Laura Teresa HernandezUniversidad Veracruzana | UV · Instituto de Neuroetología
Laura Teresa Hernandez
Prof. Dr.
About
68
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Introduction
Additional affiliations
January 2008 - December 2012
Linköping University
January 2003 - December 2007
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
January 2000 - present
Publications
Publications (68)
Senses form the interface between animals and environments, and provide a window into the ecology of past and present species. However, research on sensory behaviours by wild frugivores is sparse. Here, we examine fruit assessment by three sympatric primates ( Alouatta palliata , Ateles geoffroyi and Cebus imitator ) to test the hypothesis that die...
We assessed two aspects of numerical cognition in a group of nine captive spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi). Petri dishes with varying amounts of food were used to assess relative quantity discrimination, and boxes fitted with dotted cards were used to assess discrete number discrimination with equally-sized dots and various-sized dots, respectivel...
There is extensive knowledge about the visual system and the implications of the evolution of trichromatic color vision in howler monkeys (genus Alouatta) related to food selection; however, information about the other sensory systems is limited. In this study we assessed the use of touch, sniffing, and taste in fruit evaluation by 20 adult mantled...
The forgetting curve is a phenomenon in which animals fail to retrieve information about an event as time passes. We tested this effect in spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) in a task where they had to retrieve a reward hidden in a container after a delay. We combined different delays (0, 5, 10, 20, and 30 s) and different numbers of containers in w...
Recognition memory is an ability that allows animals to respond differentially to stimuli, individuals, or situations experienced in the past and plays an important role in foraging and social behavior. We tested the ability of black-handed spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) to remember and recognize visual stimuli that belong to 6 categories. Seven...
Taste-induced facial expressions are thought to reflect the hedonic valence of an animal’s gustatory experience. We therefore assessed taste-induced facial responses in six black-handed spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) to water, sucrose, caffeine, citric acid and aspartame, representing the taste qualities sweet, bitter, and sour, respectively. We...
Using a two-bottle choice test of short duration, we determined taste preference thresholds for eight substances tasting sweet to humans in three chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and four black-handed spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi). We found that the chimpanzees significantly preferred concentrations as low as 100-500 mM galactose, 250 mM sorbitol,...
Birdsongs are signals that encode information for multiple behaviours such as species recognition. Species recognition is influenced by both geographical variation in song and birds' discrimination abilities, forming the basis for evolutionary processes driving reproductive isolation and speciation. Here, we assessed the behavioural responses to ge...
Vertebrate's stress response plays a significant role in helping individuals adapt to changing environments. One of the most challenging stages in female turtles' life cycle is during oviposition, especially when the turtles' nest during the daytime and have to face massive nesting events (arribadas), limited space on the beach, and high temperatur...
The artificial sweetener isomalt is widely used due to its low caloric, non-diabetogenic and non-cariogenic properties. Although the sweetening potency of isomalt has been reported to be lower than that of sucrose, no data on the sensitivity of humans for this polyol are available. Using an up-down, two-alternative forced choice staircase procedure...
Temporal Weighting Rule (TWR) is a mathematical model used to predict foraging decisions based firstly on recency and secondly on the quality of a patch (amount of food). The objective of this study was to investigate whether those variables modulate the decisions of spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) using a foraging task. Sixteen adult individuals...
Despite that snakes lack outer traces of an auditory system, they respond to acoustic stimuli in the air, in terrestrial substrates and in water, through a functioning cochlea and a somatic system. In reptiles, the use of vibrations has been primarily associated with communication among individuals. However, vibrations also can be a useful mechanis...
Howler monkeys (platyrrhini) have evolved routine trichromatic color vision independently from catarrhines, which presents an opportunity to test hypotheses concerning the adaptive value of distinguishing reddish from greenish hues. A longstanding hypothesis posits that trichromacy aids in the efficient detection of reddish‐ripe fruits, which could...
Predation is one of the main interactions between organisms and one of the primary selective agents for their survival. Both prey and predators have developed different strategies and characteristics that allow them to be conspicuous or go undetected. In sit and wait predators, their shape and appearance are important factors that allow them to rem...
Recent studies suggest that frugivorous primates might display a preference for the ethanol produced by microbia in overripe, fermenting fruit as an additional source of calories. We, therefore, assessed the taste responsiveness of 8 spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) to the range of ethanol concentrations found in overripe, fermenting fruit (0.05-3...
Using operant conditioning procedures, we assessed the olfactory sensitivity of six CD-1 mice and three spider monkeys for mold-associated odorants. We found that with all eight stimuli, the mice detected concentrations as low as 0.1 ppm (parts per million), and with two of them individual animals even detected concentrations as low as 1 ppt (parts...
