Debottam BhattacharjeeCity University of Hong Kong | CityU · Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health
Debottam Bhattacharjee
Doctor of Philosophy
About
61
Publications
23,936
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490
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Introduction
My broad research interest is animal behaviour. I have studied phylogenetically distant species like dogs, macaques and buffaloes, to understand the evolution of social behaviour and its drivers and mechanisms.
Know more by visiting my website https://www.dbcognition.co.in/
Additional affiliations
September 2020 - March 2023
September 2013 - January 2014
July 2014 - March 2017
Position
- Fellow
Description
- Researcher at Behaviour and Ecology Lab
Education
August 2011 - July 2013
August 2008 - July 2011
Presidency College, Kolkata (University of Calcutta)
Field of study
- Zoology
Publications
Publications (61)
Animals of different taxa can read and respond to various human communicative signals. Such a mechanism facilitates animals to acquire social information and helps them react in a context-dependent manner. Dogs have garnered extensive attention owing to their socio-cognitive skills and remarkable sensitivity to human social cues. For example, dogs...
Prosociality is the intent to improve others’ well-being. Existing hypotheses postulate that enhanced social tolerance and inter-individual dependence may facilitate prosocial preferences, which may favor the evolution of altruism. While most studies are restricted to ‘‘tolerant’’ (cooperatively breeding and self domesticated) species, despotic soc...
Animals experience stressful situations, from predation to social conflicts, but mostly deal with them successfully. This adaptive mechanism, coping, reduces the adverse effects of stressors, and its failure may result in reduced fitness. Substantial inter-individual variation in coping is observed, yet little is known about how behavioral, physiol...
Cooperation is widespread and arguably a pivotal evolutionary force in maintaining animal societies. Yet, proximately, what underlying motivators drive individuals to cooperate remains relatively unclear. Since ‘free-riders’ can exploit the benefits by cheating, selecting the right partner is paramount. Such decision rules need not be based on comp...
Similarity or homophily in personality drives preferential strong social bonds or friendships in humans and some non-human primate species. However, little is known about the general behavioral “decision rules” underlying animal friendships in other taxa. We investigated a feral and free-ranging population of water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) to dete...
1. Anthropogenic land use has transformed habitats globally, leading to human-wildlife co-habitations that present challenges and opportunities for coexistence. This coexistence is contingent on the nature and frequency of human-animal interactions (HAI) that are primarily shaped by public attitudes and values.2. We designed a questionnaire using t...
What makes animals thrive in human-dominated environments?” is a question that has been extensively researched transcending disciplines, but findings remain inconclusive. Consistent inter-individual differences or personalities can potentially explain the functional significance of habitat-specific traits and their variations that help animals succ...
Friendships, exhibited by both humans and non-human animals, have considerable adaptive benefits. In humans, similarity or homophily in personality is considered a proximate mechanism driving friendships, yet little is known about the behavioural ‘decision rules’ underlying animal friendships. Some empirical research suggests that animal friendship...
Acquiring knowledge about the environment is crucial for survival. Animals, often driven by their exploratory tendencies, gather valuable information regarding food resources, shelter, mating partners, etc. However, neophobia, or avoiding novel environmental stimuli, can constrain their exploratory behaviour. While neophobia can reduce potential pr...
Acquiring knowledge about the environment is crucial for survival. Animals, often driven by their explorative tendencies, gather valuable information regarding food resources, shelter, mating partners, etc. While neophilia, or the preference for novel environmental stimuli or objects, can promote exploratory behaviour, neophobia, or avoidance of no...
Cooperation is widespread and arguably a pivotal evolutionary force in maintaining animal societies. Yet, proximately, what underlying motivators drive individuals to cooperate remains relatively unclear. Since ′free-riders′ can exploit the benefits by cheating, selecting the right partner is paramount. Such decision rules need not be based on comp...
Animals regularly experience stressful situations, ranging from predation to social stress, yet successfully deal with them on most occasions. This adaptive mechanism, coping, reduces the adverse effects of stressors through behavioural and physiological efforts, failing to which may result in reduced fitness. However, considerable variation in cop...
The structure and functioning of the brain are lateralized-the right hemisphere processes unexpected stimuli and controls spontaneous behavior, while the left deals with familiar stimuli and routine responses. Hemispheric dominance, the predisposition of an individual using one hemisphere over the other, may lead to behavioral differences; particul...
The structure and functioning of the brain are lateralized – the right hemisphere processes unexpected stimuli and controls spontaneous behavior, while the left deals with familiar stimuli and routine responses. Hemispheric dominance, the predisposition of an individual using one hemisphere over the other, may lead to behavioral differences; partic...
Humans possess remarkable prosocial tendencies beyond the confinement of kinship, which may be instrumental in promoting cooperative interactions and sociality at large. Yet, prosociality is an evolutionary conundrum as it does not provide immediate benefits to the actor. The ‘domestication’ and ‘cooperative-breeding’ hypotheses postulated that enh...
