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Ren S, Liu S, Sun W, Gao L, Ren L, Liu J, Zhang W, Xia D, Sun B, Li J, Wang X. Consistent Individual Differences Drive Collective Movements in a Tibetan Macaque Group. Animals (Basel) 2024; 14:1476. [PMID: 38791693 PMCID: PMC11117288 DOI: 10.3390/ani14101476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2024] [Revised: 05/13/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Collective movement has emerged as a key area of interest in animal behavior. While individual differences are often viewed as a potential threat to group cohesion, growing evidence suggests that these differences can actually influence an animal's behavior as an initiator or follower during collective movements, thereby driving the group's movement and decision-making processes. To resolve the divergence, we asked how personality can affect the dynamics of collective movements in one group of free-ranging Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) in Huangshan, China. We assessed individual personality using principal component analysis and applied the generalized linear mixed model and linear mixed model to examine the influence of personality on decision making during collective movements. Our findings reveled three distinct personality types among Tibetan macaques: sociability, boldness, and anxiousness. Individuals with higher sociability scores and rank, or those with lower anxiousness scores, were more likely to initiate successful collective movements. Older individuals were less successful in initiating movements compared to young adults. Leaders with lower anxiousness scores or higher rank attracted more followers, with females attracting larger groups than males. As for followers, individuals with higher rank tended to join the collective movement earlier. Additionally, individuals with higher sociability or boldness scores had shorter joining latency in collective movement. Finally, there was a longer joining latency for middle-aged adults compared to young adults. These results suggest that individual differences are a potential driver of collective movements. We provide some insights into the relationships between personality and decision making in Tibetan macaques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sen Ren
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
- International Collaborative Research Center for Huangshan Biodiversity and Tibetan Macaque Behavioral Ecology, Hefei 230601, China
| | - Shenqi Liu
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
- International Collaborative Research Center for Huangshan Biodiversity and Tibetan Macaque Behavioral Ecology, Hefei 230601, China
| | - Wenkai Sun
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
| | - Lei Gao
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
| | - Lei Ren
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
| | - Jiahui Liu
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
| | - Weiqi Zhang
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
| | - Dongpo Xia
- International Collaborative Research Center for Huangshan Biodiversity and Tibetan Macaque Behavioral Ecology, Hefei 230601, China
- School of Life Sciences, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
| | - Binghua Sun
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
- International Collaborative Research Center for Huangshan Biodiversity and Tibetan Macaque Behavioral Ecology, Hefei 230601, China
| | - Jinhua Li
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
- International Collaborative Research Center for Huangshan Biodiversity and Tibetan Macaque Behavioral Ecology, Hefei 230601, China
- School of Life Sciences, Hefei Normal University, Hefei 230601, China
| | - Xi Wang
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
- International Collaborative Research Center for Huangshan Biodiversity and Tibetan Macaque Behavioral Ecology, Hefei 230601, China
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2
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Maxeiner M, Hocke M, Moenck HJ, Gebhardt GHW, Weimar N, Musiolek L, Krause J, Bierbach D, Landgraf T. Social competence improves the performance of biomimetic robots leading live fish. BIOINSPIRATION & BIOMIMETICS 2023; 18. [PMID: 37015241 DOI: 10.1088/1748-3190/acca59] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2022] [Accepted: 04/04/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Collective motion is commonly modeled with static interaction rules between agents. Substantial empirical evidence indicates, however, that animals may adapt their interaction rules depending on a variety of factors and social contexts. Here, we hypothesized that leadership performance is linked to the leader's responsiveness to the follower's actions and we predicted that a leader is followed longer if it adapts to the follower's avoidance movements. We tested this prediction with live guppies that interacted with a biomimetic robotic fish programmed to act as a 'socially competent' leader. Fish that were avoiding the robot were approached more carefully in future approaches. In two separate experiments we then asked how the leadership performance of the socially competent robot leader differed to that of a robot leader that either approached all fish in the same, non-responsive, way or one that did change its approach behavior randomly, irrespective of the fish's actions. We found that (1) behavioral variability itself appears attractive and that socially competent robots are better leaders which (2) require fewer approach attempts to (3) elicit longer average following behavior than non-competent agents. This work provides evidence that social responsiveness to avoidance reactions plays a role in the social dynamics of guppies. We showcase how social responsiveness can be modeled and tested directly embedded in a living animal model using adaptive, interactive robots.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moritz Maxeiner
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Mathis Hocke
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Hauke J Moenck
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Gregor H W Gebhardt
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Computational Systems Neuroscience, Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Nils Weimar
