This study investigated the effect of regularity in environmental structure on wayfinding behavior and spatial knowledge. A total of 60 participants (7- to 8-year-olds, 11- to12-year-olds, and adults) performed self-determined movements in a desktop virtual environment. In almost all measurements of wayfinding performance and spatial knowledge an overall developmental progress from younger children to adults was found. In contrast, exploration behavior did not differ between adults and children Furthermore, the environmental structure tended to influence only the wayfinding performance of younger children, but did not have any effect on the exploration behavior and the spatial knowledge of children or adults. This outcome supports the idea of a dissociation between exploration behavior, wayfinding performance and spatial knowledge as distinct aspects of spatial cognition.

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Rumen flukes have received growing veterinary attention in western and central Europe during the past two decades because of an increase in prevalence of infection in cattle and sheep, including cases of severe clinical disease. Historically, rumen fluke infections in Europe were assumed to be caused mainly by Paramphistomum cervi (or species, which were later considered to be synonymous with P. cervi), but more recently molecular studies demonstrated Calicophoron daubneyi to be the predominating species. For the present investigation, adult rumen flukes isolated from 23 cattle originating from ten farms in Germany (Saxony [1], Baden-Württemberg [4], Bavaria [5]) and one farm in Austria (Tyrol) were analyzed to establish partial sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and the complete sequence of the nuclear internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2). Flukes of five animals (dairy cows from three farms in Bavaria) were determined as P. leydeni, and flukes of 18 animals (dairy cows or cattle from cow-calf operations from eight farms in Saxony [1], Baden-Württemberg [4], Bavaria [2], and Tyrol [1]) were identified as C. daubneyi. Based on the molecular analysis of adult rumen flukes collected from cattle, the results of this investigation confirm the common occurrence of C. daubneyi in Germany and reveal the first definitive findings of P. leydeni in Germany and C. daubneyi in Austria.