1
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Khatiwada S, Turner SP, Farish M, Camerlink I. Leadership amongst pigs when faced with a novel situation. Behav Processes 2024; 222:105099. [PMID: 39265896 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2024.105099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2024] [Revised: 07/26/2024] [Accepted: 09/09/2024] [Indexed: 09/14/2024]
Abstract
Leadership is a risky behaviour that can impact individuals and groups. Leaders, i.e. individuals who perform or initiate a task while other individuals in the group follow, have been studied in different contexts, but there is still a lack of understanding on the role of individual characteristics that may predispose them to become leaders, such as dominance and personality. In particular, the characteristics of leaders in domestic animal populations has been poorly examined. We studied leadership within 32 groups of young pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus, n = 366 individuals). Leadership was assessed during a group-based fear test (Human Approach Test) which was repeated three times. The first individual per group to touch the person was identified as leader. We assessed repeatability of leadership and characteristics of leaders as compared to followers. Leadership was marginally repeatable, with 6 out of 26 groups having a consistent single leader across all tests. Females had odds 4.13 times greater than males of being a leader, while there was no effect of body weight (a proxy of dominance) or coping style on leadership. The results indicate a similarity with wild populations, in which females lead the herd even though the males, which are superior in body weight, are often dominant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sunil Khatiwada
- Institute of Genetics and Animal Biotechnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Postępu 36a, Jastrzębiec 05-552, Poland.
| | - Simon P Turner
- Animal Behaviour & Welfare, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Research Group, Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), West Mains Rd., Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
| | - Marianne Farish
- Animal Behaviour & Welfare, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Research Group, Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), West Mains Rd., Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
| | - Irene Camerlink
- Institute of Genetics and Animal Biotechnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Postępu 36a, Jastrzębiec 05-552, Poland.
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2
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Acácio M, Gahm K, Anglister N, Vaadia G, Hatzofe O, Harel R, Efrat R, Nathan R, Pinter-Wollman N, Spiegel O. Behavioral plasticity shapes population aging patterns in a long-lived avian scavenger. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2407298121. [PMID: 39163331 PMCID: PMC11363333 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2407298121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2024] [Accepted: 07/13/2024] [Indexed: 08/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Studying the mechanisms shaping age-related changes in behavior ("behavioral aging") is important for understanding population dynamics in our changing world. Yet, studies that capture within-individual behavioral changes in wild populations of long-lived animals are still scarce. Here, we used a 15-y GPS-tracking dataset of a social obligate scavenger, the griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), to investigate age-related changes in movement and social behaviors, and disentangle the role of behavioral plasticity and selective disappearance in shaping such patterns. We tracked 142 individuals for up to 12 y and found a nonlinear increase in site fidelity with age: a sharp increase in site fidelity before sexual maturity (<5 y old), stabilization during adulthood (6 to 15 y), and a further increase at old age (>15 y). This pattern resulted from individuals changing behavior throughout their life (behavioral plasticity) and not from selective disappearance. Mature vultures increased the predictability of their movement routines and spent more nights at the most popular roosting sites compared to younger individuals. Thus, adults likely have a competitive advantage over younger conspecifics. These changes in site fidelity and movement routines were mirrored in changes to social behavior. Older individuals interacted less with their associates (decreasing average strength with age), particularly during the breeding season. Our results reveal a variety of behavioral aging patterns in long-lived species and underscore the importance of behavioral plasticity in shaping such patterns. Comprehensive longitudinal studies are imperative for understanding how plasticity and selection shape the persistence of wild animal populations facing human-induced environmental changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta Acácio
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Kaija Gahm
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Nili Anglister
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Gideon Vaadia
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Ohad Hatzofe
- Science Division, Israel Nature and Parks Authority, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Roi Harel
- Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Ron Efrat
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
| | - Ran Nathan
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Noa Pinter-Wollman
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Orr Spiegel
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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3
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Dahlin CR, Smith-Vidaurre G, Genes MK, Wright TF. Widespread cultural change in declining populations of Amazon parrots. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20240659. [PMID: 39163980 PMCID: PMC11335405 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.0659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2024] [Revised: 06/06/2024] [Accepted: 07/16/2024] [Indexed: 08/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Species worldwide are experiencing anthropogenic environmental change, and the long-term impacts on animal cultural traditions such as vocal dialects are often unknown. Our prior studies of the yellow-naped amazon (Amazona auropalliata) revealed stable vocal dialects over an 11-year period (1994-2005), with modest shifts in geographic boundaries and acoustic structure of contact calls. Here, we examined whether yellow-naped amazons maintained stable dialects over the subsequent 11-year time span from 2005 to 2016, culminating in 22 years of study. Over this same period, this species suffered a dramatic decrease in population size that prompted two successive uplists in IUCN status, from vulnerable to critically endangered. In this most recent 11-year time span, we found evidence of geographic shifts in call types, manifesting in more bilingual sites and introgression across the formerly distinct North-South acoustic boundary. We also found greater evidence of acoustic drift, in the form of new emerging call types and greater acoustic variation overall. These results suggest cultural traditions such as dialects may change in response to demographic and environmental conditions, with broad implications for threatened species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine R. Dahlin
- Departments of Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Johnstown, PA, USA
| | - Grace Smith-Vidaurre
- Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA
- Rockefeller University Field Research Center, Millbrook, NY, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Departments of Integrative Biology and Computational Mathematics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Molly K. Genes
- Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA
| | - Timothy F. Wright
- Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA
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4
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O’Connell-Rodwell CE, Berezin JL, Pignatelli A, Rodwell TC. The use of vocal coordination in male African elephant group departures: evidence of active leadership and consensus. PeerJ 2024; 12:e17767. [PMID: 39056054 PMCID: PMC11271651 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.17767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2024] [Accepted: 06/26/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Group-living animals engage in coordinated vocalizations to depart from a location as a group, and often, to come to a consensus about the direction of movement. Here, we document for the first time, the use of coordinated vocalizations, the "let's go" rumble, in wild male African elephant group departures from a waterhole. We recorded vocalizations and collected behavioral data as known individuals engaged in these vocal bouts during June-July field seasons in 2005, 2007, 2011, and 2017 at Mushara waterhole within Etosha National Park, Namibia. During departure events, we documented which individuals were involved in the calls, the signature structure of each individual's calls, as well as the ordering of callers, the social status of the callers, and those who initiated departure. The "let's go" rumble was previously described in tight-knit family groups to keep the family together during coordinated departures. Male elephants are described as living in loose social groups, making this finding particularly striking. We found that this vocal coordination occurs in groups of closely associated, highly bonded individuals and rarely occurs between looser associates. The three individuals most likely to initiate the "let's go" rumble bouts were all highly socially integrated, and one of these individuals was also the most dominant overall. This finding suggests that more socially integrated individuals might be more likely to initiate, or lead, a close group of associates in the context of leaving the waterhole, just as a high-ranking female would do in a family group. The fact that many individuals were involved in the vocal bouts, and that departure periods could be shorter, longer, or the same amount of time as pre-departure periods, all suggest that there is consensus with regard to the act of leaving, even though the event was triggered by a lead individual.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caitlin E. O’Connell-Rodwell
- Center for Conservation Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
- Center for the Environment, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States of America
- Utopia Scientific, San Diego, CA, United States of America
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Jodie L. Berezin
- Utopia Scientific, San Diego, CA, United States of America
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Alessio Pignatelli
- Department of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States of America
| | - Timothy C. Rodwell
- Utopia Scientific, San Diego, CA, United States of America
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, United States of America
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5
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Liao CC, Magrath RD, Manser MB, Farine DR. The relative contribution of acoustic signals versus movement cues in group coordination and collective decision-making. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20230184. [PMID: 38768199 PMCID: PMC11391321 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024] Open
Abstract
To benefit from group living, individuals need to maintain cohesion and coordinate their activities. Effective communication thus becomes critical, facilitating rapid coordination of behaviours and reducing consensus costs when group members have differing needs and information. In many bird and mammal species, collective decisions rely on acoustic signals in some contexts but on movement cues in others. Yet, to date, there is no clear conceptual framework that predicts when decisions should evolve to be based on acoustic signals versus movement cues. Here, we first review how acoustic signals and movement cues are used for coordinating activities. We then outline how information masking, discrimination ability (Weber's Law) and encoding limitations, as well as trade-offs between these, can identify which types of collective behaviours likely rely on acoustic signals or movement cues. Specifically, our framework proposes that behaviours involving the timing of events or expression of specific actions should rely more on acoustic signals, whereas decisions involving complex choices with multiple options (e.g. direction and destination) should generally use movement cues because sounds are more vulnerable to information masking and Weber's Law effects. We then discuss potential future avenues of enquiry, including multimodal communication and collective decision-making by mixed-species animal groups. This article is part of the theme issue 'The power of sound: unravelling how acoustic communication shapes group dynamic'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chun-Chieh Liao
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University , Canberra, ACT , 2600, Australia
| | - Robert D Magrath
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University , Canberra, ACT , 2600, Australia
| | - Marta B Manser
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich , Zürich , 8057, Switzerland
| | - Damien R Farine
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University , Canberra, ACT , 2600, Australia
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich , Zürich , 8057, Switzerland
- Department of Collective Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior , Radolfzell , 78315, Germany
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6
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Dukas R, Bailey NW. Evolutionary biology of social expertise. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2024. [PMID: 38946116 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13115] [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: 11/13/2023] [Revised: 06/17/2024] [Accepted: 06/19/2024] [Indexed: 07/02/2024]
Abstract
There is increasing evidence that competent handling of social interactions among conspecifics has positive effects on individual fitness. While individual variation in social competence has been appreciated, the role of long-term experience in the acquisition of superior social skills has received less attention. With the goal of promoting further research, we integrate knowledge across disciplines to assess social expertise, defined as the characteristics, skills and knowledge allowing individuals with extensive social experience to perform significantly better than novices on a given social task. We focus on three categories of social behaviour. First, animals can gain from adjusting social behaviour towards individually recognised conspecifics that they interact with on a regular basis. For example, there is evidence that some territorial animals individually recognise their neighbours and modify their social interactions based on experience with each neighbour. Similarly, individuals in group-living species learn to associate with specific group members based on their expected benefits from such social connections. Individuals have also been found to devote considerable time and effort to learning about the spatial location and timing of sexual receptivity of opposite-sex neighbours to optimise reproduction. Second, signallers can enhance their signals, and receivers can refine their response to signals with experience. In many birds and insects, individuals can produce more consistent signals with experience, and females across a wide taxonomic range can adaptively adjust mating preferences after perceiving distinct male signals. Third, in many species, individuals that succeed in reproducing encounter the novel, complex task of caring for vulnerable offspring. Evidence from a few species of mammals indicates that mothers improve in providing for and protecting their young over successive broods. Finally, for social expertise to evolve, heritable variation in social expertise has to be positively associated with fitness. Heritable variation has been shown in traits contributing to social expertise including social attention, empathy, individual recognition and maternal care. There are currently limited data associating social expertise with fitness, most likely owing to sparse research effort. Exceptions include maternal care, signal refinement, and familiarity with neighbours and group members. Overall, there is evidence that individuals in many species keep refining their social skills with experience throughout life. Hence we propose promising lines of research that can quantify more thoroughly the development of social expertise and its effects on fitness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reuven Dukas
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Nathan W Bailey
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9TH, UK
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7
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Chimento M, Aplin LM. Understanding the Role of Naive Learners in Cultural Change. Am Nat 2024; 203:695-712. [PMID: 38781528 DOI: 10.1086/730110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
AbstractA change to a population's social network is a change to the substrate of cultural transmission, affecting behavioral diversity and adaptive cultural evolution. While features of network structure such as population size and density have been well studied, less is understood about the influence of social processes such as population turnover-or the repeated replacement of individuals by naive individuals. Experimental data have led to the hypothesis that naive learners can drive cultural evolution by better assessing the relative value of behaviors, although this hypothesis has been expressed only verbally. We conducted a formal exploration of this hypothesis using a generative model that concurrently simulated its two key ingredients: social transmission and reinforcement learning. We simulated competition between high- and low-reward behaviors while varying turnover magnitude and tempo. Variation in turnover influenced changes in the distributions of cultural behaviors, irrespective of initial knowledge-state conditions. We found optimal turnover regimes that amplified the production of higher reward behaviors through two key mechanisms: repertoire composition and enhanced valuation by agents that knew both behaviors. These effects depended on network and learning parameters. Our model provides formal theoretical support for, and predictions about, the hypothesis that naive learners can shape cultural change through their enhanced sampling ability. By moving from experimental data to theory, we illuminate an underdiscussed generative process that can lead to changes in cultural behavior, arising from an interaction between social dynamics and learning.
