Fast trap jaws and giant neurons in the ant odontomachus

Ants of the ponerine genus Odontomachus use a trap jaw mechanism when hunting fast prey. When particular trigger hairs, located on the inner edge of the mandibles, are touched by prey, the jaws close extremely rapidly and trap the target. This trap jaw response lasts only 0.33 to 1 millisecond. Electrophysiological recordings demonstrated that the trigger hairs function as mechanoreceptors. Associated with each trigger hair are large sensory cells, the sensory axons of which measure 15 to 20 micrometers in diameter. These are among the largest sensory neurons, and their size implies that these axons conduct information very rapidly.     

Effect of dietary protein content on growth and body composition of fast and slow feathering broiler chickens

1. Broilers were produced from two lines of breeders selected for three generations for fast and slow feather growth. The base population foundation stock originated from a commercial pedigree female line, which carried only the dominant sex‐linked late feathering gene K. Three isoenergetic (12.7 MJ AME/kg) starter and grower diets were formulated to contain 280, 240 and 200, and 260, 220 and 180 g/kg protein, respectively, and fed to 156 broilers of each sex to give three starter‐grower combinations.

2. Broiler performance in terms of growth, food conversion ratio, carcase meat, fat and protein content was optimised on the 240 to 220 g/kg protein starter‐grower series of diets.

3. Birds of the slow line were significantly (P<0.05) heavier at 48 d of age and had the same food intake and food conversion ratio as birds of the fast feathering line.

4. The slow line birds had significantly (P<0.01) shorter feathers and less total plumage weight at 48 d. The slow line birds had significantly (P<0.001) less carcase fat and significantly (P<0.05) more carcase protein than the fast line. The slow line had significantly more carcase meat (P<0.01) within which a greater breast meat yield was evident (P<0.001).     

Comparison of the rates of proliferation of adipocyte precursor cells derived from two lines of chicken which differ in their rates of adipose tissue development

1. Putative adipocyte precursor cells were isolated from the white adipose tissue of young broiler and layer chickens and cultured in vitro.

2. The cells from both sources were shown to have the characteristics of adipocyte precursor cells. On reaching confluence, lipoprotein lipase activity was induced and the cells from both strains accumulated large amounts of lipid in the presence of chicken serum.

3. Measurement of cell number over time in culture and calculation of cell doubling times showed that cells from broilers proliferated at a faster rate than those derived from layer‐strain chickens. This was the case whether primary or secondary cell cultures were used. Primary cultures of broiler cells had a doubling time of 22 h versus 39 h for layer cells.

4. The contribution of such a difference in proliferative rate to the differential rate of adipose tissue growth between broiler and layer strains observed in vivo is discussed.     

Nesting and dust bathing by hens in cages: Matching and mis‐matching between behaviour and environment

1. Medium hybrid hens were housed as groups of 4 at 18 weeks of age in cages of 4 different types: control battery cages allowing 675 cm2/bird; similar cages with a rear‐mounted dust bath, 290×345×240 mm, containing sand (D); cages with a rear‐mounted nest box of the same size, containing wood shavings (N); cages with both (DN). In half the experimental cages access to nests was restricted to the morning and access to baths was restricted to the afternoon, by automatic sliding doors.

2. During the first 24 weeks of lay about 95% of eggs were laid in nest boxes in treatments N and DN. Slightly fewer were laid in boxes where doors were present. Over 90% were laid in dust baths in D cages without doors and 67% with doors, which birds learned to open. Prelaying behaviour was least disturbed in nest boxes, most disturbed on the floor and intermediate in dust baths.

3. Fully developed dust bathing occurred in D and DN as bouts lasting 5 to 10 minutes; its incidence, surprisingly, was greater when doors were present and greater still when nest boxes were present, even though it was not performed in them. It was also performed by some hens in nest boxes in N (without doors). In N with doors and in control cages, dust bathing occurred on the bare floor in truncated form, as serial bouts each lasting only about 10 s. This truncated dust bathing was also occasionally observed in D and DN.

4. Plumage, foot and claw damage were less in hens from modified cages than from controls. Egg production was very good in all treatments but more eggs from control cages were downgraded because they were dirty or cracked.

5. When a choice was available birds generally partitioned their behaviour appropriately between nest box and dust bath. In N and DN virtually all prelaying and nesting behaviour took place in the nest boxes. Matching between dust bathing and the environment was less close; the reasons for its relatively low incidence and occurrence in truncated form outside dust baths remain to be established.     