Time-activity budget, i.e., how a population or an individual divides their day into various behaviours and activities, is an important ecological aspect. Existing research primarily focused on group-level time-activity budgets, while individual variations have only been reported recently. However, little is known about how consistent inter-individ...
Interaction with its immediate environment determines the ecology of an organism. Short-lived perturbations in the habitat can adversely affect both wild and domesticated species. When such disturbances are unpredictable, they are more challenging to tackle. Therefore, specific strategies become essential for species to overcome adversities that ca...
Interaction with its immediate environment determines the ecology of an organism. Species present in any habitat, wild or urban, may face extreme pressure due to sudden perturbations. When such disturbances are unpredictable, it becomes more challenging to tackle. Implementation of specific strategies is therefore essential for different species to...
The ability of dogs to read human communicative intents is cognitively remarkable. For example, pet dogs have been shown to follow human pointing cues readily, from simple to complex ones. The dual influence of domestication and ontogeny is thought to be responsible for such socio-cognitive skills in dogs. While domestication talks about genetic pr...
Research on human-animal interaction has skyrocketed in the last decade. Rapid urbanization has led scientists to investigate its impact on several species living in the vicinity of humans. Domesticated dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are one such species that interact with humans and are also called man’s best friend. However, when it comes to the f...
Cohabiting with humans in the same ecological space requires significant variation in the behavioral repertoire of animals. Behavioral variation can potentially improve the chances of survival of an individual. The influence of humans can be measured by quantifying specific behavioral parameters of the interacting individuals. Sociability or the te...
Co-habiting with humans in an urban ecological space requires adequate variation in a
species’ behavioural repertoire. The eco-ethology of many urban species have been shown to be modified due to human activities leading to urban adaptations. Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are the first species to have been domesticated and have a long evolutionary...
Research on human-animal interaction has skyrocketed in the last decade. Rapid urbanization has led scientists to investigate its impact on several species living in the vicinity of humans. Domesticated dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are one such species that interact with humans and are also called man’s best friend. However, when it comes to the f...
Co-habiting with humans in the same ecological space requires significant variation in a species’ behavioral repertoire. Behavioral variation can potentially improve the chances of survival of a species. Influence of humans can be measured by quantifying specific behavioral parameters of the interacting species. Sociability or the tendency to be fr...
In urban environments, humans are a part of an interaction network of several species, impacting them directly or indirectly. The positive, negative and neutral components of such impact can be assessed by studying human-animal interactions in various habitats. While studies have shown animals' reactions to specific human social cues, information i...
Dogs are one of the most common species to be found as pets and have been subjects of human curiosity, leading to extensive research on their socialization with humans. One of the dominant themes in dog cognition pertains to their capacity of understanding and responding to human referential gestures. The remarkable socio-cognitive skills of pet do...
The ability of animals to communicate using gaze is a rich area of research. How domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) use and respond to the gaze of humans is an area of particular interest. This study examined how three groups of domestic dogs from different populations (free-ranging dogs, pet dogs, and shelter dogs) responded to a human during...
Dogs are the most common species to be found as pets and have been subjects of human curiosity leading to extensive research on their socialization with humans. One of the dominant themes in dog cognition pertains to their capacity of understanding and responding to human referential gestures. The remarkable socio-cognitive skills of pet dogs, whil...
The sociability of urban Indian free-ranging dogs varies at microhabitat levels. This study shows the influence of human flux (~movement) on behavioural outcomes of dogs.
Species inhabiting urban environments experience enormous anthropogenic stress. Behavioural plasticity and flexibility of temperament are crucial to successful urban-adaptation. Urban free-ranging dogs experience variable human impact, from positive to negative and represent an ideal system to evaluate the effects of human-induced stress on behavio...
Domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are remarkably sensitive and responsive while interacting with humans. Pet dogs are known to have social skills and abilities to display situation-specific responses, but there is lack of information regarding free-ranging dogs which constitute majority of the world's dog population. Free-ranging dogs found in...
Dog human relationship
Inter-specific interactions between human and free-ranging dogs in the streets of India.
Domestic dogs are remarkably sensitive and responsive while interacting with humans. Pet dogs are known to have social skills and abilities to display situation-specific responses, but there is lack of information regarding free-ranging dogs which constitute majority of the world's dog population. Free-ranging dogs found in most of the developing c...
Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are the first species to have been domesticated, and unlike other domesticated species, they have developed a special bonding with their owners. The ability to respond to human gestures and language, and the hypersocial behaviours of dogs are considered key factors that have led them to become man's best friend. Free-r...
This study summarizes an ontogenic effect on free-ranging dogs’ point following behaviour.
Differences in pet dogs’ and captive wolves’ ability to follow human communicative intents have led to the proposition of several hypotheses regarding the possession and development of social cognitive skills in dogs. It is possible that the social cognitive abilities of pet dogs are induced by indirect conditioning through living with humans, and...
Experimenter 2 standing in a neutral posture in control condition.
