Scott Lauren, Florkiewicz Brittany N
School of Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, KS, USA.
Department of Psychology, Lyon College, Batesville, AR, USA.
Behav Processes. 2023 Nov;213:104959. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2023.104959. Epub 2023 Oct 18.
Lately, there has been a growing interest in studying domestic cat facial signals, but most of this research has centered on signals produced during human-cat interactions or pain. The available research on intraspecific facial signaling with domesticated cats has largely focused on non-affiliative social interactions. However, the transition to intraspecific sociality through domestication could have resulted in a greater reliance on affiliative facial signals that aid with social bonding. Our study aimed to document the various facial signals that cats produce during affiliative and non-affiliative intraspecific interactions. Given the close relationship between the physical form and social function of mammalian facial signals, we predicted that affiliative and non-affiliative facial signals would have noticeable differences in their physical morphology. We observed the behavior of 53 adult domestic shorthair cats at CatCafé Lounge in Los Angeles, CA. Using Facial Action Coding Systems designed for cats, we compared the complexity and compositionality of facial signals produced in affiliative and non-affiliative contexts. To measure complexity and compositionality, we examined the number and types of facial muscle movements (AUs) observed in each signal. We found that compositionality, rather than complexity, was significantly associated with the social function of intraspecific facial signals. Our findings indicate that domestication likely had a significant impact on the development of intraspecific facial signaling repertoires in cats.
最近，人们对研究家猫的面部信号越来越感兴趣，但大部分此类研究都集中在人猫互动或疼痛时产生的信号上。关于家猫种内面部信号的现有研究主要集中在非亲和性社会互动上。然而，通过驯化向种内社会性的转变可能导致对有助于社会联结的亲和性面部信号的更大依赖。我们的研究旨在记录猫在亲和性和非亲和性种内互动中产生的各种面部信号。鉴于哺乳动物面部信号的物理形式和社会功能之间的密切关系，我们预测亲和性和非亲和性面部信号在其物理形态上会有明显差异。我们观察了加利福尼亚州洛杉矶市猫咪咖啡馆酒廊里53只成年家养短毛猫的行为。使用为猫设计的面部动作编码系统，我们比较了在亲和性和非亲和性情境中产生的面部信号的复杂性和组合性。为了测量复杂性和组合性，我们检查了每个信号中观察到的面部肌肉运动（动作单元）的数量和类型。我们发现，组合性而非复杂性与种内面部信号的社会功能显著相关。我们的研究结果表明，驯化可能对猫种内面部信号库的发展产生了重大影响。
