Geometric morphometrics as a tool for improving the comparative study of behavioural postures |
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Authors: | Carole Fureix Martine Hausberger Emilie Seneque Stéphane Morisset Michel Baylac Raphaël Cornette Véronique Biquand Pierre Deleporte |
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Institution: | 1.Université Rennes 1 UMR CNRS 6552 Ethologie Animale et Humaine,Rennes Cedex,France;2.H?pital E. Herriot, Unité de Recherche Clinique du Service d’Hématologie,Lyon cedex 03,France;3.Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle CNRS-UMR 7205 and ?plate-forme Morphométrie?,Paris,France |
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Abstract: | Describing postures has always been a central concern when studying behaviour. However, attempts to compare postures objectively
at phylogenetical, populational, inter- or intra-individual levels generally either rely upon a few key elements or remain
highly subjective. Here, we propose a novel approach, based on well-established geometric morphometrics, to describe and to
analyse postures globally (i.e. considering the animal’s body posture in its entirety rather than focusing only on a few salient
elements, such as head or tail position). Geometric morphometrics is concerned with describing and comparing variation and
changes in the form (size and shape) of organisms using the coordinates of a series of homologous landmarks (i.e. positioned
in relation to skeletal or muscular cues that are the same for different species for every variety of form and function and
that have derived from a common ancestor, i.e. they have a common evolutionary ancestry, e.g. neck, wings, flipper/hand).
We applied this approach to horses, using global postures (1) to characterise behaviours that correspond to different arousal
levels, (2) to test potential impact of environmental changes on postures. Our application of geometric morphometrics to horse
postures showed that this method can be used to characterise behavioural categories, to evaluate the impact of environmental
factors (here human actions) and to compare individuals and groups. Beyond its application to horses, this promising approach
could be applied to all questions involving the analysis of postures (evolution of displays, expression of emotions, stress
and welfare, behavioural repertoires…) and could lead to a whole new line of research. |
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