scholarly journals Social structure of the harem-forming promiscuous fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx , is the harem truly important?

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 172024 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kritika M. Garg ◽  
Balaji Chattopadhyay ◽  
Uma Ramakrishnan
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Tropical Species ◽  
Association Index ◽  
High Association ◽  
Fruit Bat ◽  
Cynopterus Sphinx ◽  
The Social

Bats are social animals and display a diverse variety of mating and social systems, with most species exhibiting some form of polygyny. Their social organization is fluid and individuals frequently switch partners and roosting sites. While harem-like social organization is observed in multiple tropical species, its importance is contested in many of them. In this study, we investigated the role of harems in the social organization of the old world fruit bat Cynopterus sphinx . Based on regular behavioural observations over a period of 20 months and genetic data from microsatellite markers, we observed that the social organization is flexible, individuals regularly shift between roosts and the social organization resembles a fission–fusion society. Behavioural and genetic analyses suggest that the harems are not strict units of social structure, and the colony does not show signatures of subdivision with harems as behavioural units. We also observed that there was no correlation between individuals with high association index and pairwise relatedness. Our findings indicate that similar to the mating system, the social organization of C. sphinx can also be categorized as a fission–fusion society, and hence the term ‘harem’ is a misnomer. We conclude that the social system of C. sphinx is flexible, with multi-male multi-female organization, and individuals tend to be loyal to a given area rather than a roost.

Behavior of a Captive Population of Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs

Behaviour ◽  
1973 ◽  
Vol 46 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 189-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon L. Smith ◽  
Elizabeth C. Oppenheimer ◽  
Jill G. De VILLA ◽  
W. John Smith ◽  
Frederick A. Ulmer
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Annual Cycle ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Prairie Dogs ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Behavioral Differences ◽  
The Social

Abstract(I) A colony of black-tailed prairie dogs in the Philadelphia zoo is being used for long term studies of various aspects of social behavior including pattern of social organization, stylized means of communicating, and the effects of individual behavioral differences on communication and social structure. (2) This report deals with the annual cycle of social behavior manifested by the colony during the first three years of study. In gross outline an annual cycle can be described as follows: during the summer most individuals have "friendly" inter-relationships, and little organization is apparent. During autumn the animals gradually band into coterie groups and each group begins to defend a common territory, primarily through a highly ritualized procedure of "challenging" neighbors across a common boundary. By midwinter the adult males are very aggressive. With the advent of the winter breeding season, the females too become aggressive, and some establish territories that may subdivide coterie territories. In spring males and then females gradually become less aggressive, so that by about the time the pups emerge onto the surface the relaxed social relationships typical of summer are developing generally. (3) The shifting pattern of social organization is based on the division of individuals into classes on the basis of sex, age, dominance, and coterie and other bonds, and modified by the considerable inter-individual differencees in what may loosely be called "temperament." (4) Comparisons of the patterns of social organization shown by the zoo prairie dogs with those thus far described in the literature for wild populations show fundamental similarities, although the very high density and lack of opportunity for emigration in the zoo colony have lead to some modifications which are described and discussed. (5) The complexity of the social; organization of the black-tailed prairie dog is unusual for a rodent, and a model is proposed to account for its evolution from more widespread patterns of rodent social behavior. As the model emphasizes the role of the very open grassland habitat of the species in intensifying the natural selection potentially responsible for the evolution of this socal complexity, it suggests that habitat similarities may underlie evolutionary convergences in the social systems of black-tailed prairie dogs and savanna-dwelling primates.

Globalization, Citizenship, and Subjectivity in Self Construction

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 135-146
Author(s):  
Namita Poudel
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Social Field ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Fields ◽  
Research Questions

One of the profound questions that troubled many philosophers is– “Who am I?” where do I come from? ‘Why am I, where I am? Or “How I see myself?” and maybe more technically -What is my subjectivity? How my subjectivity is formed and transformed? My attempt, in this paper, is to look at “I”, and see how it got shaped. To understand self, this paper tries to show, how subjectivity got transformed or persisted over five generations with changing social structure and institutions. In other words, I am trying to explore self-identity. I have analyzed changing subjectivity patterns of family, and its connection with globalization. Moreover, the research tries to show the role of the Meta field in search of subjectivity based on the following research questions; how my ancestor’s subjectivity changed with social fields? Which power forced them to change their citizenship? And how my identity is shaped within the metafield? The methodology of my study is qualitative. Faced to face interview is taken with the oldest member of family and relatives. The finding of my research is the subjectivity of Namita Poudel (Me) is shaped by the meta field, my position, and practices in the social field.

The Eighteenth-Century Social Order in Surat: A Reply and an Excursus on the Riots of 1788 and 1795

1991 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lakshmi Subramanian
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Recent Article ◽  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
Archival Material ◽  
The Social

The Banias of eighteenth-century Surat, whom Michelguglielmo Torri earlier treated with indifference if not innocence, have invited his wrath since they were brought into focus by the publication of my essay on the Banias and the Surat riot of 1795. In his ‘rejoinder’ to my article, he seeks to wish away their existence altogether (to him there was no specific Bania community, the term merely signifying traders of all communities engaged in the profession of brokerage), and seeks to provide what he regards as an ‘alternative’ explanation of the Muslim–Bania riot of 1795. the Muslim-Bania riot of 1795. It shall be my purpose in this reply to show that his alternative explanation is neither an alternative nor even an explanation, and is based on a basic confusion in his mind about the Banias as well as the principal sources of tension in the social structure of Surat. I shall treat two main subjects in this reply to his misdirected criticisms. First, I shall present some original indigenous material as well as European documentation to further clarify the identity, position and role of the Banias, whom Irfan Habib in a recent article has identified as the most important trading group in the trading world of seventeenth and eighteenth-century India. It is also my purpose to show how the social order of Surat operated under stress by presenting some archival material, the existence of which Torri seems to be completely unaware of, on the Parsi-Muslim riot of 1788.

