They are more able to recognize our facial expressions and our communication signals therefore, they work better with humans than wolves do 9. Dogs are better at cooperating with humans than wolves are. Adaptations included alterations in sequences of ritualized behaviour, and changes in motivational context for certain behaviours including changes in response thresholds 7, 8. Domestication of dogs caused differences from wolves in several ways. Current genetic studies estimate a time of dog–wolf divergence between 25,000 and 40,000 years ago 4, 6. The exact timing of the emergence of the dog lineage remains unknown 5. The genetic history of dogs extends into the Palaeolithic, when at least five major ancestral lineages had diversified 4. Relationships between people and dogs, which represent the earliest domesticated animals, attract the attention of researchers in many ways 1, 2, 3. According to these results, it seems that the variability of barking depending on the species of animal a dog encounters is an expression of the dogʼs inner state rather than functionally reference information. ![]() We found that barks produced in contact with a wild boar showed significantly lower frequency parameters and longest duration compared to other barks. We further tested whether the degree of threat from the species of animal the dog encounters is reflected in the structure of the acoustic parameters based on the valence-arousal model. This might indicate that the key parameter could be the body size of the animal the dog meets. Although the red fox represents a potentially dangerous species, the barking provoked was not classified with a much higher result than barking at animals that pose no threat. On the contrary, barks evoked by red fox encounters were classified similarly as those towards other smaller and non-dangerous animals like rabbits and fowl. The most distinctive barks were produced during encounters with the most dangerous of these animals, the wild boar. Classification results of a discrimination analysis showed, that based on barks of dachshunds and terriers, it is possible to categorize towards which animal species barks were produced. We tested such an ability by comparing barks that were produced when dogs encountered four different animal species: wild boar, red fox, rabbit and fowl. Such a phenomenon has never been tested before. The experiences of hunters indicate that owners can recognize what animal species has been found based on the bark of their dog. ![]() While acoustic signals of dogs have been intensively studied during the last decade, barking during hunting activities remains unstudied. ![]() Previous studies have shown that vocalizations of dogs can provide information to human companions.
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