comfort behaviour has a hygienic purpose as seen in red howlers and cats. In red howlers, the animals bodies, (including their necks, heads, shoulders and arms) to remove ectoparasites. In domestic cats, mothers lick and rub their kittens heads to keep them clean. This maternal function soon evolves into a social function as the kittens begin to groom their mothers as well. This reciprocal grooming is a sign of affiliation and is necessary for group cohesion. Allopreening is seen to have a social purpose again in red howlers, showing that allogrooming has a variety of functions over a variety of species.

Dust Bathing

Dust bathing is the process of an animal covering themselves, or bathing themselves in dust. In bobwhite quail, the basic sequence of dust bathing is consistent with slight variations occurring in some components. The basic process for the quail is to peck at the dust, squat in the dust, disperse the dust over the body with its wings and feet, and shake off the dust. This process is linked to the oiling of the quail's feathers. Dustbathing is also shown to have a reproductive function. In degus, males dust bathed more frequently during the breeding season. This is thought to deposit scents on the ground that could deter intruding males, or attract potential female mates. Conversely, dustbathing is frequent in female chickens as a part of reproductive behaviour.

Wallowing

A pig wallowing in mud.

Wallowing is characterized by the rolling or rubbing of an animal's body in mud or excrement, (feces or urine).The process of wallowing for red deer includes, kicking and pawing at mud, kneeling in the mud, and lying down and rolling in the mud. For red deer, wallowing has a strong social function as it instills a social hierarchy and creates group cohesion. The young deers are integrated into the group through competition. The young deer initiates wallowing which attracts the dominant deer. It is here that competition is observed and integration of the young into the group occurs. Wallowing also occurs before group activity to help promote group cohesion and common activity synchronizes. In pigs, another function of wallowing is presented, thermoregulation. When presented with increased temperature and humidity, pigs will wallow to regulate their body temperature.

Bibliography

Cooper, D.L., Markowitz, H.. (1979). Handlers' effects on contact comfort behaviours of two trios pf juvenile chimpanzees in the zoo. Physiological Reports, 44, 1015-1018. doi: http://dx.doi.org.qe2a-proxy.mun.ca/10.2466/pr0.1097.44.3.1015

Ferron, J.. (1976). Comfort behaviour of the red squirrel (tamiasciurus hundsonicis). Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 42, 66-85. doi: http://dx.doi.org.qe2a-proxy.mun.ca/10.1111/j.1439-0310.1976.tb00957.x

Hansen, M.N., Estvan, J., Ladewig, J.. (2007). A note on resting behaviour in horses kept on psture: rolling prior to getting up. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 105, 265-269. doi: http://do.doi.org.qe2a-proxy.mun.ca/10.1016/j.applanium.2006.04.032

Harvey, P.J., Mann, M.A.. (1987). Pregnancy-induced autogrooming in mice: the effects of nipple removal. Developmental Psychobiology, 20, 593-602. doi: http://dx.doi.org.qe2a-proxy.mun.ca/10.1002/dev.420200605

Huber, R., Baumung, R., Wurzinger, M., Semumbo, D., Mwai, O., Winckler, C.. (2008). Grazing, social and comfort behaviour of ankole and crossbred (ankole x holstein) heifers on pasture in south uganda. Applied Animal Beaviour Science, 112, 223-234. doi: http:// dx.doi.org.qe2a-proxy.mun.ca/10/1016/j.applanim.2007.08.006

Nicol, C.J.. (1989). Social influences on the comfort behaviour of laying hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 22, 75-81. doi: http://dx.doi.org.qe2a-proxy.mun.ca/10.1016/0168-159(89(90081-6

Sachs, B.D., Clark, J.T., Molloy, A.G., Bitran, D., Holmes, G.M.. (1988). Relation of autogroomingto sexual behaviour in male rats. Physiology & Behaviour, 43, 637-643. doi: http://dx.doi.org.qe2a-proxy.mun.ca/10.1016/0031-9384(88)90219-3

Theissen, D., Pendergrass, M., Young, R.K.. (1983). Developement and expression of autogrooming in the mongolian gerbil, meriones unguiculatus. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 97, 187-190. doi: http://dx.doi.org.qe2a-proxy.mun.ca/10.1037/0735-7036.97.3.187

Van Rhijn, J.G.. (1977). The patterning of preening and other comfort behaviours in a herring gull. Behaviour, 63, 71-109. doi:http://dx.doi.org.qe2a-proxy.mun.ca/10.1163/156853977x00180

Wolovich, C.K., Tapanes, E., Evans S.. (2017). Allogrooming in male-female pairs of captive owl monkeys (aotus nancymaae). Folia Primatologica, 88, 483-496. doi: http://dx.doi.org.qe2a-proxy.mun.ca/10.1159/000485134

Outline- Comfort Behaviours in Animals

- What are comfort behaviours.

- Why do animals perform comfort behaviours.

-Common types of comfort behaviours:

• Allogrooming (examples)
• Autogrooming (examples)
• Dust bathing (examples)
• Wallowing (examples

-Adaptive functions of comfort behaviours.

-Abnormal comfort behaviour

Article Evaluation- Foraging

An evaluation of foraging.

Content

The overview did not sum up what will be talked about well. It focused a lot on foraging theory, although foraging theory was only a small part of the article. However, the overall content of the article was good. It mainly focused on the factors involved in foraging behaviour and the types of foraging behaviour, which were described well. Although there is room for expanding these ideas, the article was focused and to the point. The structure of this article was excellent. The headings and subheadings made the article easy to follow and organized. The subheadings were descriptive and gave enough information to know what would be talked about and kept the main ideas on track.

Tone

The tone of the article was neutral and unbiased. This was apparent with the variety of types of foraging and factors causing foraging that were described. Every topic was explained thoroughly and in detail, with no preference for any concept.

Sources

There are many sources used in this article, and by clicking on a few of them, they are from relevant, peer reviewed papers.The sources contain variety of information, including different species and locations. In the talk section, it was noted that a source appeared to be a promotion for a pet store. This source has since been removed and it appears that all other sources are relevant.

Talk Page

This article is rated Start-Class, indicating that it may be useful to expand some ideas.There are not many comments on the talk page, but most comments are suggesting expanding the paper in general or expanding some ideas within it. Some users suggested topics and ideas that they thought were missing from the article and could be used to give a broader scope.