Role of olfactory bulb serotonin in olfactory learning in the greater short-nosed fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae)

2010 ◽  
Vol 1352 ◽  
pp. 108-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ambigapathy Ganesh ◽  
Wieslaw Bogdanowicz ◽  
Moritz Haupt ◽  
Ganapathy Marimuthu ◽  
Koilmani Emmanuvel Rajan
Keyword(s):  
Olfactory Bulb ◽  
Olfactory Learning ◽  
Fruit Bat ◽  
Cynopterus Sphinx

Social Sciences between the Systems: The Ecuadorian University between Science, Education, Politics and Economy

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Altmann
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Education Politics ◽  
The Social ◽  
Science And Politics ◽  
Global North ◽  
Self Production ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Operative Closure

Universities are, like all organizations, at the intersection of different functional subsystems. They are not only dedicated to research (science) and teaching (education) but are also place for communications that form part of politics, economics and so on. But, what happens to universities, and, more precisely, social sciences in university, if the social system they work in is not differentiated in the way the social sciences in the Global North are used to? What if there is no clear distinction between science and politics? Does academic autonomy lead in this situation to some kind of ‘university as a subsystem’, complete with its own code and autopoiesis? Or will the different subsystems de-differentiate increasingly, as predicted by Luhmann? This contribution will analyse social sciences in Ecuadorian universities as an example for organizations at the intersection of functional systems that are not fully differentiated. The development, the operative closure, the institutionalization and the self-production of a concrete discipline under constant pressure of other social systems will be analysed. The goal is a further insight into processes of differentiation in the Global South and the role of institutions in these processes. Part of this is the attempt to actualize and criticize Niklas Luhmann’s approach of systems theory to regions outside of the Global North. JEL: O300, Z130

Illness as Work: Human Market Transition

Life Exposed ◽  
2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Petryna
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Market Transition ◽  
Soviet Economy ◽  
Exclusion Zone ◽  
State Laws ◽  
Family Work ◽  
The Social

This chapter examines the “epidemic” of disability in post-Soviet Ukraine, and more specifically how state laws on the social protection of Chernobyl sufferers have turned suffering and disability into a resource affecting family, work, and social identity. It shows how the line between sickness and health becomes a highly politicized one as traditional forms of Soviet social organization, particularly the labor collective, are being replaced by a new architecture of welfare claims, privileges, laws, and identities. It also discusses the role of the Exclusion Zone in an informal Soviet economy and capitalist transition, as well as the ways in which workers micromanage inflation with a sick role sociality in their everyday lives. Finally, it considers the establishment of medical-labor committees to handle the growing number of disability claims related to the Chernobyl explosion and highlights a city of sufferers where so many individuals have gained their illnesses for life.

scholarly journals Genetic relatedness delineates the social structure of southern Australian bottlenose dolphins

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 948-959 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Diaz-Aguirre ◽  
Guido J Parra ◽  
Cecilia Passadore ◽  
Luciana Möller
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Genetic Relatedness ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Bottlenose Dolphins ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Intrinsic Factors ◽  
Photo Identification ◽  
The Social ◽  
Modularity Analysis ◽  
Network Metrics

AbstractSocial relationships represent an adaptive behavioral strategy that can provide fitness benefits to individuals. Within mammalian societies, delphinids are known to form diverse grouping patterns and show a variety of social systems. However, how ecological and intrinsic factors have shaped the evolution of such diverse societies is still not well understood. In this study, we used photo-identification data and biopsy samples collected between March 2013 and October 2015 in Coffin Bay, a heterogeneous environment in South Australia, to investigate the social structure of southern Australian bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops cf. australis). Based on the data from 657 groups of dolphins, we used generalized affiliation indices, and applied social network and modularity methods to study affiliation patterns among individuals and investigate the potential presence of social communities within the population. In addition, we investigated genetic relatedness and kinship relationships within and between the communities identified. Modularity analysis revealed that the Coffin Bay population is structured into 2 similar sized, mixed-sex communities which differed in ranging patterns, affiliation levels and network metrics. Lagged association rates also indicated that nonrandom affiliations persisted over the study period. The genetic analyses suggested that there was higher relatedness, and a higher proportion of inferred full-sibs and half-sibs, within than between communities. We propose that differences in environmental conditions between the bays and kinship relationships are important factors contributing to the delineation and maintenance of this social structure.

Profit as Social Rent: Embeddedness and Stratification in Markets

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sascha Muennich
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Main Part ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Rent Extraction ◽  
Free Competition ◽  
The Social

This article shows how research on the social structure of markets may contribute to the analysis the growing income inequality in contemporary capitalist economies. The author proposes a theoretical link between embeddedness and social stratification by discussing the role of institutions and networks in markets for the distribution of economic profits between firms. The author claims that we must understand profit and free competition as opposites, as economic theory does. In the main part of the article the author illustrates six typical mechanisms of rent extraction from networks or formal and symbolic rules that embed markets. They emerge from material as well as symbolical access to and influence on the orientation of other market actors. Social structures in markets lead to unequal chances for rent extraction, even if actors produce them for coordination rather than for accumulation purposes. This is how market sociology and theory of capitalism can be linked more closely.

The Boulogne fish market: the social structure and the role of loyalty

2012 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 1075-1079 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pasquale Cirillo ◽  
Gabriele Tedeschi ◽  
Mauro Gallegati
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Fish Market ◽  
The Social
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