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8
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Di Pietro V, Menezes C, de Britto Frediani MG, Pereira DJ, Fajgenblat M, Ferreira HM, Wenseleers T, Oliveira RC. The inheritance of alternative nest architectural traditions in stingless bees. Curr Biol 2024; 34:1996-2001.e3. [PMID: 38508185 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.02.073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2024] [Revised: 02/14/2024] [Accepted: 02/29/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
The transmission of complex behavior and culture in humans has long been attributed to advanced forms of social learning,1,2 which play a crucial role in our technological advancement.3 While similar phenomena of behavioral traditions and cultural inheritance have been observed in animals,1,2,4,5,6 including in primates,7 whales,8 birds,9 and even insects,10 the underlying mechanisms enabling the persistence of such animal traditions, particularly in insects, are less well understood. This study introduces pioneering evidence of enduring architectural traditions in the stingless bee Scaptotrigona depilis, which are maintained without any evidence for social learning. We demonstrate that S. depilis exhibits two distinct nest architectures, comprising either helicoidal or flat, stacked horizontal combs, which are transmitted across generations through stigmergy11,12,13,14,15,16,17-an environmental feedback mechanism whereby the presence of the existing comb structures guides subsequent construction behaviors-thereby leading to a form of environmental inheritance.18,19,20 Cross-fostering experiments further show that genetic factors or prior experience does not drive the observed variation in nest architecture. Moreover, the experimental introduction of corkscrew dislocations within the combs prompted helicoidal building, confirming the use of stigmergic building rules. At a theoretical level, we establish that the long-term equilibrium of building in the helicoidal pattern fits with the expectations of a two-state Markov chain model. Overall, our findings provide compelling evidence for the persistence of behavioral traditions in an insect, based on a simple mechanism of environmental inheritance and stigmergic interactions, without requiring any sophisticated learning mechanism, thereby expanding our understanding of how traditions can be maintained in non-human species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viviana Di Pietro
- Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Cristiano Menezes
- Embrapa Environment, Laboratory of Entomology and Phytopathology, SP-340 Road, 13918-110 Jaguariúna, Brazil
| | | | - David José Pereira
- Embrapa Environment, Laboratory of Entomology and Phytopathology, SP-340 Road, 13918-110 Jaguariúna, Brazil
| | - Maxime Fajgenblat
- Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, Charles Deberiotstraat 32, Leuven 3000, Belgium; I-BioStat, Data Science Institute, Hasselt University, Agoralaan 1, Diepenbeek 3590, Belgium
| | - Helena Mendes Ferreira
- Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Tom Wenseleers
- Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Ricardo Caliari Oliveira
- Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, 3000 Leuven, Belgium; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Departament de Biologia Animal, de Biologia Vegetal i d'Ecologia, Av. de l'Eix Central, edifici C, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain.
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9
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Hedwig D, Kohlberg A. Call combination in African forest elephants Loxodonta cyclotis. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0299656. [PMID: 38498501 PMCID: PMC10947659 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2023] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 03/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Syntax, the combination of meaning-devoid phonemes into meaningful words, which in turn are combined in structurally and semantically complex sentences, is fundamental to the unlimited expressiveness of human languages. Studying the functions of call combinations in non-human species provides insights into the evolution of such syntactic capabilities. Here, we investigated the combination of high amplitude broadband calls with low frequency rumble vocalizations in a highly social species, the African forest elephant Loxodonta cyclotis. Rumbles play an integral role in coordinating social interactions by transmitting socially relevant information, including individual identity. By contrast, broadband calls, such as roars, are thought to function as signals of distress and urgency as they are typically produced in situations of high emotional intensity. Functional changes associated with the combination of these calls remain little understood. We found that call combinations were produced by all age-sex classes but were most prevalent in immature individuals. We found that rumbles used singularly occurred in all five investigated social contexts, whereas single broadband calls were restricted to two resource-related contexts. Call combinations also occurred in all five contexts, suggesting an increase in the functional use of broadband calls when combined with rumbles, analogous to the generativity brought about through syntax in human speech. Moreover, combining calls appeared to lead to functional shifts towards high-stake contexts. Call combinations were more likely in competition contexts compared to single rumbles, and more likely in separation contexts compared to single broadband calls. We suggest that call combination in forest elephants may aide to reduce message ambiguity in high-stake situation by simultaneously communicating distress and individual identity, which may be critical to secure access to resources, reduce the risk of injury and to reunite with or recruit the support of the family group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Hedwig
- Elephant Listening Project, K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
| | - Anna Kohlberg
- Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America
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10
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Jo H, McCune KB, Jablonski PG, Lee SI. Long-term memory of experienced jays facilitates problem-solving by naïve group members in the wild. Sci Rep 2023; 13:21593. [PMID: 38062030 PMCID: PMC10703848 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-46666-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Long-term memory affects animal fitness, especially in social species. In these species, the memory of group members facilitates the acquisition of novel foraging skills through social learning when naïve individuals observe and imitate the successful foraging behavior. Long-term memory and social learning also provide the framework for cultural behavior, a trait found in humans but very few other animal species. In birds, little is known about the duration of long-term memories for complex foraging skills, or the impact of long-term memory on group members. We tested whether wild jays remembered a complex foraging task more than 3 years after their initial experience and quantified the effect of this memory on naïve jay behavior. Experienced jays remembered how to solve the task and their behavior had significant positive effects on interactions by naïve group members at the task. This suggests that natural selection may favor long-term memory of solutions to foraging problems to facilitate the persistence of foraging skills that are specifically useful in the local environment in social birds with long lifespans and overlapping generations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyein Jo
- Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Kelsey B McCune
- Institute for Social, Behavioral and Economic Research, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
- College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA.
| | - Piotr G Jablonski
- Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
- Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Sang-Im Lee
- Laboratory of Integrative Animal Ecology, Department of New Biology, Daegu-Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Daegu, South Korea.
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11
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Grimes C, Brent LJN, Ellis S, Weiss MN, Franks DW, Ellifrit DK, Croft DP. Postreproductive female killer whales reduce socially inflicted injuries in their male offspring. Curr Biol 2023; 33:3250-3256.e4. [PMID: 37478863 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.06.039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2023] [Revised: 06/13/2023] [Accepted: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/23/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the evolution of menopause presents a long-standing scientific challenge1,2,3-why should females cease ovulation prior to the end of their natural lifespan? In human societies, intergenerational resource transfers, for example, food sharing and caregiving, are thought to have played a key role in the evolution of menopause, providing a pathway by which postreproductive females can boost the fitness of their kin.4,5,6 To date however, other late-life contributions that postreproductive females may provide their kin have not been well studied. Here, we test the hypothesis that postreproductive female resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) provide social support to their offspring by reducing the socially inflicted injuries they experience. We found that socially inflicted injuries, as quantified by tooth rake marks, are lower for male offspring in the presence of their postreproductive mother. In contrast, we find no evidence that postreproductive mothers reduce rake marking in their daughters. Similarly, we find no evidence that either reproductive mothers or grandmothers (reproductive or postreproductive) reduce socially inflicted injuries in their offspring and grandoffspring, respectively. Moreover, we find that postreproductive females have no effect on reducing the rake marks for whales in their social unit who are not their offspring. Taken together, our results highlight that directing late-life support may be a key pathway by which postreproductive females transfer social benefits to their male offspring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charli Grimes
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, EX4 4QG Exeter, UK.
| | - Lauren J N Brent
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, EX4 4QG Exeter, UK
| | - Samuel Ellis
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, EX4 4QG Exeter, UK
| | - Michael N Weiss
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, EX4 4QG Exeter, UK; Center for Whale Research, Friday Harbor, WA 98250, USA
| | - Daniel W Franks
- Department of Biology, University of York, YO10 5DD York, UK
| | | | - Darren P Croft
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, EX4 4QG Exeter, UK.