Comparison of alternative methods of handling contemporary group effects in animal model prediction

SUMMARY: Methods to associate animals between periods (grouping of records within a calving season into a 60-day interval starting from the date of the first calf born for 400-day weight analysis) within the contemporary group classification on sexmanagement group-date of weighing, using an animal model were compared. The data were derived from ten Angus herds. Assigning animals to more than one period and/or treating period as random or introducing days from start of calving period as a co-variate (linear and quadratic) did little to improve herd mean square error compared to the basic model where there were no associations between periods. The reduction in the standard errors of predictions were significant (p < 0.05) only when period within sex-management group-date of weighing was treated as random. However, the use of a similarity matrix S (which associates periods within the fixed contemporary group classification) in the mixed model equations reduced mean square error by as much as 7%. Using simulated observations for the ten herds, highest correlations between true breeding values and estimated breeding values were obtained only for the model using the similarity matrix. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Vergleich alternativer Methoden der Behandlung von Wirkungen kontempor?rer Gruppen bei Tiermodellvoraussagen Methoden zur Verbindung zwischen Tieren verschiedener Perioden (Leistungsabschlüsse in 60-Tage-Intervallen einer Abkalbesaison für 400 Tagegewichte ab dem ersten geborenen Kalb) innerhalb kontempor?rer Gruppenklassifikation und Geschlechts-Managementgruppen bei Tiermodellen wurden verglichen. Die Daten stammten von 10 Angusherden. Zuordnung von Tieren an mehr als eine Periode als zuf?llig oder Einbeziehung von Tagen von Beginn der Abkalbeperiode als Kovariable (linear und quadratisch) half wenig zur Verbesserung des Herdenfehlermittelquadrates im Vergleich zu dem Grundmodell, wo keine Verbindungen zwischen Perioden unterstellt wurden. Die Verminderung des Standardfehlers der Voraussage war signifikant (p < als 0,05) nur wenn Perioden innerhalb Geschlechts-Managementgruppen als zuf?llig betrachtet worden sind. Allerdings hat die Verwendung der ?hnlichkeitsmatrix S (welche Perioden innerhalb einer fixen kontempor?ren Gruppenklassifikation assoziiert) in der gemischten Modellgleichungen den Mittelquadratfehler um bis zu 7% reduziert. Unter Verwendung simulierter Beobachtungen für 10 Herden haben sich die h?chsten Korrelationen zwischen wahren Zuchtwerten und gesch?tzten nur bei dem Modell ergeben, das die ?hnlichkeitsmatrix verwendet hat.     

Breed differences and intra-breed genetic variability of dermatoglyphic pattern of cattle

SUMMARY: Muzzle dermatoglyphics - n. ridges, granula and vibrissae - were analysed in various breeds. Differences among these in most traits were significant. Herd effects accounted for about 1/10 of the variance and heritability, estimated by combining sib, halfsib and dam-daughter correlations corrected for herd differences was above 50% for ridges and vibrissae and about 30% for granula. Genetic correlations between ridge counts and n. vibrissae in different nose fields, respectively, were high as they were between the former and n. granula but they were negative or very low between vibrissae and the other two traits. Asymmetry among the counts in the two muzzle sides was significant for nearly all traits, Heritabilities were low, around 10 to 20%, and the crossbreds had less asymmetry than their parental breeds. The correlations among asymmetry measures were low. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Rassenunterschiede und genetische Variabilit?t von Flotzmaulmustern Flotzmaulmerkmale - Zahl von Leisten, Warzen und Haaren - wurden in verschiedenen Rassen untersucht. Unterschiede zwischen diesen waren für alle Merkmale signifikant. Herdeneinflüsse verursachten etwa 1/10 der Varianz und Heritabilit?tswerte, gesch?tzt aus Korrelationen zwischen Zwillingen, Halbgeschwistern und T?chter-Müttern, korrigien für Herdeneinflüsse, variierten zwischen 36 und mehr als 50%. Genetische Korrelationen zwischen Leistenzahl und Zahl von Haaren in verschiedenen Flotzmaulfeldern waren hoch, ebenso wie die zwischen ersteren und Zahl von Warzen, aber sie waren negativ oder sehr gering zwischen Haaren und den andern beiden Merkmalen. Asymmetrie zwischen Zahlen in beiden Flotzmaulh?lften war signifikant für fast alle Merkmale. Heritabilit?tswerte waren niedrig, etwa 10-20% und Kreuzungstiere zeigten weniger Asymmetrie als ihre Herkunftsrassen. Die Korrelationen zwischen Asymmetriema?en waren niedrig.