Journal ArticleDOI
Parasite-altered behaviour : is the effect of Toxoplasma gondii on Rattus norvegicus specific ?
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The effect of Toxoplasma gondii on rat behaviour was assessed in a colony of 36 free-ranging wild/laboratory hybrid rats allowed to compete freely for food and mates in a (100 m2) outdoor naturalistic enclosure.Abstract:
The effect of Toxoplasma gondii on rat behaviour was assessed in a colony of 36 free-ranging wild/laboratory hybrid rats allowed to compete freely for food and mates in a (100 m2) outdoor naturalistic enclosure. T. gondii infection had no effect on social status or mating success, both the product of costly and competitive activities. However, the propensity to explore novel stimuli in their environment was higher in infected than uninfected individuals. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that T. gondii only affects the behavioural traits which selectively benefit the parasite, rather than causing a general alteration of rat behaviour.read more
Citations
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Fatal attraction in rats infected with Toxoplasma gondii.
TL;DR: Although rats have evolved anti–predator avoidance of areas with signs of cat presence, T. gondii's manipulation appears to alter the rat's perception of cat predation risk, in some cases turning their innate aversion into an imprudent attraction.
Journal ArticleDOI
The damage-response framework of microbial pathogenesis
TL;DR: A new theoretical approach to understanding microbial pathogenesis, known as the 'damage-response' framework, is proposed, which aims to address the impediment to studies of host–microorganism interactions.
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Behavioral changes induced by Toxoplasma infection of rodents are highly specific to aversion of cat odors
TL;DR: This study provides a strong argument in support of the behavioral manipulation hypothesis, by closely examining other types of behavioral patterns that were predicted to be altered and showing that the behavioral effect of chronic Toxoplasma infection is highly specific.
Journal ArticleDOI
Host‐Pathogen Interactions: The Attributes of Virulence
TL;DR: It is proposed that host damage provides a common denominator that translates into the different outcomes of host-microbe interaction, which begs the question, "What is the outcome of the host- microbe interaction?"
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The Effect of Toxoplasma gondii on Animal Behavior: Playing Cat and Mouse
TL;DR: Evidence of behavioral alterations in animal hosts is reviewed and what these may elucidate about the potential mechanisms involved and what implications such alterations could have on animal and human health are considered.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
The logical stag: adaptive aspects of fighting in red deer ( Cervus elaphus L.)
TL;DR: For red deer stags, up to 6% of rutting stags are permanently injured each year, while fighting success and reproductive success are closely related, within age groups as well as across them as discussed by the authors.
Journal ArticleDOI
The probability of linearity in hierarchies
TL;DR: In this article, it was shown that the existence of transitive dominance should be tested before using it in ranking, and a suitable statistical test was described in the context of groups in which dominance relationships are random.
Book
Cat Behavior: The Predatory and Social Behavior of Domestic and Wild Cats
TL;DR: This English edition is about twice as large and, although behaviour of the domestic cat remains the main theme, a great deal of the book is given over to other species of the family.