Dominance and aggression in captive gidgee skinks (Egernia stokesii)

2019 ◽  
pp. 83-92
Author(s):  
Holly Baines
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Dominance Hierarchy ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Individual Fitness ◽  
Relative Value ◽  
Dominance Interactions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Aggressive Behaviours ◽  
Feeding Control ◽  
Egernia Stokesii

Dominance is a key component of behaviour in many animal species and is central to social system dynamics, resource acquisition, individual fitness and ultimately reproductive success. We investigated dominance interactions and social behaviours in a group of captive juvenile gidgee skinks (Egernia stokesii). We hypothesised that a dominance hierarchy existed within the group, and that aggressive behaviours would be used to secure limited resources, especially high-value resources. We also hypothesised that body weight would be positively correlated with dominance and aggressive behaviours. We filmed the lizards at 1200 hours for six days a week over the course of eight weeks. We exposed the lizards to three different diets, which consisted of an animal-based diet (crickets), plant-based diet (plants), and a non-feeding control (no food offered). The relative value of these resources to the skinks was established through preference tests. We identified a dominance hierarchy, with dominant individuals exhibiting more aggressive behaviours than subordinates. We found that the frequency of aggressive behaviours was significantly higher in trials where high-valued resources (crickets) were at stake. Furthermore, we found a significant positive correlation between body weight and dominance, bite and chase; larger individuals were ranked higher in the social hierarchy compared to smaller individuals. Our results demonstrate the importance of morphological and behavioural traits in determining a dominance hierarchy in E. stokesii and how dominance can have ecological advantages.

Condition Changes and Choice of Social Environment in African Buffalo Bulls

Behaviour ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 108 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 297-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.H.T. Prins
Keyword(s):  
Body Condition ◽  
Dominance Hierarchy ◽  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Breeding Cycle ◽  
African Buffalo ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Northern Tanzania ◽  
Dominance Interactions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Breeding Seasons

Abstract1. The social behaviour of the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) was studied between 1981 and 1985 in Lake Manyara National Park, northern Tanzania. Emphasis is placed on the relationships between adult bulls (i.e. older than 7 yrs). 2. These bulls were transient members of the buffalo population of the study area. At any time ± 150 adult bulls were in the area. During the study period 240 individual bulls were recognized, and the number of the 'bull pool' during this period was estimated to be 630. 3. Every few weeks, the bulls switched between the herd state and bachelor state, and wandered from herd to herd, presumably in search of oestrus cows. 4. They did not form stable associations, and when bachelor, they preferentially associated in temporary groups of 3 to 5 bulls. 5. Adult bulls engaged in sparring and showed dominance interactions very rarely. In a dyadic encounter, dominance interactions were only observed between bulls of the same body condition. Encounters involving individuals in different condition resulted in dominance being established without interaction. Fighting is extremely rare and likely to be lethal to both opponents. 6. The switching between both social environments was related to condition loss in the mixed herd and to condition gain in the bachelor state. This resulted in a 'rotating dominance hierarchy'. The bachelor phase is an essential part of the breeding cycle of an adult bull. 7. The necessity of a bachelor phase to recoup body condition may well be a general feature in mammalian species with long breeding seasons.

scholarly journals Allelic Genealogies in Sporophytic Self-Incompatibility Systems in Plants

Genetics ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 150 (3) ◽  
pp. 1187-1198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikkel H Schierup ◽  
Xavier Vekemans ◽  
Freddy B Christiansen
Keyword(s):  
Dominance Hierarchy ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Self Incompatibility ◽  
Most Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Dominance Interactions ◽  
Turnover Process ◽  
Neutral Gene ◽  
Interspecific Comparisons ◽  
Coalescence Times

Abstract Expectations for the time scale and structure of allelic genealogies in finite populations are formed under three models of sporophytic self-incompatibility. The models differ in the dominance interactions among the alleles that determine the self-incompatibility phenotype: In the SSIcod model, alleles act codominantly in both pollen and style, in the SSIdom model, alleles form a dominance hierarchy, and in SSIdomcod, alleles are codominant in the style and show a dominance hierarchy in the pollen. Coalescence times of alleles rarely differ more than threefold from those under gametophytic self-incompatibility, and transspecific polymorphism is therefore expected to be equally common. The previously reported directional turnover process of alleles in the SSIdomcod model results in coalescence times lower and substitution rates higher than those in the other models. The SSIdom model assumes strong asymmetries in allelic action, and the most recessive extant allele is likely to be the most recent common ancestor. Despite these asymmetries, the expected shape of the allele genealogies does not deviate markedly from the shape of a neutral gene genealogy. The application of the results to sequence surveys of alleles, including interspecific comparisons, is discussed.