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12
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Rushmore J, Beechler BR, Tavalire H, Gorsich EE, Charleston B, Devan‐Song A, Glidden CK, Jolles AE. The heterogeneous herd: Drivers of close-contact variation in African buffalo and implications for pathogen invasion. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10447. [PMID: 37621318 PMCID: PMC10445036 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10447] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Revised: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 08/05/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Many infectious pathogens are shared through social interactions, and examining host connectivity has offered valuable insights for understanding patterns of pathogen transmission across wildlife species. African buffalo are social ungulates and important reservoirs of directly-transmitted pathogens that impact numerous wildlife and livestock species. Here, we analyzed African buffalo social networks to quantify variation in close contacts, examined drivers of contact heterogeneity, and investigated how the observed contact patterns affect pathogen invasion likelihoods for a wild social ungulate. We collected continuous association data using proximity collars and sampled host traits approximately every 2 months during a 15-month study period in Kruger National Park, South Africa. Although the observed herd was well connected, with most individuals contacting each other during each bimonthly interval, our analyses revealed striking heterogeneity in close-contact associations among herd members. Network analysis showed that individual connectivity was stable over time and that individual age, sex, reproductive status, and pairwise genetic relatedness were important predictors of buffalo connectivity. Calves were the most connected members of the herd, and adult males were the least connected. These findings highlight the role susceptible calves may play in the transmission of pathogens within the herd. We also demonstrate that, at time scales relevant to infectious pathogens found in nature, the observed level of connectivity affects pathogen invasion likelihoods for a wide range of infectious periods and transmissibilities. Ultimately, our study identifies key predictors of social connectivity in a social ungulate and illustrates how contact heterogeneity, even within a highly connected herd, can shape pathogen invasion likelihoods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie Rushmore
- Carlson College of Veterinary MedicineOregon State UniversityCorvallisOregonUSA
- One Health Institute, School of Veterinary MedicineUniversity of CaliforniaDavisCaliforniaUSA
- EpiCenter for Disease Dynamics, School of Veterinary MedicineUniversity of CaliforniaDavisCaliforniaUSA
| | - Brianna R. Beechler
- Carlson College of Veterinary MedicineOregon State UniversityCorvallisOregonUSA
| | - Hannah Tavalire
- Department of Integrative BiologyOregon State UniversityCorvallisOregonUSA
| | - Erin E. Gorsich
- Department of Integrative BiologyOregon State UniversityCorvallisOregonUSA
- The Zeeman Institute: Systems Biology and Infectious Disease Epidemiology ResearchUniversity of WarwickCoventryUK
- School of Life SciencesUniversity of WarwickCoventryUK
| | | | - Anne Devan‐Song
- Department of Integrative BiologyOregon State UniversityCorvallisOregonUSA
| | | | - Anna E. Jolles
- Carlson College of Veterinary MedicineOregon State UniversityCorvallisOregonUSA
- Department of Integrative BiologyOregon State UniversityCorvallisOregonUSA
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13
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Sharma N, Anglister N, Spiegel O, Pinter‐Wollman N. Social situations differ in their contribution to population-level social structure in griffon vultures. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10139. [PMID: 37274150 PMCID: PMC10238758 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Revised: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Social relationships among animals emerge from interactions in multiple ecological and social situations. However, we seldom ask how each situation contributes to the global structure of a population, and whether different situations contribute different information about social relationships and the position of individuals within the social fabric. Griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) interact socially in multiple situations, including communal roosting, joint flights, and co-feeding. These social interactions can influence population-level outcomes, such as disease transmission and information sharing that determine survival and response to changes. We examined the unique contribution of each social and ecological situation to the social structure of the population and individuals' positions within the overall social network using high-resolution GPS tracking. We found that the number of individuals each vulture interacted with (degree) was best predicted by diurnal interactions-both during flights and on the ground (such as when feeding). However, the strength of social bonds, that is, the number of interactions an individual had (strength), was best predicted by interactions on the ground-both during the day (e.g., while feeding) and at night (e.g., while roosting) but not by interactions while flying. Thus, social situations differ in their impact on the relationships that individuals form. By incorporating the ecological situations in which social interactions occur we gain a more complete view of how social relationships are formed and which situations are important for different types of interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nitika Sharma
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of California Los AngelesLos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
| | - Nili Anglister
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life SciencesTel Aviv UniversityTel AvivIsrael
| | - Orr Spiegel
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life SciencesTel Aviv UniversityTel AvivIsrael
| | - Noa Pinter‐Wollman
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of California Los AngelesLos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
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14
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White KJ, Rivas MG, Pradhan DS. Sex differences in aggressive intensities and brain steroids during status resolution in a sex changing fish, Lythrypnus dalli. Horm Behav 2023; 153:105373. [PMID: 37182511 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2023.105373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Revised: 04/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
For vertebrates living in social hierarchies, the neuroendocrine system regulates temporal aspects of aggressive interactions during status establishment. In teleost fishes, the sex steroids 17β-estradiol (E2) and 11-ketotestosterone (KT), and the glucocorticoid, cortisol (CORT) are associated with aggression in distinct phases of their life history. Bluebanded gobies, Lythrypnus dalli, exhibit bidirectional sexual plasticity by responding to changes in their social structure by escalating aggression associated with neural changes that precede gonadal reorganization to the opposite sex. Here, we used a novel experimental design to investigate systemic (waterborne) and neural steroids associated with the earliest behavioral changes associated with feminization and masculinization during protandrous and protogynous sex change respectively. In stable social groups of wild-caught L. dalli comprising of one male and two females, we disrupted hierarchy by adding or removing a male, providing a social context for intrasexual aggression. Within only 30 min, males exhibited high rates of physical aggression inside the nest to maintain their territory, while females exhibited high rates of chases outside the nest to reestablish social status. During this period of instability, while waterborne steroids were not affected, brain E2 was higher in all fish and CORT was lower in male brains. Brain KT was higher in males who emerged as dominant compared to dominant females. Overall, a combination of differences in brain E2, CORT, and KT were important in the regulation of hierarchy re-establishment and maintenance. Rapid responses during conspecific aggressive encounters are likely mediated by neural steroid synthesis that precede changes in systemic steroids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katrina J White
- Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID 83209, United States of America.
| | - Melissa G Rivas
- Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID 83209, United States of America
| | - Devaleena S Pradhan
- Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID 83209, United States of America
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15
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Tennessen JB, Holt MM, Wright BM, Hanson MB, Emmons CK, Giles DA, Hogan JT, Thornton SJ, Deecke VB. Divergent foraging strategies between populations of sympatric matrilineal killer whales. Behav Ecol 2023; 34:373-386. [PMID: 37192928 PMCID: PMC10183210 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arad002] [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: 02/07/2022] [Revised: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023] Open
Abstract
In cooperative species, human-induced rapid environmental change may threaten cost-benefit tradeoffs of group behavioral strategies that evolved in past environments. Capacity for behavioral flexibility can increase population viability in novel environments. Whether the partitioning of individual responsibilities within social groups is fixed or flexible across populations is poorly understood, despite its relevance for predicting responses to global change at the population and species levels and designing successful conservation programs. We leveraged bio-logging data from two populations of fish-eating killer whales (Orcinus orca) to quantify patterns of fine-scale foraging movements and their relationships with demography. We reveal striking interpopulation differences in patterns of individual foraging behavior. Females from the endangered Southern Resident (SRKW) population captured less prey and spent less time pursuing prey than SRKW males or Northern Resident (NRKW) females, whereas NRKW females captured more prey than NRKW males. The presence of a calf (≤3 years) reduced the number of prey captured by adult females from both populations, but disproportionately so for SRKW. SRKW adult males with a living mother captured more prey than those whose mother had died, whereas the opposite was true for NRKW adult males. Across populations, males foraged in deeper areas than females, and SRKW captured prey deeper than NRKW. These population-level differences in patterns of individual foraging behavior challenge the existing paradigm that females are the disproportionate foragers in gregarious resident killer whales, and demonstrate considerable variation in the foraging strategies across populations of an apex marine predator experiencing different environmental stressors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer B Tennessen
- Conservation Biology Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, WA 98112, USA
- Lynker Technologies LLC, Leesburg, VA 20175, USA
| | - Marla M Holt
- Conservation Biology Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, WA 98112, USA
| | - Brianna M Wright
- Pacific Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Nanaimo, BC V9T 6N7, Canada
| | - M Bradley Hanson
- Conservation Biology Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, WA 98112, USA
| | - Candice K Emmons
- Conservation Biology Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, WA 98112, USA
| | - Deborah A Giles
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, & Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | | | - Sheila J Thornton
- Pacific Science Enterprise Centre, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, West Vancouver, BC V7V 1N6, Canada
| | - Volker B Deecke
- Institute of Science and Environment, University of Cumbria, Ambleside, Cumbria LA22 9BB, UK
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16
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Roatti V, Cowlishaw G, Huchard E, Carter A. Social network inheritance and differentiation in wild baboons. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:230219. [PMID: 37234491 PMCID: PMC10206475 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Immatures' social development may be fundamental to understand important biological processes, such as social information transmission through groups, that can vary with age and sex. Our aim was to determine how social networks change with age and differ between sexes in wild immature baboons, group-living primates that readily learn socially. Our results show that immature baboons inherited their mothers' networks and differentiated from them as they aged, increasing their association with partners of similar age and the same sex. Males were less bonded to their matriline and became more peripheral with age compared to females. Our results may pave the way to further studies testing a new hypothetical framework: in female-philopatric societies, social information transmission may be constrained at the matrilineal level by age- and sex-driven social clustering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vittoria Roatti
- Anthropology Department, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
- Zoological Society of London, Institute of Zoology, London NW1 4RY, UK
| | - Guy Cowlishaw
- Zoological Society of London, Institute of Zoology, London NW1 4RY, UK
| | - Elise Huchard
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier, CNRS, University of Montpellier, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
| | - Alecia Carter
- Anthropology Department, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
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17
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Siracusa ER, Pereira AS, Brask JB, Negron-Del Valle JE, Phillips D, Platt ML, Higham JP, Snyder-Mackler N, Brent LJN. Ageing in a collective: the impact of ageing individuals on social network structure. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20220061. [PMID: 36802789 PMCID: PMC9939263 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/16/2022] [Indexed: 02/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Ageing affects many phenotypic traits, but its consequences for social behaviour have only recently become apparent. Social networks emerge from associations between individuals. The changes in sociality that occur as individuals get older are thus likely to impact network structure, yet this remains unstudied. Here we use empirical data from free-ranging rhesus macaques and an agent-based model to test how age-based changes in social behaviour feed up to influence: (i) an individual's level of indirect connectedness in their network and (ii) overall patterns of network structure. Our empirical analyses revealed that female macaques became less indirectly connected as they aged for some, but not for all network measures examined. This suggests that indirect connectivity is affected by ageing, and that ageing animals can remain well integrated in some social contexts. Surprisingly, we did not find evidence for a relationship between age distribution and the structure of female macaque networks. We used an agent-based model to gain further understanding of the link between age-based differences in sociality and global network structure, and under which circumstances global effects may be detectable. Overall, our results suggest a potentially important and underappreciated role of age in the structure and function of animal collectives, which warrants further investigation. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Collective behaviour through time'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin R. Siracusa
- School of Psychology, Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QG, UK
| | - André S. Pereira
- School of Psychology, Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QG, UK
- Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Josefine Bohr Brask
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | | | - Daniel Phillips
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Arizona, AZ 85281, USA
| | - Cayo Biobank Research Unit
- School of Psychology, Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QG, UK
- Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Arizona, AZ 85281, USA
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Arizona, AZ 85281, USA
- School for Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Arizona, AZ 85281, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Marketing, University of Pennsylvania, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Michael L. Platt
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Marketing, University of Pennsylvania, PA 19104, USA
| | - James P. Higham
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Noah Snyder-Mackler
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Arizona, AZ 85281, USA
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Arizona, AZ 85281, USA
- School for Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Arizona, AZ 85281, USA
| | - Lauren J. N. Brent
- School of Psychology, Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QG, UK
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18
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Age and Social History Impact Social Interactions between Bull Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus) at Denver Zoo. JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGICAL AND BOTANICAL GARDENS 2023. [DOI: 10.3390/jzbg4010018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Wild bull Asian elephants spend time in all-male groups. Therefore, managers of ex situ populations increasingly house bulls together. We examined the social interactions of five bull Asian elephants at Denver Zoo, using instantaneous sampling to compare social interactions across adolescent and mature bulls, and bulls with a social history prior to the integration of this group compared to bulls with no social history. Both age and social history significantly affected bull behavior. Adolescent bulls exhibited more affiliative and submissive behaviors when housed with mixed-age and mature social partners compared to with only adolescents, and less non-contact agonistic behavior and less time in proximity to a conspecific with mixed-age groups compared to with only other adolescents. Mature bulls exhibited more affiliative behavior when they were with only adolescent bulls compared to only mature bulls, and more time in proximity to a conspecific and increased contact agonistic behavior with at least one adolescent compared to only mature bulls. Bulls in new social groups engaged in more affiliative, agonistic, and submissive behaviors, and spent less time in proximity, than when they were in previously established social combinations. As more institutions house bulls socially, our results provide insights into factors that may affect bull social interactions.
