Behavioral lateralization in the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris)

We examined side preferences in the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) through observations of limb use (right and left flipper) in 123 wild and 16 captive individuals. We also analyzed archival data on wild manatees to develop an index of boat-caused body scars to determine lateraliza...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Tyler-Julian, Kara, Chapman, Kate M., Frances, Candice, Bauer, Gordon B.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:España
Institución:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repositorio:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/69175
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/69175
http://dx.doi.org/10.46867/ijcp.2016.29.00.20
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Manatís
Animals salvatges en captivitat
Extremitats
Descripción
Sumario:We examined side preferences in the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) through observations of limb use (right and left flipper) in 123 wild and 16 captive individuals. We also analyzed archival data on wild manatees to develop an index of boat-caused body scars to determine lateralization of evasive action. Wild and captive manatees displayed flipper lateralization at the individual, but not the population level for several behaviors including substrate touches, sculling, and feeding. In contrast, manatees were lateralized at the population level for boat-scar biases with more manatees showing a left scar bias (45%) versus right (34%) or dorsal (21%).