scholarly journals Determinants Of Dominance, Resting Place And Neighbour Preferences In Wrzosówka Polska Ewes Kept Indoors

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 365-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin T. Górecki ◽  
Natalia Dziwińska
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Aggressive Behaviour ◽  
Social Rank ◽  
Social Hierarchy ◽  
Social Position ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Use Of Space ◽  
The Social

Abstract The aim of this study was to recognize features determining social hierarchy in Wrzosówka Polska ewes kept indoors as well as to investigate their resting place and companionship preferences. Observations (156 hours in total) were carried out in a group of 22 ewes. The social rank of sheep was determined by their age, body weight and length of horns. Social position was positively correlated with aggressive behaviour performed and negatively with aggressive behaviour received. Use of space while resting was influenced by ewe social behaviour; aggressive individuals lied more often in attractive places, namely against walls and fodder troughs compared to other animals. In general, the ewes rested by having physical contact with animals of similar rank and aggressiveness. Kinship appeared not to be important in neighbour preference. As can be concluded, social interactions influenced the use of space and neighbourhood in ewes

Social Organisation and Warren Use of the Burrowing Bettong, Bettongia lesueur (Macropodoidea : Potoroidae)

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ute Sander ◽  
Jeff Short ◽  
Bruce Turner
Keyword(s):  
Dominance Hierarchy ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Young Male ◽  
Social Organisation ◽  
Agonistic Interactions ◽  
Weak Dominance ◽  
Shark Bay ◽  
Day Range ◽  
The Social ◽  
Polygynous Mating System

This study describes the use of warrens and aspects of the social organisation of a population of the burrowing bettong, an endangered potoroid. Observations were made on 14 animals, maintained in a 4-ha enclosure of natural vegetation at Shark Bay, Western Australia. The population divided into three social groups, each of one male and one to many females. Individual bettongs used 1–10 warrens over a period of five months. Males changed warrens more often than females. Some females regularly shared warrens with other females. Many of these associations appeared to be mothers with their daughter or daughters. Sharing of warrens occurred regularly until the daughters were about 10 months old and occasionally after that. Day ranges of males were larger than those of females, exclusive of other males, and overlapped those of 1–6 females. Males shared warrens with the females within their day range. At night bettongs were not constrained to their day range and made use of the whole enclosure. Equal numbers of agonistic interactions between and within day-range groups, as well as the absence of feeding associations, indicated that bettongs operated independently of their day-range groups at night while feeding. Bettongs formed a weak dominance hierarchy with the oldest female on top and a young male at the bottom. Male–male interactions tended to be more aggressive than male–female interactions. Males were involved in significantly more agonistic interactions, particularly chases, than were females; chases usually entailed chasing another male away from a female. Use of space and social behaviour suggested a polygynous mating system.

Behaviour of the Bilby, Macrotis lagotis (Reid), (Marsupialia : Thylacomyidae) in Captivity

1983 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 77 ◽  
Author(s):  
CN Johnson ◽  
KA Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Dominance Hierarchy ◽  
Dominant Male ◽  
Alpha Male ◽  
The Social ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
Below Ground ◽  
Activity Cycles ◽  
Central Australia

The behaviour was observed, in captivity, of the bilby Macrotis lagotis, a fossorial bandicoot of central Australia. Most of the observations were made at night, but some were of below-ground behaviour during the daylight hours. Bilbies proved to be relatively passive in comparison with other bandicoots, and a rigid dominance hierarchy amongst males was maintained without destructive fighting. Dominant males chased subordinate males out of and away from burrows and the alpha male maintained priority of access to all the well used burrows in the enclosure. Males scent-marked around burrows; the dominant male usually marked over scents left by other bilbies. Males shared burrows freely with females, and copulation appears to take place down burrows. Information is also given on female-female and mother-young behaviour, and some suggestions are made concerning the social structure of wild bilbies. Activity cycles, feeding behaviour, etc. are described.

scholarly journals Early and adult social environments have independent effects on individual fitness in a social vertebrate

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1813) ◽  
pp. 20151167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vérane Berger ◽  
Jean-François Lemaître ◽  
Dominique Allainé ◽  
Jean-Michel Gaillard ◽  
Aurélie Cohas
Keyword(s):  
Social Environment ◽  
Lifetime Reproductive Success ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Delayed Effects ◽  
Individual Fitness ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
Dominant Female ◽  
The Social ◽  
Independent Effects