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19
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Buchholtz EK, McDaniels M, McCulloch G, Songhurst A, Stronza A. A mixed‐methods assessment of human‐elephant conflict in the Western Okavango Panhandle, Botswana. PEOPLE AND NATURE 2023. [DOI: 10.1002/pan3.10443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Erin K. Buchholtz
- The Ecoexist Trust Maun Botswana
- Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Program Texas A&M University Texas College Station USA
- Department of Ecology & Conservation Biology Texas A&M University Texas College Station USA
| | - Megan McDaniels
- Graduate Group in Ecology University of California – Davis California Davis USA
| | - Graham McCulloch
- Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Program Texas A&M University Texas College Station USA
- Department of Ecology & Conservation Biology Texas A&M University Texas College Station USA
- Department of Zoology University of Oxford Oxford UK
| | - Anna Songhurst
- Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Program Texas A&M University Texas College Station USA
- Department of Ecology & Conservation Biology Texas A&M University Texas College Station USA
- Department of Zoology University of Oxford Oxford UK
| | - Amanda Stronza
- The Ecoexist Trust Maun Botswana
- Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Program Texas A&M University Texas College Station USA
- Department of Ecology & Conservation Biology Texas A&M University Texas College Station USA
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20
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Edelblutte É, Krithivasan R, Hayek MN. Animal agency in wildlife conservation and management. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2023; 37:e13853. [PMID: 35262968 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2021] [Revised: 10/13/2021] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Wildlife conservation and management (WCM) practices have been historically drawn from a wide variety of academic fields, yet practitioners have been slow to engage with emerging conversations about animals as complex beings, whose individuality and sociality influence their relationships with humans. We propose an explicit acknowledgement of wild, nonhuman animals as active participants in WCM. We examined 190 studies of WCM interventions and outcomes to highlight 3 common assumptions that underpin many present approaches to WCM: animal behaviors are rigid and homogeneous; wildlife exhibit idealized wild behavior and prefer pristine habitats; and human-wildlife relationships are of marginal or secondary importance relative to nonhuman interactions. We found that these management interventions insufficiently considered animal learning, decision-making, individuality, sociality, and relationships with humans and led to unanticipated detrimental outcomes. To address these shortcomings, we synthesized theoretical advances in animal behavioral sciences, animal geographies, and animal legal theory that may help conservation professionals reconceptualize animals and their relationships with humans. Based on advances in these fields, we constructed the concept of animal agency, which we define as the ability of animals to actively influence conservation and management outcomes through their adaptive, context-specific, and complex behaviors that are predicated on their sentience, individuality, lived experiences, cognition, sociality, and cultures in ways that shape and reshape shared human-wildlife cultures, spaces, and histories. Conservation practices, such as compassionate conservation, convivial conservation, and ecological justice, incorporate facets of animal agency. Animal agency can be incorporated in conservation problem-solving by assessing the ways in which agency contributes to species' survival and by encouraging more adaptive and collaborative decision-making among human and nonhuman stakeholders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Émilie Edelblutte
- Earth and Environment Department, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Roopa Krithivasan
- Graduate School of Geography, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Matthew Nassif Hayek
- Department of Environmental Studies, New York University, New York, New York, USA
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21
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Socioconnectomics: Connectomics Should Be Extended to Societies to Better Understand Evolutionary Processes. SCI 2023. [DOI: 10.3390/sci5010005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Connectomics, which is the network study of connectomes or maps of the nervous system of an organism, should be applied and expanded to human and animal societies, resulting in the birth of the domain of socioconnectomics compared to neuroconnectomics. This new network study framework would open up new perspectives in evolutionary biology and add new elements to theories, such as the social and cultural brain hypotheses. Answering questions about network topology, specialization, and their connections with functionality at one level (i.e., neural or societal) may help in understanding the evolutionary trajectories of these patterns at the other level. Expanding connectomics to societies should be done in comparison and combination with multilevel network studies and the possibility of multiorganization selection processes. The study of neuroconnectomes and socioconnectomes in animals, from simpler to more advanced ones, could lead to a better understanding of social network evolution and the feedback between social complexity and brain complexity.
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22
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Garaï ME, Boult VL, Zitzer HR. Identifying the Effects of Social Disruption through Translocation on African Elephants ( Loxodonta africana), with Specifics on the Social and Ecological Impacts of Orphaning. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:483. [PMID: 36766373 PMCID: PMC9913331 DOI: 10.3390/ani13030483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2022] [Revised: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 01/26/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
African elephants (Loxodonta africana) exhibit a long developmental period during which they acquire complex social and ecological knowledge through social networks. Central to this is that matriarchs and older individuals play an important role as repositories of information gained through experience. Anthropogenic interventions-including poaching, culling, translocation, and hunting-can disrupt elephants' social networks, with implications for individual fitness and potential long-term population viability. Here, we draw on a unique long-running, individual-based dataset to examine the impacts of translocation on a population of elephants in South Africa, taking into consideration demographic rates, social dynamics, and ecological decision-making. Specifically, we compared two translocated groups: a group of unrelated culling Orphans and a family herd. We found that the Orphan group experienced accelerated reproductive rates when compared with the family herd. The Orphan group also fissioned more frequently and for longer periods of time, suggesting lower cohesiveness, and were less decisive in their large-scale movement decisions. These results add to the growing body of literature on the downstream impacts of social disruption for elephants. Whilst the translocation of culling Orphans is no longer practised in South Africa, we encourage careful consideration of any elephant translocation and the resulting social disruption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marion E. Garaï
- Elephant Reintegration Trust, Port Alfred 6170, South Africa
| | - Victoria L. Boult
- Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading RG6 7BE, UK
| | - Heike R. Zitzer
- Elephant Reintegration Trust, Port Alfred 6170, South Africa
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23
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Chan SCY, Chui SYS, Pretorius Y, Karczmarski L. Estimating population parameters of African elephants: a photographic mark-recapture application in a South African protected area. Mamm Biol 2023. [DOI: 10.1007/s42991-022-00334-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
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24
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Rensel LJ, Hodges KE, Lausen CL. Maternity colony social structure of myotis in British Columbia, Canada. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-022-03265-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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25
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Vachon F, Eguiguren A, Rendell L, Gero S, Whitehead H. Distinctive, fine-scale distribution of Eastern Caribbean sperm whale vocal clans reflects island fidelity rather than environmental variables. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9449. [PMID: 36349249 PMCID: PMC9631323 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2022] [Revised: 10/03/2022] [Accepted: 10/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Environmental variables are often the primary drivers of species' distributions as they define their niche. However, individuals, or groups of individuals, may sometimes adopt a limited range within this larger suitable habitat as a result of social and cultural processes. This is the case for Eastern Caribbean sperm whales. While environmental variables are reasonably successful in describing the general distribution of sperm whales in the region, individuals from different cultural groups have distinct distributions around the Lesser Antilles islands. Using data collected over 2 years of dedicated surveys in the Eastern Caribbean, we conducted habitat modeling and habitat suitability analyses to investigate the mechanisms responsible for such fine-scale distribution patterns. Vocal clan-specific models were dramatically more successful at predicting distribution than general species models, showing how a failure to incorporate social factors can impede accurate predictions. Habitat variation between islands did not explain vocal clan distributions, suggesting that cultural group segregation in the Eastern Caribbean sperm whale is driven by traditions of site/island fidelity (most likely maintained through conformism and homophily) rather than habitat type specialization. Our results provide evidence for the key role of cultural knowledge in shaping habitat use of sperm whales within suitable environmental conditions and highlight the importance of cultural factors in shaping sperm whale ecology. We recommend that social and cultural information be incorporated into conservation and management as culture can segregate populations on fine spatial scales in the absence of environmental variability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felicia Vachon
- Department of BiologyDalhousie UniversityHalifaxNova ScotiaCanada
| | - Ana Eguiguren
- Department of BiologyDalhousie UniversityHalifaxNova ScotiaCanada
| | - Luke Rendell
- School of BiologyUniversity of St. AndrewsSt. AndrewsUK
| | - Shane Gero
- Department of BiologyCarleton UniversityOttawaOntarioCanada
| | - Hal Whitehead
- Department of BiologyDalhousie UniversityHalifaxNova ScotiaCanada
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26
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Goldenberg SZ, Chege SM, Mwangi N, Craig I, Daballen D, Douglas-Hamilton I, Lamberski N, Lenaipa M, Lendira R, Lesowapir C, Lokooria LP, Mutinda M, Omengo F, Rowe K, Stacy-Dawes J, Wittemyer G, Owen MA. Social integration of translocated wildlife: a case study of rehabilitated and released elephant calves in northern Kenya. Mamm Biol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s42991-022-00285-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
AbstractConservation translocations have the potential to strengthen populations of threatened and endangered species, but facilitating integration of translocated individuals with resident populations remains a substantial challenge. Developing functional social relationships like cooperative partnerships or establishing clear dominance hierarchies may be critical to integration of released individuals. Developing such relationships has not received much attention in translocation research, especially for long-lived, socially complex animals for which establishment and navigation of social environments is often a lengthy process that requires sustained monitoring to understand. Here, we present a case study of the social associations of African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana) calves that have been rehabilitated and released into a fenced wildlife sanctuary in northern Kenya with a resident population of elephants. We use focal follows of interactions pre-release and GPS tracking post-release to quantify social associations of calves with each other and with resident elephants at the release site. We demonstrate how this approach supports translocation monitoring by capturing temporal trends in social patterns within and between release cohorts and among released elephants and wild elephants already resident at the site during a transitional soft release period. Our results show that initial post-release social behavior of rehabilitated calves is related to histories of interaction with familiar individuals and cohort membership and that released calves increased their associations with residents over time. This information provides new behavioral insights for guiding elephant release projects, like the strength of relationships within and among release cohorts, the time to integration with the resident population, and the occurrence and increased incidence of societal fission–fusion. Further, this study provides an example of the utility of animal behavior research to achieve and assess progress towards conservation objectives, and to develop monitoring tools for conservation managers.
