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Human preferences to primate species and their consequences
Zelenková, Michaela ; Frynta, Daniel (advisor) ; Sedláček, František (referee)
One of the most important traits of an individual is the appearance. Though mankind desires to unlock the "beauty code" for centuries, it is very difficult to do so. A lot of papers focuses on the characterization of appearance and preferences towards it. It is now obvious that instead of using just one factor to describe the nature of "beauty", we need to comprehend a lot of factors that put together the puzzle pieces of an attractive individual. Nowadays, a widely accepted fact is that symmetry makes facial and other body features attractive. Other important factors are averageness or so-called baby schema with distinct young features. Similar rules apply for evaluation of preferences towards other, non-human species, especially primates. The most attractive primates have facial features that resemble humans or that are round with big, distinctive eyes (baby-schema). Thus, for humans, the most attractive primates are the ones that are similar to us and that are large in body size, while the unattractive ones have an appearance distinctive to humans. Moreover, humans distinguish two main primate faces: nice and friendly, baby-like faces, and aggressive, dangerous faces.
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Specific response of primates to snake predators
Regásková, Kristýna ; Landová, Eva (advisor) ; Lhota, Stanislav (referee)
The specific response to snake predators in primates is due to long coevolution with snakes. This long coevolution has led to a specific and complex response in primates when confronted with snakes. The cues by which primates recognize snakes versus other types of stimuli may be based on olfactory or visual information. Reactions such as a priori fear or avoidance may be followed by various antipredatory responses such as specific vocalizations, avoidance behaviour, early escape or, conversely, active defence and mobbing. The response to venomous snakes and constrictors can vary in many ways based on the different threat they pose. Key words: Predation, mobbing, snake, primates, vocalization, anxiety
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Výskyt střevního prvoka, \kur{Dientamoeba fragilis}, u primátů v zajetí
KOUTENSKÁ, Monika
The main aim of this thesis was to summarize all available information on the occurrence of intestinal protist Dientamoeba fragilis in non-human primates kept in captivity. The partial objectives were to describe all available facts about the biology of D. fragilis, such as about its life cycle, host specificity, genetic diversity and the role of D. fragilis in the intestinal microbiome. In addition, I also addressed the issue of diagnosis of D. fragilis, which until recently was relatively difficult, and I summarized the available diagnostic molecular approaches and their benefits.
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Responses of naive primates to snakes: experiments with selected species kept in Prague zoo
Kutinová, Lucie ; Frynta, Daniel (advisor) ; Fuchs, Roman (referee)
In the wild, snakes are known to elicit strong antipredator responses in primates. Primates often mob the snakes, which is also accompanied by loud calls. In evolution, the deadly threat posed by snakes goes as far as to the origin of placental mammals. In this study, the reactions of naïve individuals to snakes were tested. Naïve pigtail macaques (Macaca nemestrina) and mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus) avoided the snake stimulus. For the macaques there was a longer latency to touch the rubber snake compared to the latency to touch the rubber lizard. The mouse lemurs avoided feeding on the side of experimental box where the snake odor was presented. The reactions of macaques and mouse lemurs were not accompanied by vocalizations and they seemed to be overall mild. Nevertheless, the snake stimuli used here were strong enough for these naïve primates. For ringtail lemurs (Lemur catta), the reactions to uncovering a hidden rubber snake was tested. But the lemurs showed no avoiding reactions. A question for further research is whether the different results for lemurs were not caused by different experimental procedure. As well as in macaques and mouse lemurs, the reactions seemed to be very mild. But no deeper analysis of the behavior was performed. Thus, a reaction could have been overlooked, which...
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Face recognition and emotional expression processing in primates
Englerová, Kateřina ; Nekovářová, Tereza (advisor) ; Fajnerová, Iveta (referee)
Visual modality is one of the most important senses for primates and also for many other an-imals. It allows them to perceive stimuli from their environment - important objects and places, and also conspecifics or individuals of other species. One of the crucial cognitive skills, especially for social animals, is the ability to distinguish between individuals and their emotions due to different facial features and expressions.Aim of this work is to summarize the current knowledge about face and emotion recognition. It includes neurological mechanisms, experimental methodologies and comparison between species.