Evidence that the social environment at critical stages of life-history shapes individual trajectories is accumulating. Previous studies have identified either current or delayed effects of social environments on fitness components, but no study has yet analysed fitness consequences of social environments at different life stages simultaneously. To fill the gap, we use an extensive dataset collected during a 24-year intensive monitoring of a population of Alpine marmots ( Marmota marmota ), a long-lived social rodent. We test whether the number of helpers in early life and over the dominance tenure length has an impact on litter size at weaning, juvenile survival, longevity and lifetime reproductive success (LRS) of dominant females. Dominant females, who were born into a group containing many helpers and experiencing a high number of accumulated helpers over dominance tenure length showed an increased LRS through an increased longevity. We provide evidence that in a wild vertebrate, both early and adult social environments influence individual fitness, acting additionally and independently. These findings demonstrate that helpers have both short- and long-term effects on dominant female Alpine marmots and that the social environment at the time of birth can play a key role in shaping individual fitness in social vertebrates.

An uneasy alliance: unequal distribution of affiliative interactions among members of a captive wolf pack

2003 ◽  
Vol 81 (10) ◽  
pp. 1763-1766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Traci Cipponeri ◽  
Paul Verrell
Keyword(s):  
Canis Lupus ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Alpha Male ◽  
Social Disruption ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Gray Wolves ◽  
Individual Fitness ◽  
Play Interactions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Time Of Breeding

The social groups of many vertebrates may be characterized as "uneasy alliances" that reflect tensions between benefits of group membership and costs to individual fitness among members, especially nonrelatives. The prebreeding season may be a time when these tensions become most acute and so observable for packs of gray wolves (Canis lupus). We recorded affiliative (play) interactions among two females and five males of known social ranks in a captive pack as the time of breeding approached. Substantial inequalities among pairs of wolves were apparent in frequencies of both the initiation of play and the exhibition of positive responses by recipient wolves. With the subsequent arrival of the breeding season, the pack experienced social disruption that led to the eviction of the original alpha male and a reordering of the ranks of those wolves remaining. Our data suggest that unequal affiliative interactions among pack members can be associated with (and, perhaps, even be predictive of) subsequent social disruption at a time when opportunities for personal reproduction become most available.

Epinephrine and Nor-Epinephrine Effects on Social Dominance Behavior

1970 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl W. Lawrence ◽  
Jack R. Haynes
Keyword(s):  
Social Dominance ◽  
Dominance Hierarchy ◽  
Dominance Behavior ◽  
Differential Effects ◽  
Submissive Behavior ◽  
The Social

Effects of epinephrine and nor-epinephrine on social dominance behavior in 24 male C57BL/6J mice were investigated. The social dominance hierarchy was created by placing pairs of Ss in a linear maze. The only way S could get to the goal box was by pushing the opposing S out. The dominant S pushed the submissive S out of the maze. After the dominance hierarchy was established, each S was placed in the dominance situation under each of the drug conditions, epinephrine and nor-epinephrine. The results showed that all conditions were significantly different from each other, with the greatest amount of dominance behavior being shown under nor-epinephrine and the greatest submissive behavior under epinephrine. It was concluded that epinephrine and nor-epinephrine may have differential effects on social dominance behavior.

MINORITY BUSINESS NETWORKS AS SOURCES OF SOCIAL CAPITAL FOR MINORITY FIRMS

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (03) ◽  
pp. 1350019 ◽  
Author(s):  
IAN Y. BLOUNT ◽  
DELMONIZE A. SMITH ◽  
JAMES A. HILL
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Resource Dependence ◽  
Minority Business ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Business Networks ◽  
Business Network ◽  
Relative Value ◽  
The Social ◽  
Minority Business Owners ◽  
Resource Dependence Perspective

Much of our understanding concerning minority-owned firms is based on nascent entrepreneurial businesses. Therefore, it is difficult to answer the question of how a minority-owned firm's age and size may influence the social capital derived from a minority business network. We utilize a resource-dependence perspective to hypothesize that the social capital derived from participation in a minority business network will be negatively related to the minority-owned firm's age and size. We find that firm size (as measured by revenue and number of employees) is negatively related with social capital derived from the minority business network. Our findings may help minority business owners understand the relative value of membership in minority business networks before committing limited resources.

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