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Mukeka JM, Ogutu JO, Kanga E, Piepho HP, Røskaft E. Long-term trends in elephant mortality and their causes in Kenya. FRONTIERS IN CONSERVATION SCIENCE 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fcosc.2022.975682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
High mortality poses a serious threat to sustainable conservation of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana). Using detected carcass data collected by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) during 1992-2017, we analyze temporal and spatial variation in elephant mortality in Kenya. We investigate the major mortality causes and means used to kill elephants, carcass category, tusk recovery status, variation in mortality with elephant age and sex classes, differences between inside and outside protected areas (PAs), the Proportion of Illegally Killed Elephants (PIKE) and the overall mortality rate (MR — the number of dead/number of live elephants in a given year). In total 9,182 elephant deaths were recorded during the 26 years. Elephant mortality increased over time and was attributed primarily to natural (33.1%) and human-related causes, particularly ivory poaching (31.5%) and human-elephant conflicts (19.9%). Elephant mortality varied across Kenya’s 47 counties in correspondence with variation in elephant population size and was the highest in the leading elephant range counties of Taita Taveta, Laikipia, Samburu and Meru. Mortality was higher for males and adults and outside the protected areas. Most elephant carcasses had tusks (75.1%) but a few did not (12.5%). Yearly PIKE values peaked in 2012, the year with the highest poaching levels in Kenya during 1992-2017. MR increased throughout 1992-2017. Temporal variation in elephant mortality probability was significantly influenced by human and livestock population densities, average annual maximum temperature and total annual rainfall and the strength of these influences varied across the seven leading elephant range counties of Kenya. Natural processes are increasingly contributing to elephant mortality likely due to climate change and the associated food and water stress, exacerbated by contracting range. Enhancing anti-poaching and strategies for mitigating climate change impacts and human-elephant conflict and reducing range contraction while sustaining habitat connectivity can help reduce mortality and promote elephant conservation. Strengthening enforcement of international wildlife laws can further reduce illegal trade in tusks and killing of elephants.
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Cobb B, Morris-Drake A, Kennedy P, Layton M, Kern JM, Radford AN. Factors affecting follower responses to movement calls in cooperatively breeding dwarf mongooses. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
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Parker JM, Wittemyer G. Orphaning stunts growth in wild African elephants. CONSERVATION PHYSIOLOGY 2022; 10:coac053. [PMID: 35919453 PMCID: PMC9341231 DOI: 10.1093/conphys/coac053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2022] [Revised: 06/23/2022] [Accepted: 07/25/2022] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Orphans of several species suffer social and physiological consequences such as receiving more aggression from conspecifics and lower survival. One physiological consequence of orphaning, stunted growth, has been identified in both humans and chimpanzees, but has not been assessed in a non-primate species. Here, we tested whether wild African elephant orphans show evidence of stunted growth. We measured individually known female elephants in the Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves of Kenya, with a rangefinder capable of calculating height, to estimate a von Bertalanffy growth curve for female elephants of the study population. We then compared measurements of known orphans and non-orphans of various ages, using a Bayesian analysis to assess variation around the derived growth curve. We found that orphans are shorter for their age than non-orphans. However, results suggest orphans may partially compensate for stunting through later growth, as orphans who had spent a longer time without their mother had heights more similar to non-orphans. More age mates in an individual's family were associated with taller height, suggesting social support from peers may contribute to increased growth. Conversely, more adult females in an individual's family were associated with shorter height, suggesting within-group competition for resources with older individuals may reduce juvenile growth. Finally, we found a counterintuitive result that less rainfall in the first 6 years of life was correlated with taller height, potentially reflecting the unavoidable bias of measuring individuals who were fit enough to survive conditions of low rainfall as young calves. Reduced growth of individuals has been shown to reduce survival and reproduction in other species. As such, stunting in wildlife orphans may negatively affect fitness and represents an indirect effect of ivory poaching on African elephants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenna M Parker
- Corresponding author: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido, CA 92027, USA.
| | - George Wittemyer
- Save the Elephants, Marula Manor, Marula Lane, Karen, Nairobi 00200, Kenya
- Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, 102 Johnson Hall, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
- Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, 1474 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
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Viewing animal migration through a social lens. Trends Ecol Evol 2022; 37:985-996. [PMID: 35931583 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2022] [Revised: 06/03/2022] [Accepted: 06/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Evidence of social learning is growing across the animal kingdom. Researchers have long hypothesized that social interactions play a key role in many animal migrations, but strong empirical support is scarce except in a few unique systems and species. In this review, we aim to catalyze advances in the study of social migrations by synthesizing research across disciplines and providing a framework for understanding when, how, and why social influences shape the decisions animals make during migration. Integrating research across the fields of social learning and migration ecology will advance our understanding of the complex behavioral phenomena of animal migration and help to inform conservation of animal migrations in a changing world.
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Everyone matters: identification with facial wrinkles allows more accurate inference of elephant social dynamics. Mamm Biol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s42991-022-00257-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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Brambilla A, von Hardenberg A, Canedoli C, Brivio F, Sueur C, Stanley CR. Long term analysis of social structure: evidence of age‐based consistent associations in male Alpine ibex. OIKOS 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.09511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alice Brambilla
- Dept of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, Univ. of Zurich Zurich Switzerland
- Alpine Wildlife Research Center, Gran Paradiso National Park Torino Italy
| | - Achaz von Hardenberg
- Conservation Biology Research Group, Dept of Biological Sciences, Univ. of Chester Chester UK
| | - Claudia Canedoli
- Dept of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Univ. of Milano Bicocca Milano Italy
| | | | - Cédric Sueur
- Univ. de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178 Strasbourg France
- Inst. Universitaire de France, Saint‐Michel 103 Paris France
| | - Christina R. Stanley
- Conservation Biology Research Group, Dept of Biological Sciences, Univ. of Chester Chester UK
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Male mastodon landscape use changed with maturation (late Pleistocene, North America). Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2118329119. [PMID: 35696566 PMCID: PMC9231495 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2118329119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Fossil remains usually reveal little about lifetime landscape use beyond place of death, but ever-growing tusks of American mastodons (Mammut americanum) record this fundamental aspect of paleobiology. Using oxygen and strontium isotopes from a serially sampled male mastodon tusk, we reconstruct changing patterns of landscape use during his life. We find clear shifts in landscape use during adolescence and following maturation to adulthood, including increased monthly movements and development of a summer-only range and mating ground. The mastodon died in his inferred summer mating ground, far from landscapes used during other seasons. Mastodons had long gestation times, and late Pleistocene populations lived in harsh, rapidly changing environments. Seasonal landscape use and migration were likely critical for maximizing mastodon reproductive success. Under harsh Pleistocene climates, migration and other forms of seasonally patterned landscape use were likely critical for reproductive success of mastodons (Mammut americanum) and other megafauna. However, little is known about how their geographic ranges and mobility fluctuated seasonally or changed with sexual maturity. We used a spatially explicit movement model that coupled strontium and oxygen isotopes from two serially sampled intervals (5+ adolescent years and 3+ adult years) in a male mastodon tusk to test for changes in landscape use associated with maturation and reproductive phenology. The mastodon’s early adolescent home range was geographically restricted, with no evidence of seasonal preferences. Following inferred separation from the matriarchal herd (starting age 12 y), the adolescent male’s mobility increased as landscape use expanded away from his natal home range (likely central Indiana). As an adult, the mastodon’s monthly movements increased further. Landscape use also became seasonally structured, with some areas, including northeast Indiana, used only during the inferred mastodon mating season (spring/summer). The mastodon died in this area (>150 km from his core, nonsummer range) after sustaining a craniofacial injury consistent with a fatal blow from a competing male’s tusk during a battle over access to mates. Northeast Indiana was likely a preferred mating area for this individual and may have been regionally significant for late Pleistocene mastodons. Similarities between mammutids and elephantids in herd structure, tusk dimorphism, tusk function, and the geographic component of male maturation indicate that these traits were likely inherited from a common ancestor.