- Institute of Zoology, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Lea Musiolek
- Department of Computer Science, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence 'Science of Intelligence', Technical University of Berlin, Marchstrasse 23, 10587 Berlin, Germany
| | - Jens Krause
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Albrecht Daniel Thaer Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence 'Science of Intelligence', Technical University of Berlin, Marchstrasse 23, 10587 Berlin, Germany
| | - David Bierbach
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Albrecht Daniel Thaer Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence 'Science of Intelligence', Technical University of Berlin, Marchstrasse 23, 10587 Berlin, Germany
| | - Tim Landgraf
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence 'Science of Intelligence', Technical University of Berlin, Marchstrasse 23, 10587 Berlin, Germany
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3
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Quera V, Beltran FS, Gimeno E, Dolado R. Motion leadership and local interaction in two species of freshwater fish (Danio rerio and Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi). JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY 2023; 102:856-869. [PMID: 36647918 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The authors studied momentary motion leadership in small groups of black neon tetra (Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi) and zebrafish (Danio rerio), its relationship with local interaction parameters, such as the acceleration and turning angle of the individuals, and the relative locations of the individuals within the group. The purpose was to know whether leadership tended to be monopolised by certain individuals or whether it was equitably shared between them and if there were differences in leadership sharing between these two species, which are known to have different degrees of cohesion and polarisation. The authors filmed groups of two, three, four and eight fishes of each species and tracked their individual motion by image analysis and trajectory extraction. In both species, motion leadership was not monopolized but egalitarian and very short lived, with leadership shifts distributed randomly over time. The duration of leadership episodes decreased as group size increased and was longer in black neon tetra than in zebrafish. Momentary leaders did not tend to be in the front positions, but closer to the centre of the group. Acceleration and turning angle were more extreme in zebrafish than in black neon tetra and in the momentary leaders than the followers in both species. In general, these differences between species and between leaders/followers were qualitatively similar with some differences in detail, indicating that the relationship between motion leadership and local interaction parameters is likely to conform to a general physical law.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vicenç Quera
- Institute of Neurosciences (NeuroUB), Quantitative Psychology Unit, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Francesc S Beltran
- Institute of Neurosciences (NeuroUB), Quantitative Psychology Unit, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Elisabet Gimeno
- Institute of Neurosciences (NeuroUB), Quantitative Psychology Unit, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ruth Dolado
- Institute of Neurosciences (NeuroUB), Quantitative Psychology Unit, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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4
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Riley RJ, Gillie ER, Savage JL, Manica A, Boogert NJ. Familiarity, personality, and foraging performance in three-spined sticklebacks. Behav Processes 2022; 200:104699. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2021] [Revised: 06/30/2022] [Accepted: 07/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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Georgopoulou DG, King AJ, Brown RM, Fürtbauer I. Emergence and repeatability of leadership and coordinated motion in fish shoals. Behav Ecol 2021; 33:47-54. [PMID: 35197806 PMCID: PMC8857939 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2021] [Revised: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 09/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies of self-organizing groups like schools of fish or flocks of birds have sought to uncover the behavioral rules individuals use (local-level interactions) to coordinate their motion (global-level patterns). However, empirical studies tend to focus on short-term or one-off observations where coordination has already been established or describe transitions between different coordinated states. As a result, we have a poor understanding of how behavioral rules develop and are maintained in groups. Here, we study the emergence and repeatability of coordinated motion in shoals of stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Shoals were introduced to a simple environment, where their spatio-temporal position was deduced via video analysis. Using directional correlation between fish velocities and wavelet analysis of fish positions, we demonstrate how shoals that are initially uncoordinated in their motion quickly transition to a coordinated state with defined individual leader-follower roles. The identities of leaders and followers were repeatable across two trials, and coordination was reached more quickly during the second trial and by groups of fish with higher activity levels (tested before trials). The rapid emergence of coordinated motion and repeatability of social roles in stickleback fish shoals may act to reduce uncertainty of social interactions in the wild, where individuals live in a system with high fission-fusion dynamics and non-random patterns of association.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dimitra G Georgopoulou
- College of Engineering, Swansea University, SA1 8EN Swansea, UK
- Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
| | - Andrew J King
- Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
| | - Rowan M Brown
- College of Engineering, Swansea University, SA1 8EN Swansea, UK
| | - Ines Fürtbauer
- Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
