Opening

Redmond, I. and Shoshani, J. (1987). Elephant natural history and the Kitum Cave elephants of Mount Elgon, Kenya. Elephant, 2(3), 46-66.

https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/elephant/vol2/iss3/7/

Welfare science and lifespan

Walker, M., Duggan, G., Roulston, N., Van Slack, A. and Mason, G. (2012). Negative affective states and their effects on morbidity, mortality and longevity. Animal Welfare, 21, 497-509.

Teng, K.T., Devleesschauwer, B., Maertens De Noordhout, C., et al. (2018). Welfare-Adjusted Life Years (WALY): a novel metric of animal welfare that combines the impacts of impaired welfare and abbreviated lifespan. PLOS One, 13(9), e0202580.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6135394/

Healthspan: self-selection

Rook, G.A.W. (2013). Regulation of the immune system by biodiversity from the natural environment: an ecosystem service essential to health. PNAS, 110(46), 18360–18367.

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1313731110

Hanski, I., von Hertzen, L., Fyhrquist, N., et al. (2012). Environmental biodiversity, human microbiota, and allergy are interrelated. PNAS, 109(21), 8334–8339.

Roslund, M.I., Puhakka, R., Nurminen, N., et al. (2022). Placebo-controlled double-blinded test of the biodiversity hypothesis of immune-mediated diseases: environmental microbial diversity elicits changes in cytokines and increase in T regulatory cells in young children. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 242, 113900.

Roslund, M.I., et al. (2024). Scoping review on soil microbiome and gut health: are soil microorganisms missing from the planetary health plate? People and Nature.

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pan3.10638

Healthspan: the heliosphere

Light and circadian entrainment

Wright, K.P., McHill, A.W., Birks, B.R., Griffin, B.R., Rusterholz, T. and Chinoy, E.D. (2013). Entrainment of the human circadian clock to the natural light–dark cycle. Current Biology, 23(16), 1554–1558.

Roenneberg, T. and Merrow, M. (2016). The circadian clock and human health. Current Biology, 26(10), R432–R443.

Light and mitochondrial function

Hamblin, M.R. and Liebert, A. (2022). Photobiomodulation therapy mechanisms beyond cytochrome c oxidase. Photobiomodulation, Photomedicine, and Laser Surgery, 40(2), 75–77.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1089/photob.2021.0119

Wang, X., Tian, F., Soni, S.S., Gonzalez-Lima, F. and Liu, H. (2016). Interplay between up-regulation of cytochrome-c-oxidase and hemoglobin oxygenation induced by near-infrared laser. Scientific Reports, 6, 30540.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4971496/

Vitamin D in dogs and cats

How, K.L., Hazewinkel, H.A.W. and Mol, J.A. (1994). Dietary vitamin D dependence of cat and dog due to inadequate cutaneous synthesis of vitamin D. General and Comparative Endocrinology, 96(1), 12–18.

Healthspan: self-selection and zoopharmacognosy

Rodriguez, E. and Wrangham, R.W. (1993). Zoopharmacognosy: the use of medicinal plants by animals. In Phytochemical Potential of Tropical Plants. Plenum Press.

Huffman, M.A. (1997). Current evidence for self-medication in primates: a multidisciplinary perspective. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 40, 171–200.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(1997)25+%3C171::AID-AJPA7%3E3.0.CO;2-7

Huffman, M.A. and Seifu, M. (1989). Observations on the illness and consumption of a possibly medicinal plant Vernonia amygdalina by a wild chimpanzee in the Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania. Primates, 30(1), 51-63.

Huffman, M.A. (1997). Current evidence for self-medication in primates: a multidisciplinary perspective. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 40, 171-200.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(1997)25+%3C171::AID-AJPA7%3E3.0.CO;2-7

Provenza, F.D., Burritt, E.A., Perevolotsky, A. and Silanikove, N. (2000). Self-regulation of intake of polyethylene glycol by sheep fed diets varying in tannin concentrations. Journal of Animal Science, 78(5), 1206–1212.

https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/behave/69

Villalba, J.J., Provenza, F.D. and Shaw, R. (2006). Sheep self-medicate when challenged with illness-inducing foods. Animal Behaviour, 71(5), 1131-1139.

Joyspan: social environment

Snyder-Mackler, N., Sanz, J., Kohn, J.N., et al. (2016). Social status alters immune regulation and response to infection in macaques. Science, 354(6315), 1041-1045.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aah3580

Snyder-Mackler, N., Burger, J.R., Gaydosh, L., et al. (2020). Social determinants of health and survival in humans and other animals. Science, 368(6493), eaax9553.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32439765/

McCoy, B.M., Brassington, L., Jin, K., et al. (2023). Social determinants of health and disease in companion dogs: a cohort study from the Dog Aging Project. Evolution, Medicine and Public Health, 11(1), 187-201.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10306367/

Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T.B. and Layton, J.B. (2010). Social relationships and mortality risk: a meta-analytic review. PLOS Medicine, 7(7), e1000316.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2910600

Bertenshaw, C. and Rowlinson, P. (2009). Exploring stock managers' perceptions of the human-animal relationship on dairy farms and an association with milk production. Anthrozoos, 22(1), 59-69.

Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T.B. and Layton, J.B. (2010). Social relationships and mortality risk: a meta-analytic review. PLOS Medicine, 7(7), e1000316.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2910600

Keeper-animal relationships

Carlstead, K., Paris, S. and Brown, J.L. (2019). Good keeper–elephant relationships in North American zoos are mutually beneficial to welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 211, 103–111.

Carlstead, K. (2009). A comparative approach to the study of Keeper–Animal Relationships in the zoo. Zoo Biology, 28(6), 589–608.

Hemsworth, P.H. (2003). Human–animal interactions in livestock production. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 81(3), 185–198.

Sherwen, S.L. and Hemsworth, P.H. (2019). The visitor effect on zoo animals: implications and opportunities for zoo animal welfare. Animals, 9(6), 366.

Handling stress and diagnostic accuracy

Rand, J.S., Kinnaird, E., Baglioni, A., Blackshaw, J. and Priest, J. (2002). Acute stress hyperglycemia in cats is associated with struggling and increased concentrations of lactate and norepinephrine. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 16(2), 123–132.

Acierno, M.J., Brown, S., Coleman, A.E., et al. (2018). ACVIM consensus statement: guidelines for the identification, evaluation, and management of systemic hypertension in dogs and cats. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 32(6), 1803–1822.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6271319/

Nibblett, B.M., Ketzis, J.K. and Grigg, E.K. (2015). Comparison of stress exhibited by cats examined in a clinic versus a home setting. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 173, 68–75.

Lifespan

Urfer, S.R., Kaeberlein, T.L., Mailheau, S., et al. (2017). A randomized controlled trial to establish effects of short-term rapamycin treatment in 24 middle-aged companion dogs. GeroScience, 39(2), 117-127.

The method

Ulrich, R.S. (1984). View through a window may influence recovery from surgery. Science, 224(4647), 420-421.

The hallmarks of aging

López-Otín, C., Blasco, M.A., Partridge, L., Serrano, M. and Kroemer, G. (2023). Hallmarks of aging: an expanding universe. Cell, 186(2), 243–278.

The Five Spheres of Nature, the Seven Pillars of Animal Longevity, the Wellbeing Triad (Healthspan, Joyspan, Lifespan) and Rewilding Animal Welfare 360 are frameworks developed by Dr Zoolittle.