Animal assisted interventions in practice: mapping Italian providers.

Animal assisted interventions (AAI) have become increasingly popular in Western countries during the last fifty years, attracting a lot of attention both from the general public and the scientific community. In Italy, similarly to other countries, this evolution has been accompanied by the diffusion of associations delivering AAI. What is the current state of AAI in Italy? How many realities are dealing with AAI? What professionals and animals are involved? The results of the questionnaire here reported have the objective to answer these questions, outlining a snapshot of the distribution and the main features of AAI within Italian territory. According to the 208 respondents, the sector has seen a remarkable expansion over the last twenty years. AAI providers are located mainly in the North and Centre of the country, the majority of them are arranged in associations or AAI specialized centers and work mainly with dogs and equids in animal assisted activity (AAA) programs addressed to disabled people and children. The picture of the sector still appears fragmented in particular regarding team of professionals involved and their training; nonetheless, the recent set up of national guidelines by the Italian authorities has the objective of standardizing the field and defining best practices for each type of intervention.

Cryptic female preference for colorful males in guppies.

Cryptic female choice (CFC) refers to female-mediated processes occurring during or after copulation that result in biased sperm use in favor of preferred or compatible males. Despite recent empirical support for this hypothesis, evidence that CFC contributes towards the evolution of male body ornaments, in the same way that precopulatory female choice does, is currently lacking. Here, we tested the possibility that CFC selects for increased male attractiveness in the guppy Poecilia reticulata, a freshwater fish exhibiting internal fertilization. Specifically, we examined whether females are able to manipulate the number of sperm transferred or retained at copulation in favor of relatively attractive males. In support of this prediction, we found that following solicited copulations the number of sperm inseminated is influenced exclusively by the female's perception of relative male coloration, independent of any direct manipulation of males themselves. Because females prefer brightly colored males during precopulatory mate choice, our finding that colorful males are also favored as a consequence of enhanced insemination success indicates that cryptic female choice can reinforce precopulatory preferences for extravagant male ornaments.