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6
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Lennox RJ, Westrelin S, Souza AT, Šmejkal M, Říha M, Prchalová M, Nathan R, Koeck B, Killen S, Jarić I, Gjelland K, Hollins J, Hellstrom G, Hansen H, Cooke SJ, Boukal D, Brooks JL, Brodin T, Baktoft H, Adam T, Arlinghaus R. A role for lakes in revealing the nature of animal movement using high dimensional telemetry systems. MOVEMENT ECOLOGY 2021; 9:40. [PMID: 34321114 PMCID: PMC8320048 DOI: 10.1186/s40462-021-00244-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2020] [Accepted: 02/11/2021] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Movement ecology is increasingly relying on experimental approaches and hypothesis testing to reveal how, when, where, why, and which animals move. Movement of megafauna is inherently interesting but many of the fundamental questions of movement ecology can be efficiently tested in study systems with high degrees of control. Lakes can be seen as microcosms for studying ecological processes and the use of high-resolution positioning systems to triangulate exact coordinates of fish, along with sensors that relay information about depth, temperature, acceleration, predation, and more, can be used to answer some of movement ecology's most pressing questions. We describe how key questions in animal movement have been approached and how experiments can be designed to gather information about movement processes to answer questions about the physiological, genetic, and environmental drivers of movement using lakes. We submit that whole lake telemetry studies have a key role to play not only in movement ecology but more broadly in biology as key scientific arenas for knowledge advancement. New hardware for tracking aquatic animals and statistical tools for understanding the processes underlying detection data will continue to advance the potential for revealing the paradigms that govern movement and biological phenomena not just within lakes but in other realms spanning lands and oceans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert J Lennox
- Laboratory for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (LFI) at NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, Nygårdsporten 112, 5008, Bergen, Norway.
| | - Samuel Westrelin
- INRAE, Aix Marseille Univ, Pôle R&D ECLA, RECOVER, 3275 Route de Cézanne - CS 40061, 13182 Cedex 5, Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Allan T Souza
- Institute of Hydrobiology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Marek Šmejkal
- Institute of Hydrobiology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Milan Říha
- Institute of Hydrobiology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Marie Prchalová
- Institute of Hydrobiology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Ran Nathan
- Movement Ecology Lab, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 102 Berman Bldg, Edmond J. Safra Campus at Givat Ram, 91904, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Barbara Koeck
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Graham Kerr Building, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Shaun Killen
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Graham Kerr Building, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Ivan Jarić
- Institute of Hydrobiology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
- Faculty of Science, Department of Ecosystem Biology, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Karl Gjelland
- Norwegian Institute of Nature Research, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Jack Hollins
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Graham Kerr Building, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK
- University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada
| | - Gustav Hellstrom
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Henry Hansen
- Karlstads University, Universitetsgatan 2, 651 88, Karlstad, Sweden
- Department of Biology and Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Bergen, Germany
| | - Steven J Cooke
- Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - David Boukal
- Faculty of Science, Department of Ecosystem Biology, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Jill L Brooks
- Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Tomas Brodin
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Henrik Baktoft
- Technical University of Denmark, Vejlsøvej 39, Building Silkeborg-039, 8600, Silkeborg, Denmark
| | - Timo Adam
- Bielefeld University, Universitätsstraße 25, 33615, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Robert Arlinghaus
- Department of Biology and Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Bergen, Germany
- Division of Integrative Fisheries Management, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Bergen, Germany
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7
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Hasenjager MJ, Hoppitt W, Dugatkin LA. Personality composition determines social learning pathways within shoaling fish. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20201871. [PMID: 33023411 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In shaping how individuals explore their environment and interact with others, personality may mediate both individual and social learning. Yet increasing evidence indicates that personality expression is contingent on social context, suggesting that group personality composition may be key in determining how individuals learn about their environment. Here, we used recovery latency following simulated predator attacks to identify Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata) that acted in a consistently bold or shy manner. We then employed network-based diffusion analysis to track the spread of a novel foraging behaviour through groups containing different proportions of bold and shy fish. Informed associates promoted learning to a greater extent in bold individuals, but only within groups composed predominately of bold fish. As the proportion of shy fish within groups increased, bold individuals instead emerged as especially effective demonstrators that facilitated learning in others. Individuals were also more likely to learn overall within shy-dominated groups than in bold-dominated ones. We demonstrate that whether and how individuals learn is conditional on group personality composition, indicating that selection may favour traits enabling individuals to better match their behavioural phenotype to their social environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Hasenjager
