title: Visual lateralization in wild striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) in response to stimuli with different degrees of familiarity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Apart from findings on both functional and motor asymmetries in captive aquatic mammals, only few studies have focused on lateralized behaviour of these species in the wild.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study we focused on lateralized visual behaviour by presenting wild striped dolphins with objects of different degrees of familiarity (fish, ball, toy). Surveys were conducted in the Gulf of Taranto, the northern Ionian Sea portion delimited by the Italian regions of Calabria, Basilicata and Apulia. After sighting striped dolphins from a research vessel, different stimuli were presented in a random order by a telescopic bar connected to the prow of the boat. The preferential use of the right/left monocular viewing during inspection of the stimuli was analysed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results clearly showed a monocular viewing preference with respect to the type of the stimulus employed. Due to the complete decussation of the optical nerves in dolphin brain our results reflected a different specialization of brain hemispheres for visual scanning processes confirming that in this species different stimuli evoked different patterns of eye use. A preferential use of the right eye (left hemisphere) during visual inspection of unfamiliar targets was observed supporting the hypothesis that, in dolphins, the organization of the functional neural structures which reflected cerebral asymmetries for visual object recognition could have been subjected to a deviation from the evolutionary line of most terrestrial vertebrates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Production, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy. m.siniscalchi@veterinaria.uniba.it
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Siniscalchi
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dimatteo
authors.forename: Anna Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Pepe
authors.forename: Raffaella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sasso
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Quaranta
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000502:physiology*; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D007558:Italy; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D050706:Stenella / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*