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Cram DL, van der Wal JEM, Uomini N, Cantor M, Afan AI, Attwood MC, Amphaeris J, Balasani F, Blair CJ, Bronstein JL, Buanachique IO, Cuthill RRT, Das J, Daura‐Jorge FG, Deb A, Dixit T, Dlamini GS, Dounias E, Gedi II, Gruber M, Hoffmann LS, Holzlehner T, Isack HA, Laltaika EA, Lloyd‐Jones DJ, Lund J, Machado AMS, Mahadevan L, Moreno IB, Nwaogu CJ, Pierotti R, Rucunua SA, dos Santos WF, Serpa N, Smith BD, Sridhar H, Tolkova I, Tun T, Valle‐Pereira JVS, Wood BM, Wrangham RW, Spottiswoode CN. The ecology and evolution of human‐wildlife cooperation. PEOPLE AND NATURE 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/pan3.10369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - Jessica E. M. van der Wal
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology Department of Science and Innovation‐National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town Cape Town South Africa
| | - Natalie Uomini
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Leipzig Germany
| | - Mauricio Cantor
- Department of Ecology and Zoology Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Florianópolis Brazil
- Department of Fisheries Wildlife and Conservation Sciences, Marine Mammal Institute, Oregon State University Newport Oregon USA
- Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Radolfzell Germany
- Centre of Marine Studies Universidade Federal do Paraná Pontal do Paraná Brazil
| | - Anap I. Afan
- A.P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute University of Jos Jos Nigeria
| | | | - Jenny Amphaeris
- School of Arts Culture and Language, Bangor University Bangor UK
| | | | - Cameron J. Blair
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology Department of Science and Innovation‐National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town Cape Town South Africa
| | - Judith L. Bronstein
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology University of Arizona Tucson Arizona USA
| | | | - Rion R. T. Cuthill
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology Department of Science and Innovation‐National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town Cape Town South Africa
| | - Jewel Das
- Institute of Marine Sciences University of Chittagong Chittagong Bangladesh
| | - Fábio G. Daura‐Jorge
- Department of Ecology and Zoology Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Florianópolis Brazil
| | - Apurba Deb
- Department of Environment, Climate and Parks Government of Manitoba Manitoba Canada
| | - Tanmay Dixit
- Department of Zoology University of Cambridge Cambridge UK
| | | | - Edmond Dounias
- CEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD Montpellier France
| | | | - Martin Gruber
- Department of Anthropology and Cultural Research University of Bremen Bremen Germany
| | - Lilian S. Hoffmann
- Cytogenetics and Evolution Lab Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Porto Alegre Brazil
| | - Tobias Holzlehner
- Seminar für Ethnologie Martin‐Luther‐University Halle‐Wittenberg Halle Germany
| | | | - Eliupendo A. Laltaika
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology Department of Science and Innovation‐National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town Cape Town South Africa
- Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority Ngorongoro Tanzania
| | - David J. Lloyd‐Jones
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology Department of Science and Innovation‐National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town Cape Town South Africa
| | - Jess Lund
- Department of Zoology University of Cambridge Cambridge UK
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology Department of Science and Innovation‐National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town Cape Town South Africa
| | - Alexandre M. S. Machado
- Department of Ecology and Zoology Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Florianópolis Brazil
| | - L. Mahadevan
- Department of Physics Harvard University Cambridge Massachusetts USA
- School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Harvard University Cambridge Massachusetts USA
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Harvard University Cambridge Massachusetts USA
| | - Ignacio B. Moreno
- Centro de Estudos Costeiros Limnológicos e Marinhos, Campus Litoral Norte, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Imbé Brazil
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Biologia Animal Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Porto Alegre Brazil
| | - Chima J. Nwaogu
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology Department of Science and Innovation‐National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town Cape Town South Africa
| | - Raymond Pierotti
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology University of Kansas Lawrence Kansas USA
| | | | | | - Nathalia Serpa
- Centro de Estudos Costeiros Limnológicos e Marinhos, Campus Litoral Norte, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Imbé Brazil
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Biologia Animal Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Porto Alegre Brazil
| | | | - Hari Sridhar
- Independent Researcher Bengaluru Karnataka India
| | - Irina Tolkova
- School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Harvard University Cambridge Massachusetts USA
| | | | | | - Brian M. Wood
- Department of Anthropology University of California Los Angeles USA
- Department of Human Behavior Ecology, and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Leipzig Germany
| | - Richard W. Wrangham
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology Harvard University Cambridge Massachusetts USA
| | - Claire N. Spottiswoode
- Department of Zoology University of Cambridge Cambridge UK
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology Department of Science and Innovation‐National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town Cape Town South Africa
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Stenfelt J, Yngvesson J, Rørvang MV. A calm companion lowers fear in groups of dairy cows. J Dairy Sci 2022; 105:6923-6935. [PMID: 35691746 DOI: 10.3168/jds.2022-21796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2022] [Accepted: 04/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Dairy cows are generally calm and compliant, but some management procedures can make cows fearful or stressed. Not only are fearful cattle a threat to human safety, but fear is also detrimental to animal welfare and productivity. This study aimed to test whether fear in small groups of dairy cattle could be attenuated by the presence of a calm and experienced companion. Twenty-seven dairy cows from a Swedish agricultural school participated in the study. The study included a standardized fear-eliciting stimulus, which was 3 sudden, repetitive openings of a red and white umbrella. Demonstrator cows (n = 9) were selected based on age to ensure that all demonstrators were older than the naïve test cows (n = 18). Of these 9 demonstrator cows, 6 were selected as untrained (i.e., habituated to the presence of the test person) and 3 were selected as trained demonstrators (i.e., additionally habituated to the fear-eliciting stimulus). The remaining 18 test cows comprised 6 test-cow groups of 3 cows each, which were their own controls, resulting in a crossover design; 3 groups were tested with a trained demonstrator first and then with an untrained demonstrator, and vice versa for the other 3 groups, resulting in a total of 12 trials (4 sub-treatments). Response variables were heart rate increase from baseline, behavioral reaction indicative of fear, and latency to resume feeding after exposure to the fear-eliciting stimulus. The study found a calming effect of a trained demonstrator on test cows' heart rate but not on latency to resume feeding or behavioral reaction. Post hoc analyses revealed a carryover effect on latency, indicating that test cows who were accompanied by an untrained demonstrator first had longer latencies than cows in all other sub-treatments. Adding a calm, experienced cow to groups of dairy cattle may mitigate fear and thereby improve welfare and safety.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Stenfelt
- Department of Biosystems and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 190, 234 44 Lomma, Sweden
| | - J Yngvesson
- Department of Biosystems and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 190, 234 44 Lomma, Sweden; Department of Animal Health and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 234, 532 23 Skara, Sweden
| | - M V Rørvang
- Department of Biosystems and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 190, 234 44 Lomma, Sweden.
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Ramos A, Robin JP, Manizan L, Audroin C, Rodriguez E, Kemp YJM, Sueur C. Glucocorticoids of European Bison in Relation to Their Status: Age, Dominance, Social Centrality and Leadership. Animals (Basel) 2022; 12:849. [PMID: 35405836 PMCID: PMC8996974 DOI: 10.3390/ani12070849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2022] [Revised: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/24/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Stress is the body's response to cope with the environment and generally better survive unless too much chronic stress persists. While some studies suggest that it would be more stressful to be the dominant individual of the group, others support the opposite hypothesis. Several variables can actually affect this relationship, or even cancel it. This study therefore aims to make the link between social status and the basal level of stress of 14 wild European bison (Bison bonasus, L. 1758) living together. We collected faeces and measured the faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM). We showed that FGM is linked to different variables of social status of European bison, specifically age, dominance rank, eigenvector centrality but also to interactions between the variables. Preferential leaders in bison, i.e., the older and more dominant individuals which are more central ones, are less stressed compared to other group members. Measurement of such variables could thus be a valuable tool to follow and improve the conservation of species by collecting data on FGM and other social variables and adapt group composition or environmental conditions (e.g., supplement in food) according to the FGM concentration of herd individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amandine Ramos
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, 67000 Strasbourg, France; (A.R.); (J.-P.R.); (L.M.); (C.A.)
| | - Jean-Patrice Robin
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, 67000 Strasbourg, France; (A.R.); (J.-P.R.); (L.M.); (C.A.)
| | - Lola Manizan
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, 67000 Strasbourg, France; (A.R.); (J.-P.R.); (L.M.); (C.A.)
| | - Cyril Audroin
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, 67000 Strasbourg, France; (A.R.); (J.-P.R.); (L.M.); (C.A.)
| | - Esther Rodriguez
- PWN Waterleidingbedrijf Noord-Holland, Postbus 2113, 1990 AC Velserbroek, The Netherlands; (E.R.); (Y.J.M.K.)
| | - Yvonne J. M. Kemp
- PWN Waterleidingbedrijf Noord-Holland, Postbus 2113, 1990 AC Velserbroek, The Netherlands; (E.R.); (Y.J.M.K.)
- ARK Nature, Molenveldlaan 43, 6523 RJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Cédric Sueur
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, 67000 Strasbourg, France; (A.R.); (J.-P.R.); (L.M.); (C.A.)
