Colbert, Debborah E.

7 publications

Colbert, Debborah E.; Bauer, Gordon Bruce (detail)
1999	Basic husbandry training of two West Indian manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris). Soundings 24: 18-21. —

Colbert, Debborah E.; Fellner, Wendi; Bauer, Gordon Bruce; Manire, Charles A.; Rhinehart, Howard L. (detail)
2001	Husbandry and research training of two Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris). Aquatic Mammals 27(1): 16-23. —

Manire, Charles A.; Walsh, Catherine J.; Rhinehart, Howard L.; Colbert, Debborah E.; Noyes, David R.; Luer, Carl A. (detail)
2003	Alterations in blood and urine parameters in two Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) from simulated conditions of release following rehabilitation. Zoo Biology 22(2): 103-120. —

Bauer, Gordon Bruce; Colbert, Debborah E.; Gaspard, Joseph C., III; Littlefield, B.; Fellner, Wendi (detail)
2003	Underwater visual acuity of Florida manatees. Intl. Jour. Comp. Psychol. 16: 130-142. —

Mann, David A.; Colbert, Debborah E.; Gaspard, Joseph C., III; Casper, Brandon M.; Cook, Mandy L. H.; Reep, Roger Lyons; Bauer, Gordon Bruce (detail)
2005	Temporal resolution of the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) auditory system. Jour. Comp. Physiol. A, Sensory, Neural & Behav. Physiol. 191(10): 903-908. —

Colbert, Debborah E.; Gaspard, Joseph C., III; Reep, Roger Lyons; Mann, David A.; Bauer, Gordon Bruce (detail)
2009	Four-choice sound localization abilities of two Florida manatees, Trichechus manatus latirostris. Jour. Exper. Biol. 212(13): 2105-2112. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.089227. —

Bauer, Gordon B.; Gaspard, Joseph C., III; Colbert, Debborah E.; Leach , Jennifer B.; Stamper , Sarah A.; Mann, David; Reep, Roger Lyons (detail)

2012

Tactile discrimination of textures by Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris).
Mar. Mamm. Sci. 28(4): E456-E471. 4 figs. DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2012.00565.x Oct. 2012 (first published online June 13, 2012).
—ABSTRACT: Two male Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) demonstrated sensitive tactile discrimination in a two-alternative forced choice task, using a modified staircase method. Stimuli were acrylic plates with vertical gratings of ridges and grooves. The standard stimulus, present on every trial, had 2 mm gratings and the comparison stimuli had wider gratings. The blindfolded subjects were trained to demonstrate discrimination by pressing the target with wider gratings. Discrimination thresholds (75% correct) for the subjects were 2.05 mm and 2.15 mm, corresponding to Weber fractions of 0.025 and 0.075, respectively. These results indicate thresholds on similar stimuli comparable to humans (index finger tasks) and better than harbor seals, Phoca vitulina, and the closely related Antillean manatee, Trichechus manatus manatus. Memory for the tactile task was quite stable for both subjects, over 2 yr in the case of one of the subjects. Video analysis of responses indicated that bristle-like hairs, perioral bristles, and skin on the oral disk were involved in the discrimination response.