- Department of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham TW20 0EX, UK.,Department of Biology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA
| | - William Hoppitt
- Department of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham TW20 0EX, UK
| | - Lee A Dugatkin
- Department of Biology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA
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8
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Bierbach D, Mönck HJ, Lukas J, Habedank M, Romanczuk P, Landgraf T, Krause J. Guppies Prefer to Follow Large (Robot) Leaders Irrespective of Own Size. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2020; 8:441. [PMID: 32500065 PMCID: PMC7243707 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.00441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2020] [Accepted: 04/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Body size is often assumed to determine how successfully an individual can lead others with larger individuals being better leaders than smaller ones. But even if larger individuals are more readily followed, body size often correlates with specific behavioral patterns and it is thus unclear whether larger individuals are more often followed than smaller ones because of their size or because they behave in a certain way. To control for behavioral differences among differentially-sized leaders, we used biomimetic robotic fish (Robofish) of different sizes. Live guppies (Poecilia reticulata) are known to interact with Robofish in a similar way as with live conspecifics. Consequently, Robofish may serve as a conspecific-like leader that provides standardized behaviors irrespective of its size. We asked whether larger Robofish leaders are preferentially followed and whether the preferences of followers depend on own body size or risk-taking behavior ("boldness"). We found that live female guppies followed larger Robofish leaders in closer proximity than smaller ones and this pattern was independent of the followers' own body size as well as risk-taking behavior. Our study shows a "bigger is better" pattern in leadership that is independent of behavioral differences among differentially-sized leaders, followers' own size and risk-taking behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Bierbach
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Thaer Institute, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Excellence Cluster ‘Science of Intelligence’, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Biology and Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany
| | - Hauke J. Mönck
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Institute for Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Juliane Lukas
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Thaer Institute, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Biology and Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany
| | - Marie Habedank
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Thaer Institute, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Biology and Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany
| | - Pawel Romanczuk
- Excellence Cluster ‘Science of Intelligence’, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Biology, Institute for Theoretical Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Tim Landgraf
- Excellence Cluster ‘Science of Intelligence’, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Institute for Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Jens Krause
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Thaer Institute, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Excellence Cluster ‘Science of Intelligence’, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Biology and Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany
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9
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Lucon-Xiccato T, Anastasia N, Mazzoldi C, Griggio M. Familiarity and sex modulate size-dependent following behaviour in the Mediterranean killifish. Naturwissenschaften 2019; 106:31. [PMID: 31161277 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-019-1630-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2019] [Revised: 05/24/2019] [Accepted: 05/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Living in a group offers the chance to follow the choices and the behaviours of other individuals. Following a group mate might confer fitness advantages if the group mate knows about resources such as food or shelters. Shoaling fish often follow larger group mates which, in most species, are generally older and therefore more experienced. Yet, the effect of individuals' characteristics other than size on following behaviour remains to be understood. For example, familiar fish and female shoals have been reported as more cohesive, which might be due to a differential tendency to follow in relation to familiarity and sex. Here, we investigated whether size, familiarity, sex, and the interaction between these factors affect fish following behaviour. We observed pairs of differently sized Mediterranean killifish, Aphanius fasciatus, exploring a new environment, and we recorded whether the rear fish followed the front fish when the latter changed swimming direction. In female and male pairs, and in unfamiliar pairs, smaller fish were more likely to follow the directional change of the larger fish than vice versa. In mixed-sex pairs and in familiar pairs, however, size did not affect following behaviour and larger fish followed as much as smaller fish did. Our results revealed that killifish's following decisions are determined by the size of the individuals, their level of familiarity, and their sex. These characteristics may have a notable impact on the behaviour of fish groups in nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyrone Lucon-Xiccato
- Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, L. Borsari 46, 44121, Ferrara, Italy.
- Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy.
| | | | | | - Matteo Griggio
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy
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10
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Collignon B, Séguret A, Chemtob Y, Cazenille L, Halloy J. Collective departures and leadership in zebrafish. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0216798. [PMID: 31120920 PMCID: PMC6532955 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216798] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2018] [Accepted: 04/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
In social animals, morphological and behavioural traits may give to some individuals a stronger influence on the collective decisions, even in groups assumed to be leaderless such as fish shoals. Here, we studied and characterized the leadership in collective movements of shoals of zebrafish Danio rerio by observing groups of 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 zebrafish swimming in a two resting sites arena during one hour. We quantified the number of collective departures initiated by each fish and the number of attempts that they made. To do so, we developed an automated pipeline that analysed the individual trajectories generated by the tracking software. For all shoal sizes, the leadership was distributed among several individuals. However, it was equally shared among all the fish in some shoals while other groups showed a more asymmetrical sharing of the initiation of collective departures. To quantify this distribution, we computed the entropy associated with the time series of the identity of all initiators for each experiment and confirmed the presence of a continuum between a homogeneous and a heterogeneous distribution of the leadership. While some fish led more departures than others, an individual analysis showed that all fish had actually the same success rate to lead the shoal out of a resting site after an attempt. Thus, some individuals monopolized the leadership by attempting more often than others to exit a resting site. Finally, we highlight that the intra-group ranking of a fish for the initiative is correlated to its intra-group ranking for the average speed with mobile individuals more prone to lead the shoal. These results demonstrate that the collective behaviour of a shoal can be mainly driven by a subset of individuals even in the absence of higher influence of a fish on its congeneers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bertrand Collignon
- Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Énergies de Demain, UMR 8236, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 75013, Paris, France
- * E-mail:
| | - Axel Séguret
- Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Énergies de Demain, UMR 8236, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Yohann Chemtob
- Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Énergies de Demain, UMR 8236, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Leo Cazenille
- Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Énergies de Demain, UMR 8236, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 75013, Paris, France
| | - José Halloy
- Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Énergies de Demain, UMR 8236, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 75013, Paris, France
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11
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Bevan PA, Gosetto I, Jenkins ER, Barnes I, Ioannou CC. Regulation between personality traits: individual social tendencies modulate whether boldness and leadership are correlated. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 285:rspb.2018.0829. [PMID: 29899075 PMCID: PMC6015863 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.0829] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2018] [Accepted: 05/21/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Although consistent behavioural differences between individuals (i.e. personality variation) are now well established in animals, these differences are not always expressed when individuals interact in social groups. This can be key in important social dynamics such as leadership, which is often positively related to personality traits such as boldness. Individuals consistently differ in how social they are (their sociability), so if other axes of personality variation, such as boldness, can be suppressed during social interactions, this suppression should be stronger in more sociable individuals. We measured boldness (latency to leave a refuge when alone) and sociability (time spent with a conspecific) in three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and tested the boldness-leadership association in pairs of these fish. Both boldness and sociability were repeatable, but were not correlated. When splitting the data between the 50% most sociable and 50% less sociable fish, boldness was more strongly associated with leadership in less rather than more sociable individuals. This is consistent with more sociable fish conforming to their partner's behaviour due to their greater social tendency. One axis of personality variation (sociability) can thus modulate the relationship between others (boldness and leadership), with potential implications for selection on personality variation in social animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peggy A Bevan
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS81TQ, UK
| | - Isabella Gosetto
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS81TQ, UK
| | - Eliza R Jenkins
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS81TQ, UK
| | - Isobel Barnes
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS81TQ, UK
| | - Christos C Ioannou
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS81TQ, UK
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12
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Fülöp A, Németh Z, Kocsis B, Deák-Molnár B, Bozsoky T, Barta Z. Personality and social foraging tactic use in free-living Eurasian tree sparrows (Passer montanus). Behav Ecol 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arz026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
AbstractGroup-foraging individuals often use alternative behavioral tactics to acquire food: some individuals, the producers, actively search for food, whereas others, the scroungers, look for opportunities to exploit the finders’ discoveries. Although the use of social foraging tactics is partly flexible, yet some individuals tend to produce more, whereas others largely prefer to scrounge. This between-individual variation in tactic use closely resembles the phenomenon of animal personality; however, the connection between personality and social foraging tactic use has rarely been investigated in wild animals. Here, we studied this relationship in free-living Eurasian tree sparrows (Passer montanus) during 2 winters. We found that in females, but not in males, social foraging tactic use was predicted by personality: more exploratory (i.e., more active in a novel environment) females scrounged more. Regardless of sex, the probability of scrounging increased with the density of individuals foraging on feeders and the time of feeding within a foraging bout, that is, the later the individual foraged within a foraging bout the higher the probability of scrounging was. Our results demonstrate that consistent individual behavioral differences are linked, in a sex-dependent manner, to group-level processes in the context of social foraging in free-living tree sparrows, suggesting that individual behavioral traits have implications for social evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Attila Fülöp