- Institut Universitaire de France, 75231 Paris, France
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Garai ME, Roos T, Eggeling T, Ganswindt A, Pretorius Y, Henley M. Developing welfare parameters for African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in fenced reserves in South Africa. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0264931. [PMID: 35324916 PMCID: PMC8947097 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
South Africa has many fenced reserves harbouring small to medium sized populations of African elephant (Loxodonta africana), most of which have been translocated. Elephants on fenced reserves may be exposed to various management interventions and practices (translocation, hunting, darting, high tourism impact, contraception programs, disruption due to infrastructure maintenance, etc.). These factors may impact the welfare of elephants. Poor elephant welfare may have serious consequences such as increased inter- and intra-species aggression that could result in fatalities. This is the first study to attempt to define behavioural and physiological welfare parameters for free-ranging elephants on small to medium sized reserves. The eight study sites incorporated reserves with different social structure combinations, elephant life-histories, reserve sizes, habitat, management, and tourism intensity. Data collection consisted of behavioural observations (10-minute videos) as well as faecal samples. By incorporating both behavioural and physiological (faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) concentration) parameters, we aimed to investigate whether the two parameters showed similar trends. Five behavioural categories were identified (Arousal, Assessing, Ambivalent, Ambivalent/ Body care, and Frustrated behaviour), with various detailed behaviours demonstrated by the elephants that may indicate the influence of anthropogenic disturbance and possibly impact on animal welfare. The study showed significant differences between the selected detailed behaviours, behavioural categories and fGCM concentrations of elephants across the eight reserves. History seemed to be a decisive factor, as reserves with predominantly ex-captive elephants showed higher frequencies of certain behaviours as well as higher fGCM concentrations. Age, sex, reserve size and season were also found to contribute to our defined welfare indices and fGCM concentrations. This indicates that behavioural parameters, indicative of certain behavioural states, are valuable indicators of welfare, as supported by the physiological response of the elephants. The results also highlight the importance of taking multiple specified behaviours from a category into consideration when evaluating the welfare of elephants, to account for individual variation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Tenisha Roos
- Elephant Reintegration Trust, Port Alfred, South Africa
| | | | - André Ganswindt
- Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | | | - Michelle Henley
- Applied Behavioural Ecology and Environmental Research Unit, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
- Elephants Alive, Hoedspruit, Limpopo, South Africa
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Goll Y, Bordes C, Weissman YA, Shnitzer I, Beukeboom R, Ilany A, Koren L, Geffen E. Sex-associated and context-dependent leadership in the rock hyrax. iScience 2022; 25:104063. [PMID: 35359807 PMCID: PMC8961210 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2021] [Revised: 12/26/2021] [Accepted: 03/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
In many mammalian species, both sexes may take leadership role, but different traits may play a role in determining variation within species. Here we examine the effect of sex on leadership. We present three complementary datasets derived from a well-studied population of wild rock hyrax (Procavia capensis). The findings demonstrated that male and female rock hyraxes take on different leadership positions, depending on the context. When risk is moderate, more likely to lead are younger resident males, which experience high cortisol and lower testosterone levels. However, during acute predation scenarios, more likely to lead are males with lower centrality status. We suggest that hyrax males exhibit risky behaviors that may reflect their need for self-advertisement. In contrast, leadership among group females is more equally distributed. Females have little to gain from risky actions due to the lack of competition among them, but nonetheless take leadership positions. Different traits play a role in hyrax male and female leaders, in different contexts On moderate risk, younger resident males with high cortisol and low testosterone lead During predation scenario, lower centrality status males lead Among group females, leadership is more equally distributed
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Affiliation(s)
- Yael Goll
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Camille Bordes
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
| | - Yishai A. Weissman
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
| | - Inbar Shnitzer
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
| | - Rosanne Beukeboom
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
| | - Amiyaal Ilany
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
| | - Lee Koren
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
| | - Eli Geffen
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Corresponding author
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Social Disruption Impairs Predatory Threat Assessment in African Elephants. Animals (Basel) 2022; 12:ani12040495. [PMID: 35203203 PMCID: PMC8868390 DOI: 10.3390/ani12040495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2021] [Revised: 02/09/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary The sharing of social and ecological information is vitally important for group-living animals, especially among cognitively advanced species (e.g., primates, cetaceans and elephants) that can acquire detailed knowledge over their long lifetimes. In our study, we compared the ability of elephants from two very different populations to assess the threat associated with different numbers of roaring lions. The population in Amboseli (Kenya) consists of stable family groups and experiences relatively low levels of human disturbance, while the population in Pilanesberg (South Africa) was founded in the early 1980’s from young and often unrelated orphan elephants. We broadcast lion roars to families of elephants in both these populations and recorded how they responded to differing levels of threat (one versus three lions). The Amboseli population successfully increased their defensive bunching behaviour to the greater threat associated with three lions, whereas the Pilanesberg elephants appeared unable to make the same distinction. Our findings indicate that profound disruption experienced early in life and the lack of older adults to learn from has impaired the ability of the Pilanesberg elephants to make accurate assessments of predatory threat. We suggest that, in addition to population size, conservation practitioners need to consider the crucial role of social structure and knowledge transmission in these highly social and long-lived species. Abstract The transmission of reliable information between individuals is crucial for group-living animals. This is particularly the case for cognitively advanced mammals with overlapping generations that acquire detailed social and ecological knowledge over long lifetimes. Here, we directly compare the ecological knowledge of elephants from two populations, with radically different developmental histories, to test whether profound social disruption affects their ability to assess predatory threat. Matriarchs (≤50 years of age) and their family groups received playbacks of three lions versus a single lion roaring. The family groups in the natural Amboseli population (Kenya) reliably assessed the greater predatory threat presented by three lions roaring versus one. However, in the socially disrupted Pilanesberg population (South Africa), no fine-scale distinctions were made between the numbers of roaring lions. Our results suggest that the removal of older and more experienced individuals in highly social species, such as elephants, is likely to impact the acquisition of ecological knowledge by younger group members, particularly through the lack of opportunity for social learning and cultural transmission of knowledge. This is likely to be exacerbated by the trauma experienced by juvenile elephants that witnessed the culling of family members and were translocated to new reserves. With increasing levels of anthropogenic disturbance, it is important that conservation practitioners consider the crucial role that population structure and knowledge transfer plays in the functioning and resilience of highly social and long-lived species.
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Dalpasso A, Ficetola GF, Giachello S, Lo Parrino E, Manenti R, Muraro M, Falaschi M. Similar species, different fates: Abundance dynamics in spatially structured populations of common and threatened frogs. DIVERS DISTRIB 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/ddi.13483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Dalpasso
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy Università degli Studi di Milano Milan Italy
| | - Gentile Francesco Ficetola
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy Università degli Studi di Milano Milan Italy
- Laboratoire d’Écologie Alpine Univ. Grenoble AlpesUniv. Savoie Mont BlancCNRSLECA Grenoble France
| | - Simone Giachello
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy Università degli Studi di Milano Milan Italy
| | - Elia Lo Parrino
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy Università degli Studi di Milano Milan Italy
| | - Raoul Manenti
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy Università degli Studi di Milano Milan Italy
| | - Martina Muraro
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy Università degli Studi di Milano Milan Italy
| | - Mattia Falaschi
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy Università degli Studi di Milano Milan Italy
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Wiśniewska M, Puga-Gonzalez I, Lee P, Moss C, Russell G, Garnier S, Sueur C. Simulated poaching affects global connectivity and efficiency in social networks of African savanna elephants—An exemplar of how human disturbance impacts group-living species. PLoS Comput Biol 2022; 18:e1009792. [PMID: 35041648 PMCID: PMC8797174 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2021] [Revised: 01/28/2022] [Accepted: 12/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Selective harvest, such as poaching, impacts group-living animals directly through mortality of individuals with desirable traits, and indirectly by altering the structure of their social networks. Understanding the relationship between disturbance-induced, structural network changes and group performance in wild animals remains an outstanding problem. To address this problem, we evaluated the immediate effect of disturbance on group sociality in African savanna elephants—an example, group-living species threatened by poaching. Drawing on static association data from ten free-ranging groups, we constructed one empirically based, population-wide network and 100 virtual networks; performed a series of experiments ‘poaching’ the oldest, socially central or random individuals; and quantified the immediate change in the theoretical indices of network connectivity and efficiency of social diffusion. Although the social networks never broke down, targeted elimination of the socially central conspecifics, regardless of age, decreased network connectivity and efficiency. These findings hint at the need to further study resilience by modeling network reorganization and interaction-mediated socioecological learning, empirical data permitting. The main contribution of our work is in quantifying connectivity together with global efficiency in multiple social networks that feature the sociodemographic diversity likely found in wild elephant populations. The basic design of our simulation makes it adaptable for hypothesis testing about the consequences of anthropogenic disturbance or lethal management on social interactions in a variety of group-living species with limited, real-world data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maggie Wiśniewska
- Department of Biological Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Ivan Puga-Gonzalez
- Institutt for global utvikling og samfunnsplanlegging, Universitetet i Agder, Kristiansand, Norway
- Center for Modeling Social Systems at NORCE, Kristiansand, Norway
| | - Phyllis Lee
- Amboseli Trust for Elephants, Nairobi, Kenya
- Faculty of Natural Science, University of Stirling, Stirling, United Kingdom
| | | | - Gareth Russell
- Department of Biological Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey, United States of America
| | - Simon Garnier
- Department of Biological Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey, United States of America
| | - Cédric Sueur
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC, UMR 7178, Strasbourg, France
- Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
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Lee PC, Moss CJ, Njiraini N, Poole JH, Sayialel K, Fishlock VL. Cohort consequences of drought and family disruption for male and female African elephants. Behav Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Cohort effects, reflecting early adversity or advantage, have persisting consequences for growth, reproductive onset, longevity, and lifetime reproductive success. In species with prolonged life histories, cohort effects may establish variation in age-sex structures, while social structure may buffer individuals against early adversity. Using periods of significant ecological adversity, we examined cohort effects for male and female elephants (Loxodonta africana) over almost 50 years in Amboseli, Kenya. Mortality spiked during severe droughts with highest mortality among calves under 2 years and females over 40 years. Deaths of oldest females resulted in social disruption via matriarch turnover, with potential impacts on resource acquisition for survivors. We predicted that survivors of high mortality and social challenges would have altered life-history trajectories, with later age at first reproduction and reduced age-specific fertility for females and slow transitions to independence and late-onset of potential mating or musth among males. Contrary to expectations, there were no persisting early drought effects on female age at first conception while matriarch loss around puberty accelerated reproductive onset. Experience of an early life drought did not influence age-specific reproductive rates once females commenced reproduction. Males who survived an early drought exhibited complex consequences: male age at family independence was later with larger peer cohort size, but earlier with drought in year of independence (13.9 vs 14.6 years). Early drought had no effect on age at first musth, but male reproductive onset was weakly associated with the number of peers (negative) and age at independence (positive).