Many animals use body coloration as a strategy to communicate with conspecifics, prey, and predators. Color is a trade-off for some species, since they should be visible to conspecifics but cryptic to predators and prey. Some flower-dwelling predators, such as crab spiders, are capable of choosing the color of flowers where they ambush flower visit...
Spider monkeys are interesting to study with regard to hand preferences, as they are one of the few primate species that lack a thumb and, thus, are unable to perform a precision grip. Further, being platyrrhine primates, they also largely lack independent motor control of the digits and, thus, have only limited manual dexterity. It was therefore t...
Climatic fluctuations have a biogeochemical effect on food availability and quality, resulting in adjustments of the foraging and food selection behavior of animals. Our study aimed to evaluate the influence of seasonal variation on abundance of food resources and its effect on food selection of Xerospermophilus perotensis, an endemic species of gr...
Dietary tannins can affect protein digestion and absorption, be toxic, and influence food selection by being astringent and bitter tasting. Animals that usually ingest tannins may regularly secrete tannin-binding salivary proteins (TBSPs) to counteract the negative effects of tannins or TBSPs production can be induced by a tannin-rich diet. In the...
Climatic fluctuations have a biogeochemical effect on food availability and quality, resulting in adjustments of the foraging and food selection behavior of animals. Our study aimed to evaluate the influence of seasonal variation on abundance of food resources and its effect on food selection of Xerospermophilus perotensis, an endemic species of gr...
Las salamandras de la familia Plethodontidae, ante las presiones de depredación, han tenido que desarrollar diversas estrategias para reducir la probabilidad de un ataque. Las pistas químicas tienen un papel importante en las interacciones depredador-presa. En las salamandras existen dos subsistemas con la capacidad para detectar químicos, el siste...
Las salamandras de la familia Plethodontidae, ante las presiones de depredación, han tenido que desarrollar diversas estrategias para reducir la probabilidad de un ataque. Las pistas químicas tienen un papel importante en las interacciones depredador-presa. En las salamandras existen dos subsistemas con la capacidad para detectar químicos, el siste...
Primates have been found to differ widely in their taste perception and studies suggest that a co-evolution between plant species bearing a certain taste substance and primate species feeding on these plants may contribute to such between-species differences. Considering that only platyrrhine primates, but not catarrhine or prosimian primates, shar...
Dietary tannins are ubiquitous in woody plants and may have serious negative effects on herbivores by inducing a loss of dietary protein and producing toxins if they are hydrolyzed in the gut. Many herbivorous mammals counter the negative effects of tannins through tannin-binding salivary proteins (TBSPs) that inactivate tannins by forming insolubl...
Primates are now known to possess well-developed olfactory sensitivity and discrimination capacities that can play a substantial role in many aspects of their interaction with conspecifics and the environment. Several studies have demonstrated that olfactory cues may be useful in fruit selection. Here, using a conditioning paradigm, we show that ca...
Ourknowledgeabouttheperceptualworldofhowlermonkeysisunevenly distributed between the five senses. Whereas there is abundant knowledge about the sense of vision in the genus Alouatta, only limited data on the senses of hearing, smell, taste, and touch are available. The discovery that howler monkeys are the only genus among the New World primates to...
Aliphatic ketones are widely present in body-borne and food odors of primates. Therefore, we used an operant conditioning paradigm and determined olfactory detection thresholds in four spider monkeys for a homologous series of aliphatic 2-ketones (2-butanone to 2-nonanone) and two of their isomers (3- and 4-heptanone). We found that, with the excep...
The view that primates have a poorly developed sense of smell, is mainly based on an interpretation of neuroanatomical and recent genetic findings and not on behavioral or physiological evidence. This chapter summarizes the current knowledge about the anatomy, physiology, genetics, and behavior concerning the sense of smell in nonhuman primates. Me...
Our aim was to evaluate the role of sucrose and the role of smell, taste and touch in the selection and consumption of fruit in wild spider monkeys. We recorded the feeding bouts of 14 adults for 9 mo in the Otoch Ma’ax Yetel Kooh Reserve, Punta Laguna, Yucatan, Mexico. For each of 2346 inspections on fruits of six species the consumption or reject...
Hace más de un siglo un hombre llamado Ernest Thompson Seton consideró por primera vez la necesidad de medir cuantitativamente el espacio que un organismo utiliza de manera cotidiana. La finalidad de E. T. Seton no era de índole ecológica, sino la de capturar un lobo en Nuevo México, al sur de Estados Unidos. Consiguió atraparlo en 1883 y después d...
Using a conditioning paradigm, we assessed the olfactory sensitivity of six CD-1 mice (Mus musculus) for six sulfur-containing odorants known to be components of the odors of natural predators of the mouse. With all six odorants, the mice discriminated concentrations <0.1 ppm (parts per million) from the solvent, and with five of the six odorants t...
Mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) occupy a wide variety of tropical habitats and are the most folivorous of New World primates. However, their diet may include fruits, buds, petioles, and flowers, as well as leaves, suggesting they must cope with variations in the nutrient composition of their food. We studied the physiological basis of th...
Chemistry values in a semi-free population of white-nosed coatis (Nasua narica) in La Venta Tabasco, Mexico. Acta Zoológica Mexicana (n. s.), 28(2): 391-400. ABSTRACT. Clinical analyses of Procyonidae groups are extremely limited. The aim of this work was to obtain gender baseline data on the blood chemistry and hematological values of Nasua narica...
Clinical analyses of Procyonidae groups are extremely limited. The aim of this work was to obtain gender baseline data on the blood chemistry and hematological values of Nasua narica, in conditions of semi-freedom. For this, 14 males adults and 30 females adults were sedated with ketamine hydrochloride and captured. The blood was collected from the...
We studied the interaction between the plant Cnidoscolus multilobus, its floral visitors and the predator spider Peucetia viridans. The diet of P. viridans was composed exclusively of arthropods (spiders 32%, insects 68%). Body length of prey was 5.9 ± 1.0 mm, and prey size range was 11.0 ± 0.4 mm (i.e. 0.14-1.3 times larger than the spider). Based...
12 La percepción química (quimiopercepción) es la capacidad que tienen los organismos de detectar y di-ferenciar sustancias químicas existentes en el medio circundante. Los mensajes olfativos tienen la ventaja de que son detectables en la oscuridad, pueden atrave-sar barreras físicas, no necesitan que el individuo esté presente sino que puede dejar...
Estudiamos la interacción entre la planta Cnidoscolus multilobus, sus visitantes florales y
la araña depredadora Peucetia viridans. La dieta de P. viridans estuvo compuesta exclusivamente
por artrópodos (arañas 32%, insectos 68%). El tamaño del cuerpo de las presas fue de 5.9 ± 1.0 mm, y el ámbito de las presas fue de 11.0 ± 0.4 mm (i.e. 0.14-1.3 m...
cómoves? 30 Imagina por un momento que como los borregos, las vacas, los monos aulladores y los koalas, pudiéramos consumir pas-tos, arbustos o las hojas de los árboles. Cuando el hambre aprieta, no tendría-mos más que salir del salón de clases o de la oficina y dirigirnos hacia un árbol o una jardinera, tomar un puñado de hojas y comérnoslas a man...
Using a conditioning paradigm, the olfactory sensitivity of five CD-1 mice for the L- and D-forms of cysteine, methionine, and proline was investigated. With all six stimuli, the animals discriminated concentrations ≤ 0.1 ppm (parts per million) from the odorless solvent, and with three of the six stimuli the best-scoring animals were even able to...
Using a three-alternative forced-choice ascending staircase procedure, we determined olfactory detection thresholds in 20 human subjects for seven aromatic aldehydes and compared them to those of four spider monkeys tested in parallel using an operant conditioning paradigm. With all seven odorants, both species detected concentrations <1 ppm, and w...
Gustatory responsiveness of six adult squirrel monkeys, four spider monkeys, and five pigtail macaques to six bitter tastants
was assessed in two-bottle preference tests of brief duration (2min). Animals were given the choice between a 30-mM sucrose
solution and defined concentrations of a bitter tastant dissolved in a 30-mM sucrose solution. With...
Using a conditioning paradigm, the olfactory sensitivity of four CD-1 mice for six alkylpyrazines was investigated. With all six stimuli, the animals discriminated concentrations <or=0.1 ppm (parts per million) from the odorless solvent, and with three of the six stimuli the animals were even able to detect concentrations <or=0.1 ppb (parts per bil...
The purpose of this study was to determine taste difference thresholds for monosodium glutamate (MSG) and sodium chloride (NaCl) in pigtail macaques (Macaca nemestrina) and spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi). Using a two-bottle preference test of brief duration, three animals of each species were presented with four different reference concentration...
There continue to remain uncertainty concerning the nutritional importance of figs (Ficus spp.) in the primate diet. Although studies have been performed on the nutritional analysis of fig pulp and seed fractions separately, there has not been an attempt to quantify the contribution of animal matter within figs. Here we report nutritional values of...
Using a conditioning paradigm, the olfactory sensitivity of four spider monkeys, three squirrel monkeys and three pigtail macaques to four thiols and two indols, substances characteristic of putrefaction processes and faecal odours, was assessed. With all odorants, the animals significantly discriminated concentrations below 1 p.p.m. (part per mill...
During 250 h of observation, a total of 20 episodes of self-anointing, that is, the application of scent-bearing material onto the body, were recorded in a group of free-ranging Mexican spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi). The animals used the leaves of three species of plants (Brongniartia alamosana, Fabaceae; Cecropia obtusifolia, Cecropiaceae; and...