(PDF)
Sample sizes used for the three age categories in the experiment for test and control conditions.
(PDF)
Age wise sample size of pups used for test and control experiments.
(PDF)
Pointing gesture using an adult individual.
(MP4)
Effect of frequency of gaze alternation on pup’s point-following behaviour.
(PDF)
Practice of calling out free-ranging dogs in India.
(MP4)
Why kneel down posture was not used?
(PDF)
Cox proportional hazards test.
(PDF)
Experimenter 2 pointing randomly at a bowl with one of the adult individuals.
(PDF)
Bar graph showing proportion of pups that followed and did not follow pointing cues over the range of 4th week– 8th weeks.
No significant variation was found for point-following behaviour of pups during the age range (Goodness of fit, p = 0.405). Black bars indicate pups that followed point and grey bars indicate pups that did not follow the pointi...
Dogs ( Canis lupus familiaris ) are the first species to have been domesticated, and unlike other domesticated species, they have developed a special bonding with their owners. The ability to respond to human gestures and language is a key factor in the socio-cognitive abilities of dogs that have made them our best friend. Free-ranging dogs provide...
Past research has suggested that a variety of factors, phylogenetic and ontogenetic, play a role in how canines behave during problem-solving tasks and the degree to which the presence of a human influences their problem-solving behaviour. While comparisons between socialized wolves and domestic dogs have commonly been used to tease apart these pre...
Domestic dogs' (Canis lupus familiaris) socio-cognitive faculties have made them highly sensitive to human social cues. While dogs often excel at understanding human communicative gestures, they perform comparatively poorly in problem-solving and physical reasoning tasks. This difference in their behaviour could be due to the lifestyle and intense...
Animals that scavenge in and around human settlements need to utilise a broad range of resources, and thus generalist scavengers are likely to be better adapted to human-dominated habitats. In India, free-ranging dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) live in close proximity with humans in diverse habitats, from forest fringes to metropolises, and are heavi...
Animals that scavenge in and around human settlements need to utilise a broad range of resources, and thus generalist scavengers are likely to be better adapted to human-dominated habitats. In India, free-ranging dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) live in close proximity with humans in diverse habitats, from forest fringes to metropolises, and are heavi...
We have studied the problem solving behaviour of Indian free ranging dogs in varied difficulty levels of a solvable task.
Canids display a wide diversity of social systems, from solitary to pairs to
packs, and hence they have been extensively used as model systems to understand
social dynamics in natural systems. Among canids, the dog can show various
levels of social organization due to the influence of humans on their lives.
Though the dog is known as man's best fri...
Animals that scavenge in and around human localities need to utilize a
broad range of resources. Preference for any one kind of food, under
such circumstances, might be inefficient. Indian free-ranging dogs,
Canis lupus familiaris are scavengers that are heavily dependent on
humans for sustaining their omnivorous diet. The current study suggests
th...
Questions
Questions (8)
Here my focus is to measure proximity (of group members) of free-roaming animals while resting. I collected data using instantaneous scans and now want to see the effects of seasons, human habitat, group size, sexes, and dominance-ranks on proximity. Interestingly, I have observed different clusters in same groups (for example, XYZ rest together and ABS rest together). What would be best way to analyze the data? (unfortunately, I don't have data on relatedness of the individuals).
I have google my map data (locations) of individuals and available resources. I have recorded the data in two different layers (Individuals and Resources). The format is KML. Now I want to import the data in QGIS and perform stats to understand the distribution. What would be the best way to estimate ? A sample figure has been attached where the pink dots represent individuals and the green dots represent available resources. Here I want to check the distribution of the individuals with respect to the resources available (may be standardize a specific distance, e.g -1unit)
I am interested in comparing the overall body and head size of free-ranging mammals from different geographic locations. Since they are free-ranging, touching them or taking measurements with tapes are not feasible all the time.
I have GPS data of individuals/ groups for the purpose of calculating home range. I want to use LoCoH for the calculation rather than using the simple MCP method.
I have got a significant result in Kruskal-Wallis test, but while doing pairwise comparisons with Bonferroni correction, I am getting non-significant results. Since I am aware about the direction of the data from Kruskal-Wallis, should I consider one-tailed Mann Whitney U tests post-hoc ?
I am using GLMM to examine the effects of the predictors. I had initially two predictors. The interaction of the predictors is giving non - significant result. Removing the interaction and one of the predictors (only one predictor is now present) is giving significant result. To select the best model, where should I emphasize the most? AIC, BIC, P- values? ANOVA result between the three models is also not significant.
I have considered a particular response from sample sets of two populations. Now I have the proportions. Except for Two Proportion Z Test, what test should I use? The sample sizes are above 100 for both the populations.
I want to check the scavenging efficiency of free ranging dogs at different micro-habitat levels. This involves looking at their foraging and scavenging behaviour in their natural habitat which is mostly urban in my research. To signify a habitat for its resource availability, I am planning to provide a richness score to it. Can anyone tell me what should be the exhaustive factors should I consider?
