scholarly journals Solitary versus group living lifestyles, social group composition and cooperation in otters

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thierry Lodé ◽  
Marie-Loup Lélias ◽  
Alban Lemasson ◽  
Catherine Blois-Heulin
Keyword(s):  
Social Group ◽  
Group Composition ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Versus Group

Grouping patterns in warthogs, Phacochoerus africanus: is communal care of young enough to explain sociality?

Behaviour ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 147 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Peacock ◽  
Angela White ◽  
Elissa Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Group Composition ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Living Will ◽  
Lifetime Reproductive Success ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding ◽  
Phacochoerus Africanus ◽  
Time Of Year ◽  
Communal Rearing

AbstractGroup-living will evolve when individuals increase their lifetime reproductive success by joining with other individuals. In cooperatively breeding societies, individuals living in a group will participate in the communal rearing of young. Several factors can influence the evolutionary trade-offs of grouping and it is often unclear whether cooperative breeding is advantageous or is simply a by-product of selection acting on grouping behaviour. We used sightings of 1318 warthogs in 711 groups to investigate whether the advantages of sociality in the warthog differ depending on an individual's age, sex, reproductive state, or the time of year. Adult males only formed temporary associations with other individuals indicating that participation in a group was not advantageous. In contrast, yearlings were almost inevitably found in groups, regardless of their sex or time of year, suggesting any costs to sociality were outweighed by the benefits. Grouping in adult female warthogs was complex; adult females were more likely to form groups in the presence of juveniles and when juveniles were at their most vulnerable stage indicating that sociality in females could be partially explained by the benefits of communal care of young. However, other factors influenced female cooperation including group composition and the time of year.

scholarly journals Social relationships and reproductive performance in group-living arctic blue foxes

1994 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannu Korhonen ◽  
Sakari Alasuutari
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Group Composition ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Genetic Origin ◽  
Social Contacts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Body Weights ◽  
Blue Fox

The aim of the present work was to study social relationships and reproductivity in captive arctic blue fox groups of different genetic origin. The social status of the individuals among groups remained constant during autumn and early winter. Males typically dominated over females in the groups. Males also had higher body weights and more social contacts than females. The locomotor activity of the animals increased during the breeding season, especially in the case of males. Urinary marking had a significant importance during the breeding season, being most pronounced in dominant males. No synchronization was observed in the heat development of females despite some kinship. Behaviours such as escape attempts, bitings and increased aggressiveness occurred in March-April as a result of increasing social tension combined with reproductive behaviour. Whelping success varied depending on group composition. Some of the non-breeding and breeding females were observed to act as communal nursing helpers.

scholarly journals Dioses indígenas vinculados a núcleos de población en la Hispania romana

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Carlos Olivares Pedreño
Keyword(s):  
Social Group ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
The Other ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Guardian ◽  
Votive Offerings

Una de las principales características de las ofrendas votivas a «Bandua» en Hispania es que se alude al dios con apelativos que le vinculan a núcleos de población, preferentemente «uici», «pagi» o «castella», mientras que los sobrenombres referentes a municipios o capitales de «ciuitates» suelen llevarlos los Genios. En las provincias galas, los epítetos alusivos a comunidades locales acompañan, sobre todas las demás divinidades, a l\/larte. «Bandua» fue, por tanto, un dios de carácter guerrero, protector y defensor de las comunidades indígenas que, después de la conquista romana, quedaría como divinidad tutelar del grupo social residente en el núcleo poblacional.One of the main features of the votive offerings to «Bandua» in Hispania is that they allude to the god using certain epittiets wtiich link him to population centres, especially «uici», «pagi» or «castella». On the other hand, the appellations refering to towns or «ciuitates» capitals are usually born by the «Genii». In Galia, the epithets alluding to local communities refer to Mars, above all other gods. Thus, «Bandua» was a warrior-like god who acted as protector and defender of the indigenous cities and who, after the Román conquest, would be the guardián deity for the social group living in the population centre.

scholarly journals Individual variation in the compromise between social group membership and exposure to preferred temperatures

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1880) ◽  
pp. 20180884 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Cooper ◽  
B. Adriaenssens ◽  
S. S. Killen
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Rate ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Group Membership ◽  
Group Formation ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Standard Metabolic Rate ◽  
Metabolic Demand ◽  
Potential Cost ◽  
Preferred Temperature ◽  
Preferred Temperatures

Group living is widespread among animal species, and comes with a number of costs and benefits associated with foraging, predator avoidance and reproduction. It is largely unknown, however, whether individuals sacrifice exposure to their own preferred or optimal environmental conditions so they can remain part of a social group. Here, we demonstrate that individual three-spine sticklebacks vary in the degree to which they forego exposure to their preferred ambient temperature so they can associate with a group of conspecifics. Individual fish varied widely in preferred temperature when tested in isolation. When the same individuals were presented with a choice of a warm or cold thermal regime in the presence of a social group in one of the environments, fish spent more time with the group if it was close to their own individually preferred temperature. When a group was in a relatively cool environment, focal individuals that were more social deviated most strongly from their preferred temperature to associate with the group. Standard and maximum metabolic rate were not related to temperature preference or thermal compromise. However, individuals with a higher standard metabolic rate were less social, and so energetic demand may indirectly influence the environmental costs experienced by group members. The reduced tendency to engage with a social group when there is a large difference between the group temperature and the individual's preferred temperature suggests a role for temperature in group formation and cohesion that is mediated by individual physiology and behaviour. Together, these data highlight exposure to non-preferred temperatures as a potential cost of group membership that probably has important but to date unrecognized implications for metabolic demand, energy allocation, locomotor performance and overall group functioning.