In humans, the volatile C19-steroids androsta-4,16-dien-3-one (AND) and estra-1,3,5(10),16-tetraen-3-ol (EST) have been shown to modulate autonomic nervous system responses, and to cause hypothalamic activation in a gender-specific manner. Using two conditioning paradigms, the authors here show that pigtail macaques and squirrel monkeys of both sex...
Using a conditioning paradigm, the olfactory sensitivity of five spider monkeys for homologous series of aliphatic 1-alcohols (1-propanol to 1-octanol) and n-aldehydes (n-butanal to n-nonanal) was investigated. With the exception of 1-propanol, the animals significantly discriminated concentrations below 1 ppm from the odorless solvent, and in seve...
Social communication by means of odor signals is widespread among mammals. In pigs, for example, the C19-steroids 5-alpha-androst-16-en-3-one and 5-alpha-androst-16-en-3-ol are secreted by the boar and induce the mating stance in the sow. In humans, the same substances have been shown to be compounds of body odor and are presumed to affect human be...
2,4,5-trimethylthiazoline (TMT) is a volatile component of the anal gland secretion of the red fox and elicits behavioral and physiological fear responses in the rat. Using instrumental conditioning paradigms, we determined olfactory detection thresholds for TMT in three rats, a natural prey species of the red fox, and compared their performance to...
The taste responsiveness of six squirrel monkeys, five pigtail macaques, four olive baboons and four spider monkeys to monsodium glutamate (MSG) and to sodium chloride was assessed in two-bottle preference tests of brief duration (2 min). When given the choice between tap water and defined concentrations of the two tastants dissolved in tap water,...
Using a conditioning paradigm, the olfactory sensitivity of four spider monkeys and four pigtail macaques for a homologous series of carboxylic acids (n-propionic acid to n-heptanoic acid) was investigated. With only few exceptions, the animals of both species significantly discriminated concentrations <1 p.p.m. from the odorless solvent and in sev...
Using a conditioning paradigm, the authors investigated the olfactory sensitivity of 3 spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) for a homologous series of aliphatic esters (ethyl acetate to n-octyl acetate) and isomeric forms of some of these substances. With all odorants, the monkeys significantly discriminated concentrations below 1 ppm from the odorles...
The taste of most fruits is characterized by a mixture of sensations termed sweet and sour by humans, and the food selection behavior of primates suggests that they may use the relative salience of sweetness and sourness to assess palatability of potential food items. Therefore, taste responses of six squirrel monkeys, five pigtail macaques, four o...
The present study demonstrates that an operant conditioning paradigm-originally designed for assessing olfactory performance in an Old World primate, the pigtail macaque-can successfully be adapted for use with a New World primate, the spider monkey. Using a task based on a food-rewarded, two-choice discrimination of simultaneously presented odor s...
We analysed the selection of tree species consumed by an isolated troop of Mexican howler monkeys (Alouatta
palliata
mexicana) released in a translocation programme on Agaltepec Island, in Catemaco Lake, Veracruz, Mexico. During November 1989–December 1996, howlers used 36 of the 63 tree species present on the island as food. Selection ratios indic...
The taste responsiveness of six squirrel monkeys, five pigtail macaques, four olive baboons, and four spider monkeys to polycose, a starch-derived polysaccharide, was assessed in two-bottle preference tests of brief duration (2 min). In experiment 1, the monkeys were given the choice between tap water and defined concentrations of polycose dissolve...
The gustatory responsiveness of four adult spider monkeys to five food-associated acids was assessed in two-bottle preference
tests of brief duration (3 min). The animals were given the choice between a 30 mM sucrose solution and defined concentrations
of citric acid, ascorbic acid, malic acid, acetic acid, or tannic acid dissolved in a 30 mM sucro...
We assessed the occurrence of food preferences in captive spider monkeys and analyzed whether their preferences correlate with nutrient composition. Using a two-alternative choice test, we repeatedly presented 7 Ateles geoffroyi with all possible binary combinations of 12 types of food that are part of their diet in captivity. They exhibited the fo...
Projects
Projects (3)
- Conocer aspectos de distribución, anidación, salud, estrés y conducta de las diferentes especies de tortugas marinas que ocurren en México.
Una especie indicadora es un organismo cuya presencia, ausencia o abundancia refleja una condición ambiental específica. Las especies indicadoras pueden ser señal de un cambio en la condición biológica de un ecosistema en particular, y por lo tanto pueden ser utilizadas como un puente para diagnosticar la salud de un ecosistema. Se trata, generalmente, de especies mayores o predadores, quienes se encuentran en el tope de las cadenas alimenticias. Para el Parque Arrecifal podrían actuar como especies indicadoras de la dinámica trófica y de los impactos que tienen las actividades humanas sobre el ecosistema tres grupos marinos de gran importancia: Tiburones, tortugas y delfines.