TITLE: Jumbo find: Asian elephants ritually bury their calves, finds Bengal study
https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/asia/2024/03/01/asian-elephants-bury-calves-india/
EXCERPTS: A study has, for the first time ever, documented that Asian elephants bury their calves who die prematurely - a social behaviour that has hitherto found mention in African literature, presumably referring to the larger elephant species from that continent.
In five case studies in north Bengal between 2022 and 2023, herd members were found dragging the calves some distance - away from human settlements - before burying them in a "leg-upright position" at irrigation trenches inside tea gardens. The study has been published in the internationally acclaimed 'Journal of Threatened Taxa'.
Parveen Kaswan, one of the authors, said their study explained burial strategy of elephants in irrigation drains of tea estates by presenting five case reports."We found that the elephants carry carcasses, holding on to the trunks or legs, for a distance before burying them. Direct human intervention was not recorded in any of the five deaths."
Most surprising, according to the study, is the positioning of the carcasses that are buried: in all five cases, the legs were upright, with the head, trunk and dorsal regions fully buried. "The positioning could be explained for better grip for herd members to hold and lay the calf in the trench. This also reflects the care and affection of the herd for the calf. It suggests that because of a space crunch, the herd prioritizes the head for burial before feet," added Kaswan.
In most cases, while burying the carcass, members of the elephant herd "vocalized" for about 30-40 minutes. This may signify mourning, the researchers conjecture, though more study needs to be done to explain this, they said.
According to long-term observation, elephant movement frequency had reduced in these areas. "Jumbos started using parallel pathways, clearly avoiding the path where carcasses were buried," the study claims, adding that this behaviour contrasted with that of African elephants, who spend a lot of time investigating and exploring the remains.
TITLE: Getting that 'Moby Dick' — The first humpback whales to be seen having sex are both male
https://www.advocate.com/news/humpback-whale-gay-sex
EXCERPT: For the first time, researchers have observed humpback whales having sex. Not only that, but both of the whales photographed were male, marking the first example of homosexuality demonstrated in the species.
The encounter occurred off the coast of Hawaii in January 2022, just a few meters under a researcher vessel. The photograph was taken by Lyle Krannichfeld and Brandi Romano, and published Tuesday in Marine Mammal Science.
Humpback whale penises had previously only been seen a handful of times, as they are typically sheathed in a "genital slit." One sighting was during a similar incident reported in 1998, in which a male humpback had its penis extended as it approached the corpse of another male that had just died.
The whale in the recent case being penetrated appeared to be injured, with the other whale holding it in place with its pectoral fins. The researchers wrote that "possible explanations for this behavior are that Whale B was mistakenly trying to mate with Whale A, that it was reinforcing a social relationship with an ailing conspecific, or that it was an expression of dominance over a weak and injured competitor."
Referencing the 1998 sighting, the researchers noted that "it is striking that the only two observations of such behavior in the scientific literature involve ailing or deceased whales," and that "whether such behavior would occur between two healthy males is unknown." Still, it is not unlikely, as homosexuality has been commonly demonstrated in other cetaceans — a classification of marine mammals encompassing whales and dolphins.
TITLE: A liking for licking—sex and social status influence social grooming among free-ranging feral cattle in Hong Kong
https://phys.org/news/2024-02-sex-social-status-grooming-free.html
EXCERPTS: Unique insights into the social lives of cattle revealed in a new study by scientists at City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) can enhance our understanding of animal behavior and welfare. The study suggests that sex and social status influence social grooming (where one animal licks another, also known as allogrooming) among free-ranging feral cattle in Hong Kong.
The CityUHK researchers found that feral cattle performed preferential grooming of certain individuals and, in particular, that more dominant females received more grooming. This asymmetrical distribution of licking also applied to whom male cattle decided to lick, according to the study published in Animal Behaviour.
The CityUHK team found that all individuals received allogrooming but that not all individuals performed allogrooming. Males performed allogrooming more towards females than other males, but females groomed both sexes equally, suggesting a sex-specific aspect to cattle behavior that is not usually evident when studying them on farms.
Although higher-ranking females (i.e., more dominant animals) received more allogrooming from other individuals than subordinates, no such pattern was found for males. The team also found that high-ranking animals exchanged more friendly grooming between themselves, suggesting that high-ranking females are more attractive as social partners.
"This suggests that grooming isn't directed to higher-ranking animals for exchanging rank-related benefits such as food or protection, as has been found in primates, but rather is used to strengthen social bonds and promote affiliation within the group," said Hodgson.
The team also found that the neck and head were the most commonly groomed regions for the cattle, whereas fewer allogrooming events were performed on the legs and belly.
"Social behaviors such as grooming or dominance are crucial in developing and maintaining herd relationships for farmed and feral cattle," said Professor Flay. "These preferential interactions are important to understand, as they can affect cattle and other ruminants' health, such as parasite burdens and infectious disease transmission."
The takeaway from the study is that these preferential allogrooming patterns improve our knowledge of sex-specific interactions and help us to understand the dynamics of agonistic and affiliative behaviors in multi-male, multi-female, ungulate groups.
"These results are essential for understanding patterns of positive social relationships and what good welfare means for cattle, especially when they are free to choose with whom to interact," said Professor McElligott.