- MTA-DE Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér, Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Zoltán Németh
- MTA-DE Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér, Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Bianka Kocsis
- MTA-DE Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér, Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Bettina Deák-Molnár
- MTA-DE Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér, Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Tímea Bozsoky
- MTA-DE Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér, Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Zoltán Barta
- MTA-DE Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér, Debrecen, Hungary
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13
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Sasaki T, Mann RP, Warren KN, Herbert T, Wilson T, Biro D. Personality and the collective: bold homing pigeons occupy higher leadership ranks in flocks. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 373:rstb.2017.0038. [PMID: 29581403 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/30/2017] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
While collective movement is ecologically widespread and conveys numerous benefits on individuals, it also poses a coordination problem: who controls the group's movements? The role that animal 'personalities' play in this question has recently become a focus of research interest. Although many animal groups have distributed leadership (i.e. multiple individuals influence collective decisions), studies linking personality and leadership have focused predominantly on the group's single most influential individual. In this study, we investigate the relationship between personality and the influence of multiple leaders on collective movement using homing pigeons, Columba livia, a species known to display complex multilevel leadership hierarchies during flock flights. Our results show that more exploratory (i.e. 'bold') birds are more likely to occupy higher ranks in the leadership hierarchy and thus have more influence on the direction of collective movement than less exploratory (i.e. 'shy') birds during both free flights around their lofts and homing flights from a distant site. Our data also show that bold pigeons fly faster than shy birds during solo flights. We discuss our results in light of theories about the evolution of personality, with specific reference to the adaptive value of heterogeneity in animal groups.This article is part of the theme issue 'Collective movement ecology'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takao Sasaki
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
| | - Richard P Mann
- Department of Statistics, School of Mathematics, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
| | - Katherine N Warren
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
| | - Tristian Herbert
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
| | - Tara Wilson
- University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Dora Biro
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
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14
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Bierbach D, Landgraf T, Romanczuk P, Lukas J, Nguyen H, Wolf M, Krause J. Using a robotic fish to investigate individual differences in social responsiveness in the guppy. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2018; 5:181026. [PMID: 30225087 PMCID: PMC6124066 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.181026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2018] [Accepted: 07/06/2018] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Responding towards the actions of others is one of the most important behavioural traits whenever animals of the same species interact. Mutual influences among interacting individuals may modulate the social responsiveness seen and thus make it often difficult to study the level and individual variation in responsiveness. Here, open-loop biomimetic robots that provide standardized, non-interactive social cues can be a useful tool. These robots are not affected by the live animal's actions but are assumed to still represent valuable and biologically relevant social cues. As this assumption is crucial for the use of biomimetic robots in behavioural studies, we hypothesized (i) that meaningful social interactions can be assumed if live animals maintain individual differences in responsiveness when interacting with both a biomimetic robot and a live partner. Furthermore, to study the level of individual variation in social responsiveness, we hypothesized (ii) that individual differences should be maintained over the course of multiple tests with the robot. We investigated the response of live guppies (Poecilia reticulata) when allowed to interact either with a biomimetic open-loop-controlled fish robot-'Robofish'-or with a live companion. Furthermore, we investigated the responses of live guppies when tested three times with Robofish. We found that responses of live guppies towards Robofish were weaker compared with those of a live companion, most likely as a result of the non-interactive open-loop behaviour of Robofish. Guppies, however, were consistent in their individual responses between a live companion and Robofish, and similar individual differences in response towards Robofish were maintained over repeated testing even though habituation to the test environment was detectable. Biomimetic robots like Robofish are therefore a useful tool for the study of social responsiveness in guppies and possibly other small fish species.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Bierbach
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
| | - Tim Landgraf
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Institute for Computer Science, Arnimallee 7, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Pawel Romanczuk
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt University of Berlin, Thaer Institute, Hinter d. Reinhardtstr. 8-18, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Biology, Institute for Theoretical Biology, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Philippstr. 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Philippstr. 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Juliane Lukas
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt University of Berlin, Thaer Institute, Hinter d. Reinhardtstr. 8-18, Berlin, Germany
| | - Hai Nguyen
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
| | - Max Wolf
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
| | - Jens Krause
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt University of Berlin, Thaer Institute, Hinter d. Reinhardtstr. 8-18, Berlin, Germany
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15
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Influence of predation risk on individual spatial positioning and willingness to leave a safe refuge in a social benthic fish. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-018-2499-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
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