Refinement Database

Database on Refinement of Housing, Husbandry, Care, and Use of Animals in Research

This database, created in 2000, is updated every four months with newly published scientific articles, books, and other publications related to improving or safeguarding the welfare of animals used in research.

Tips for using the database:

  • This landing page displays all of the publications in the database.
  • Use the drop-down menus to filter these publications by Animal Type, Setting, and/or Topic.
  • Clicking on a parent category (e.g., Rodent) will include publications relating to all the items in that category (e.g., Chinchilla, Gerbil, Guinea Pig, etc.).
  • You may also add a keyword to further narrow your search.
  • Please note that at this time, only publications dated 2010 or later (with some exceptions) can be filtered by Animal Type and Topic, and only publications dated 2020 or later (with some exceptions) can be filtered by Setting. Most publications older than 2010 can only be searched by keyword. 
Stephen, R. D. 1972. A record of a friendship between a baboon and a guinea-pig . Eastern Cape Naturalist 46, 12.
Missakian, E. A. 1972. Effects of adult social experience on patterns of reproductive activity of socially deprived male rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 21(1), 131-134.

The three [single-caged, socially deprived] male subjects represented examples of severely disturbed animals as witnessed by rates of stereotyped behavior (self-aggression, stereotyped locomotion). The problem under investigation involved the extent to which social group experience...

Mason, J. W., Mougey, E. H. 1972. Thyroid (plasma BEI) response to chair restraint in the monkey. Psychosomatic Medicine 34, 441-448.

Study of 14 of these monkeys throughout a longer period of 8 weeks of chair restraint indicated that ... mean BEI [butanol extractable iodine] levels remained significantly elevated through the third week. ... Acute emotional...

Martinez, J. L. 1972. Effects of selected illumination levels on circadian periodicity in the rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta). Journal of Interdisciplinary Cycle Research 3, 47-59.

It was demonstrated that activity of caged rhesus macaques inceases as a function of light intensity (illumination).

Mason, J. W. 1972. Corticosteroid response to chair restraint in the monkey. American Journal of Physiology 222, 1291-1294.

These experiments indicate clearly that placement in the restraining chair represents a potent stimulus to the pituitary-adrenal cortical system. Animals who were restrained in an unfamiliar environment showed significantly higher urinary cortisol levels than animals...

Schaller, G. B. 1972. The Serengeti Lion. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois.
Rosenzweig, M. R., Bennett, E. L., Diamond, M. C. 1972. Chemical and anatomical plasticity of brain: Replication and extensions. In: Macromolecules and Behavior (2nd Edition). Gaito, J. (ed), 205-278. Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York, NY.

Single-caged rats eat more than group-housed animals kept in enriched cages.

Manosevitz, M., Montemayor, R. J. 1972. Interaction of environmental enrichment and genotype. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 79, 67-76.

Assessed the effects of exposure to an enriched environment, from birth-38 days of age, using 3 behavioral tests: open field, exploration, and running wheels. 144 inbred mice from 3 strains (A/J, C3H/HeJ, and C57BL/10J) were...

Lynch, C. H., Hegmann, J. P. 1972. Genetic differences influencing behavioural temperature regulation in small mammals: I. Nesting by Mus musculus. Behavior Genetics 2, 43-53.

When nest material is placed on the cage lid, mice will readily pull it into the cage and build a nest.

Long, S. Y. 1972. Hair-nibbling and whisker-trimming as indicators of social hierarchy in mice. Animal Behaviour 20, 10-12.

Barbering is a common abnormal behavior in laboratory mice. Alopecia and loss of facial hair, as well as loss of vibrissae, seem to be a physical indiaction of social dominance.

Lee, C. T. 1972. The development of nest-building behaviour in inbred mice. Journal of General Psychology 87, 13-21.

Both, females and males will build nests when they have access to appropriate nesting material.

Kruuk, H. 1972. The Spotted Hyena. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois.
Klingel, H. 1972. Das Verhalten der Pferde (Equidae). Handbuch der Zoologie 8(10), 1-68.
Hughes, B. O., Duncan, I. J. H. 1972. The influence of strain and environmental factors upon feather pecking and cannibalism in fowls. British Poultry Science 13, 525-547.

Feather pecking occurs much more often when chicken are kept on wire floor rather then litter which allows the hens to peck up additional food particles.

Fox, M. W. 1972. Understanding Your Dog. Coward, McGann and Geoghegan, New York, NY.

Social rearing of puppies is the most effective means of ensuring appropriate social behavior as adults.

Duncan, I. J. H., Hughes, B. O. 1972. Free and operant feeding in domestic fowls. Animal Behaviour 20, 775-777.

Chicken will work for food in the presence of free identical food. It is interesting that we failed to note any clear influence exerted by hunger motivation.

Doty, B. A. 1972. The effects of cage environment upon avoidance responding in aged rats. Journal of Gerontology 27, 358-360.

The beneficial effects of environmental enrichment are not restricted to a brief cricial period in development. Positive effects occur also in rats aged 300 days when first placed in an enriched environment.

Diamond, M. C., Rosenzweig, M. R., Bennett, E. L. et al. 1972. Effects of environmental enrichment and impoverishment on rat cerebral cortex. Journal of Neurobiology 3, 47-64.

The first part of this paper deals with rat brain anatomy as affected by variations of starting age and of duration of exposure to enriched (complex) or impoverished (restricted) environmental conditions. Cerebral cortical depth measurements...

Blakley, G. A., Morton, W. R., Smith, O. A. 1972. Husbandry and breeding of Macaca nemestrina. In: Medical Primatology 1972, Part I. Goldsmith, E. I. , Moor-Jankowski, J. (eds), 61-72. Karger, Basel, Switzerland.

Infants are generally [artificially] weaned at 100-120 days of age, provided that they weigh at least 1 kg.

Baer, H. 1971. Long-term isolation stress and its effects on drug response in rodents. Laboratory Animal Science 21, 341-349.

This review of the literature has illustrated that isolation stress, especially long-term isolation stress in rats and mice, can affect the growth, behavior, physiological condition, and response to a wide variety of drugs. ... Isolation...

Suomi, S. J. 1971. Experimental Production of Depressive Behavior in Young Monkeys. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.

Experimentation with therapeutic agents and techniques utilizing human patients is seriously hampered by lack of experimental control and sound ethical constraints. No such problems exist for the monkey researcher. (p. 131)

Seaman, W. B. 1971. The case of the missing hair. Hospital Practice 6(9), 146-147.

A 14-year old emotionally disturbed but otherwise asymptomatic girl was noted to have multiple bald spots on her head. Her parents had observed the patient pulling out her hair but denied seeing her swallowing it...

Mulder, J. B. 1971. Animal behavior and electromagnetic energy waves. Laboratory Animal Science 21, 389-393.

Every effort should be made to keep lighting of the same color, intensity, and day length for laboratory animal breeding and housing, thus avoiding added environmental variables to investigations.

Lindburg, D. G. 1971. The rhesus monkey in North India: an ecological and behavioral study. In: Primate Behavior: Developments in Field and Laboratory Research, Volume 2. Rosenblum, L. A. (ed), 1-106. Academic Press, New York, NY.

Excellent overview of the species-typical behavior of wild rhesus macaques. Reproduction rate was 90% in wild rhesus troops [in which infants stayed with their mothers beyond the age of natural weaning]. Animals spent the night...

Eibl-Eibesfeldt, I. 1971. Love and Hate - The Natural History of Behavior Patterns. Methuen, London, UK.