scholarly journals Detection of social group instability among captive rhesus macaques using joint network modeling

2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brianne A. Beisner ◽  
Jian Jin ◽  
Hsieh Fushing ◽  
Brenda Mccowan
Keyword(s):  
Opposite Direction ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Rhesus Macaques ◽  
Network Modeling ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Joint Modeling ◽  
Modeling Approach ◽  
Network Interdependence

Abstract Social stability in group-living animals is an emergent property which arises from the interaction amongst multiple behavioral networks. However, pinpointing when a social group is at risk of collapse is difficult. We used a joint network modeling approach to examine the interdependencies between two behavioral networks, aggression and status signaling, from four stable and three unstable groups of rhesus macaques in order to identify characteristic patterns of network interdependence in stable groups that are readily distinguishable from unstable groups. Our results showed that the most prominent source of aggression-status network interdependence in stable social groups came from more frequent dyads than expected with opposite direction status-aggression (i.e. A threatens B and B signals acceptance of subordinate status). In contrast, unstable groups showed a decrease in opposite direction aggression-status dyads (but remained higher than expected) as well as more frequent than expected dyads with bidirectional aggression. These results demonstrate that not only was the stable joint relationship between aggression and status networks readily distinguishable from unstable time points, social instability manifested in at least two different ways. In sum, our joint modeling approach may prove useful in quantifying and monitoring the complex social dynamics of any wild or captive social system, as all social systems are composed of multiple interconnected networks.

Territory quality determines social group composition in Ethiopian wolves Canis simensis

2011 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy A. Tallents ◽  
Deborah A. Randall ◽  
Stuart D. Williams ◽  
David W. Macdonald
Keyword(s):  
Social Group ◽  
Group Composition ◽  
Territory Quality

scholarly journals Fluid Nest Membership Drives Variable Relatedness in Groups of a Facultatively Social Bee

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madeleine M. Ostwald ◽  
Romain A. Dahan ◽  
Zachary Shaffer ◽  
Jennifer H. Fewell
Keyword(s):  
Group Composition ◽  
Group Formation ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Migration Behavior ◽  
Ecological Constraints ◽  
Carpenter Bee ◽  
Indirect Fitness ◽  
Fitness Benefits ◽  
Nesting Aggregation ◽  
Social Bee

Kin selection theory has dominated our understanding of the evolution of group living. However, many animal groups form among non-relatives, which gain no indirect fitness benefits from cooperating with nestmates. In this study, we characterized the relatedness and inter-nest migration behavior of the facultatively social carpenter bee, Xylocopa sonorina. Nesting constraints due to costly nest construction in this species give rise to intense intraspecific competition over access to existing nests. We used mark-recapture techniques to characterize patterns of dispersal and nest relocation within a nesting aggregation of spatially clustered nests. Two-thirds of bees relocated at least once during the reproductive season, likely to seek reproductive opportunities in another nest. This fluid nest membership creates opportunities for association among non-relatives. To assess the effects of this dynamic nesting behavior on group relatedness, we used microsatellite analysis to estimate relative relatedness within and between nests in the aggregation. We found that relatedness was variable across sampling years, but that in many cases nestmates were no more related to one another than they were to non-nestmate bees in the population. Together, these results suggest that group composition in X. sonorina may result from strategies to maximize direct fitness. This study supports the hypothesis that factors beyond kinship, such as ecological constraints, are likely to drive group formation in this species.

scholarly journals Social buffering of stress in a group-living fish

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1910) ◽  
pp. 20191626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett M. Culbert ◽  
Kathleen M. Gilmour ◽  
Sigal Balshine
Keyword(s):  
Social Group ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Transcript Abundance ◽  
Arginine Vasotocin ◽  
Stress Axis ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Visual Contact ◽  
Normal Behaviour ◽  
Social Buffering ◽  
Cortisol Levels

Living in groups affords individuals many benefits, including the opportunity to reduce stress. In mammals, such ‘social buffering’ of stress is mediated by affiliative relationships and production of the neuropeptide oxytocin, but whether these mechanisms facilitate social buffering across vertebrates remains an open question. Therefore, we evaluated whether the social environment influenced the behavioural and physiological recovery from an acute stressor in a group-living cichlid, Neolamprologus pulcher . Individual fish that recovered with their social group displayed lower cortisol levels than individuals that recovered alone. This social buffering of the stress response was associated with a tendency towards lower transcript abundance of arginine vasotocin and isotocin in the preoptic area of the brain, suggesting reduced neural activation of the stress axis. Individuals that recovered with their social group quickly resumed normal behaviour but received fewer affiliative acts following the stressor. Further experiments revealed similar cortisol levels between individuals that recovered in visual contact with their own social group and those in visual contact with a novel but non-aggressive social group. Collectively, our results suggest that affiliation and familiarity per se do not mediate social buffering in this group-living cichlid, and the behavioural and physiological mechanisms responsible for social buffering may vary across vertebrates.

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