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Relative numerosity discrimination in primates
Moravcová, Anna ; Nekovářová, Tereza (advisor) ; Petrásek, Tomáš (referee)
This work is focused on numerical competence in primates specifically focusing on relative numerosity, one of the many aspects of these cognitive abilities. Relative numerosity is an ability to discriminate a larger quantity from a smaller amount or smaller quantity from a larger amount and could be classified as one of the easiest numerical competence. In this work I have summarized the present knowledge of numerical competences in primates, which have been so far studied only in a few species of primates, most of them was rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) and chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). In the experimental part I focused on the research of relative numerosity in rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta). The goal of my work was to find out whether macaques are able to solve the problem of relative abundance with different types of stimuli. Another goal was to find out whether they are able to generalize information about relative abundance and whether they can apply it for new design of the task. The results confirm that macaques possess the ability of relative numerosity and are able to abstract stimuli that are differing in their character. This proves that they are not learning to recognize a particular stimul, but are able to use this numerical skill on any type of stimul. I also found out that...
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Primates in Czech ZOOs and possibilities of their use in extracurricular activities of children and young people
Hepnarová, Věra ; Vančata, Václav (advisor) ; Přívratský, Vladimír (referee)
Primates in Czech ZOOs and possibilities of thein use in extracurricular activities of children and young people Bachleor thesis is dedicated to Czech zoological gardens, it's utilization and importance in extracurricular activities of children and youth. Apart from protection of endangered primate species zoological gardens take an important educational role. Student's education is provided by observation of different primate species and also by special educational programes. It gives opportunity to become familiar with breeding interesting primate species, which are suitable for extracurricular activities of children and youth. As well with Czech zoological gardens which deal with breeding. Keywords: extracurricular activity, primate, zoological garden
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Use of Primate Expositions in Education at Elementary School
Vilímová, Tereza ; Vančata, Václav (advisor) ; Hlaváčová, Lucie (referee)
This thesis proposes a possibility of using the exposition of primates in the Prague zoo during the school excursion for pupils of the 7th or 8th grade of elementary school. The thesis is divided into individual parts that theoretically analyse the importance of excursions for education and subsequently it is practically focused on facilitating the smooth course of the excursion and other activities that precede the excursion or follow it freely. In the thesis there is the general sorting of primates into individual species described in detail and there is provided basic information about primates that are bred in the Prague zoo. Further, possible excursion trail including individual expositions where the particular animals can be seen is described in detail. The main objective was to provide teachers with detailed instructions on how to make the excursion so it is successful. The purpose of the work was also to create materials which help to actively memorize the information provided and to raise children's interest in such an interesting animal species as the primates. With regard to the fact that most primates are currently threatened by extinction in their natural habitat, the theme of the excursion is closely linked to environmental issues and a responsible approach to the use of natural...
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Numerical competence in primates
Rejlová, Markéta ; Nekovářová, Tereza (advisor) ; Komárková, Martina (referee)
Numerical competences include the number of abilities as representation of the quantity and transformations or operations with quantity. Many species of animals can use these abilities for example during searching for food, sexual partners and also for detection of number of competitors or predators. Numerical abilities such as counting or estimating quantity can increase the chance of survival and reproduction. In this work, I summarize some previous studies of numerical competences in primates and humans and I also mention experiments in other species. I divide the competences into chapters: estimating of the numbers (relative and absolute), counting, summation, conservation of quantity, proportion, ordinality and transitivity. The aim of this study was to study the ability of macaques (Macaca mulatta) to distinguish between the quantities of two sets. In the following part of experiment I observed the preference of monkeys for size or the number of stimuli. This preference was studied also in children. The results confirm the ability of relative numerousness judgment of monkeys. The results demonstrate that with increasing difference of quantity between the two sets the ability of distinguish between the two quantities also increase. Other experiment studied preference of larger number of...
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