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Affiliation(s)
- Phyllis C Lee
- Amboseli Trust for Elephants, Langata, Nairobi, Kenya
- Behaviour & Evolution Research Group, Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
| | | | | | - Joyce H Poole
- ElephantVoices, Buskhellinga 3, 3236 Sandefjord, Norway
| | | | - Vicki L Fishlock
- Amboseli Trust for Elephants, Langata, Nairobi, Kenya
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life & Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, UK
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Killen SS, Cortese D, Cotgrove L, Jolles JW, Munson A, Ioannou CC. The Potential for Physiological Performance Curves to Shape Environmental Effects on Social Behavior. Front Physiol 2021; 12:754719. [PMID: 34858209 PMCID: PMC8632012 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2021.754719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2021] [Accepted: 10/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
As individual animals are exposed to varying environmental conditions, phenotypic plasticity will occur in a vast array of physiological traits. For example, shifts in factors such as temperature and oxygen availability can affect the energy demand, cardiovascular system, and neuromuscular function of animals that in turn impact individual behavior. Here, we argue that nonlinear changes in the physiological traits and performance of animals across environmental gradients—known as physiological performance curves—may have wide-ranging effects on the behavior of individual social group members and the functioning of animal social groups as a whole. Previous work has demonstrated how variation between individuals can have profound implications for socially living animals, as well as how environmental conditions affect social behavior. However, the importance of variation between individuals in how they respond to changing environmental conditions has so far been largely overlooked in the context of animal social behavior. First, we consider the broad effects that individual variation in performance curves may have on the behavior of socially living animals, including: (1) changes in the rank order of performance capacity among group mates across environments; (2) environment-dependent changes in the amount of among- and within-individual variation, and (3) differences among group members in terms of the environmental optima, the critical environmental limits, and the peak capacity and breadth of performance. We then consider the ecological implications of these effects for a range of socially mediated phenomena, including within-group conflict, within- and among group assortment, collective movement, social foraging, predator-prey interactions and disease and parasite transfer. We end by outlining the type of empirical work required to test the implications for physiological performance curves in social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaun S Killen
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Daphne Cortese
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Lucy Cotgrove
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Jolle W Jolles
- Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), Campus de Bellaterra (UAB), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Amelia Munson
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Christos C Ioannou
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
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Perret A, George I, Coulon M, Cousillas H, Hausberger M, Henry L. Deprivation of direct adult contact during development affects social representation in a songbird. Dev Psychobiol 2021; 63:e22207. [PMID: 34813093 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2021] [Revised: 09/23/2021] [Accepted: 09/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Social cognition involves a wide array of skills that are built largely through interactions with conspecifics and therefore depend upon early social experience. Motivation for social stimuli is a key feature of social behavior and an operant conditioning task showed that isolated wild-caught adult starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) are highly motivated to access pictures of other starlings. Here, we show that hand-raised adult starlings maintained in groups of peers throughout development but without any contact with adult models were not or only poorly motivated to access pictures of conspecifics. Moreover, they did not prefer pictures of starlings to pictures of landscapes, unlike birds wild-caught as adults. These results raise questions about the role of social experience during development, particularly with adult models, in the development of social motivation and of social representation in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Audrey Perret
- Univ Rennes, Normandie Univ, CNRS, EthoS (Éthologie animale et humaine), UMR 6552, Rennes, France
| | - Isabelle George
- Univ Rennes, Normandie Univ, CNRS, EthoS (Éthologie animale et humaine), UMR 6552, Rennes, France
| | - Marion Coulon
- Univ Rennes, Normandie Univ, CNRS, EthoS (Éthologie animale et humaine), UMR 6552, Rennes, France
| | - Hugo Cousillas
- Univ Rennes, Normandie Univ, CNRS, EthoS (Éthologie animale et humaine), UMR 6552, Rennes, France
| | - Martine Hausberger
- Univ Rennes, Normandie Univ, CNRS, EthoS (Éthologie animale et humaine), UMR 6552, Rennes, France
| | - Laurence Henry
- Univ Rennes, Normandie Univ, CNRS, EthoS (Éthologie animale et humaine), UMR 6552, Rennes, France
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Evans JC, Lindholm AK, König B. Family dynamics reveal that female house mice preferentially breed in their maternal community. Behav Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Whether females breed in their natal group is an important factor in the evolution of extended families in animal sociality. Breeding in natal groups comes with costs and benefits, depending on group size and presence of older relatives, including mothers. Studying the consequences of breeding in the natal versus another group provides insight into the decisions and trade-offs governing the formation and structure of family groups. We investigated the family dynamics of a population of free-ranging commensal house mice. Using dynamic community detection on long-term datasets, we determined which females first bred in their natal group. We then looked at how this influenced breeding success. We found most females (77%) exhibited strong philopatry, breeding in their natal groups. Breeding elsewhere was only somewhat predictable at very large and very small group sizes. Despite their philopatric preference, breeding elsewhere made no difference in how quickly and successfully a female bred. However, presence of their mother did lead females to breed sooner when born during high breeding activity, when competition over reproduction is high. Based on these results, potential loss of reproductive success from leaving the natal group does not seem to be the main driver of philopatry in female house mice. The effect of the presence of mothers suggests that benefiting from established social connections promotes breeding in the natal group. Mothers providing benefits also implies a lack of conflict between generations, which will be important for the development of stable social groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julian C Evans
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Anna K Lindholm
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Barbara König
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
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Hörner F, Oerke AK, Müller DWH, Westerhüs U, Azogu-Sepe I, Hruby J, Preisfeld G. Monitoring Behaviour in African Elephants during Introduction into a New Group: Differences between Related and Unrelated Animals. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:ani11102990. [PMID: 34680009 PMCID: PMC8532974 DOI: 10.3390/ani11102990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2021] [Revised: 10/13/2021] [Accepted: 10/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary African elephants are highly social animals that perform a so-called Greeting Ceremony in the wild when meeting elephants they are familiar with but have not seen for a certain timespan. Until now, it has not been known whether zoo elephants also show this unique behaviour. Therefore, this study was designed around the reunifications of two mother–daughter pairs that had been separated for 2 and 12 years, and two unifications of unrelated elephants, as a comparison. First contact was conducted in a protected setting, i.e., there was a fence between the animals to prevent possible fighting. Signs of the Greeting Ceremony shown by the elephants, the distance they kept to the separating fence, and the time until the elephants’ trunks touched for the first time were observed. The results demonstrate that the related elephants showed all behavioural characteristic of the Greeting Ceremony, kept close to the fence, and touched trunks after only a few seconds, while elephants that were not familiar with each other did not show a full Greeting Ceremony, stayed further from the fence, and touched trunks for the first time only after several minutes upon meeting. This study testifies that zoo elephants show the same typical social behaviour known from wild elephants (namely the Greeting Ceremony) and, therefore, behave species-specific. It also confirms the strong family bonds of elephants and the cognitive abilities of elephants, specifically their long-term social memory. Abstract The introduction of elephants into new groups is necessary for breeding programmes. However, behavioural studies on the reactions of these animals at first encounters are missing. In the present study, female African elephants (Loxodonta africana) living in zoos were observed during unifications with unfamiliar elephants (introduction of two to one females and one to two females; n = 6) and reunifications with related elephants (two mother–daughter-pairs; n = 4) that were separated for 2 and 12 years, respectively. First encounters of the elephants were observed and recorded by scan sampling. The parameters measured were (a) signs of the characteristic Greeting Ceremony, (b) distance to the fence separating the elephants during first contact, and (c) time until trunks touched for the first time. The data were statistically analysed with SPSS. The results showed that related elephants performed a full Greeting Ceremony on reunifications. Unrelated elephants only expressed a minor greeting. During first encounters, related elephants predominantly showed affiliative behaviour (p = 0.001), whilst unrelated elephants expressed more agonistic behaviour (p = 0.001). The distance to the fence was significantly smaller for related elephants than for unrelated elephants (p = 0.038). first contact of trunks occurred on average after 3.00 s. in related elephants and 1026.25 s. in unrelated elephants. These findings indicate that related elephants recognise their kin after up to 12 years of separation, meet them with a full Greeting Ceremony during reunification, and seek contact to the related elephant, while unrelated elephants are hesitant during unifications with unfamiliar elephants and express more agonistic behaviour. The results testify that zoo elephants show the same species-specific social behaviour as their conspecifics in the wild. It also confirms the cognitive abilities of elephants and the significance of matrilines for breeding programmes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franziska Hörner
- Fakultät für Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften, Zoologie und Didaktik der Biologie, University of Wuppertal, Gaußstraße 20, D-42119 Wuppertal, Germany;
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +49-15784033812
| | - Ann-Kathrin Oerke
- Endocrinology Laboratory, German Primate Centre, Kellnerweg 4, D-37077 Goettingen, Germany;
| | - Dennis W. H. Müller
- Zoological Garden Halle (Saale), Fasanstr. 5a, D-06114 Halle (Saale), Germany;
| | - Uta Westerhüs
- Opel-Zoo Kronberg, Am Opel-Zoo 3, D-61476 Kronberg im Taunus, Germany;
| | - Idu Azogu-Sepe
- Serengeti-Park Hodenhagen, Am Safaripark 1, D-29693 Hodenhagen, Germany;
| | - Jiri Hruby
- ZOO Dvůr Králové, Štefánikova 1029, C-544 01 Dvůr Králové nad Labem, Czech Republic;
| | - Gela Preisfeld
- Fakultät für Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften, Zoologie und Didaktik der Biologie, University of Wuppertal, Gaußstraße 20, D-42119 Wuppertal, Germany;
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The Youngest, the Heaviest and/or the Darkest? Selection Potentialities and Determinants of Leadership in Canarian Dromedary Camels. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:ani11102886. [PMID: 34679907 PMCID: PMC8532867 DOI: 10.3390/ani11102886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2021] [Revised: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Genetic selection of camels for behavioral traits is not an extended practice in livestock scenarios. Given the existence of pleiotropic genes that influence two or more seemingly unrelated phenotypic traits, here we studied the sociodemographic, zoometric and phaneroptical characteristics potentially determining the intraherd leadership role in Canarian camels. This local endangered breed is mainly reared in same-sex groups because of biased morphostructural preferences, that is, tourism/leisure and milk production for males and females, respectively. The attribute most influencing leadership role was sexual status, as gelded animals more frequently initiated group movements. Furthermore, younger camels were mainly endorsed as group leaders, a condition that could be ascribed to their recognized fluid intelligence and need for constant social and environmental interaction. Referring to zoometrics and phaneroptics, the heaviest and darkest-coated dromedaries were significantly more prone to reaching higher positions in the leadership hierarchy. The presence of white-haired zones in the extremities, head and neck as well as iris depigmentation had non-negligible influence on this type of social organization. This information is valuable for application both in refining animal handling procedures and in genetic selection of animals for their social behavior. Abstract Several idiosyncratic and genetically correlated traits are known to extensively influence leadership in both domestic and wild species. For minor livestock such as camels, however, this type of behavior remains loosely defined and approached only for sex-mixed herds. The interest in knowing those animal-dependent variables that make an individual more likely to emerge as a leader in a single-sex camel herd has its basis in the sex-separated breeding of Canarian dromedary camels for utilitarian purposes. By means of an ordinal logistic regression, it was found that younger, gelded animals may perform better when eliciting the joining of mates, assuming that they were castrated just before reaching sexual maturity and once they were initiated in the pertinent domestication protocol for their lifetime functionality. The higher the body weight, the significantly (p < 0.05) higher the score in the hierarchical rank when leading group movements, although this relationship appeared to be inverse for the other considered zoometric indexes. Camels with darker and substantially depigmented coats were also significantly (p < 0.05) found to be the main initiators. Routine intraherd management and leisure tourism will be thus improved in efficiency and security through the identification and selection of the best leader camels.
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Vasudev D, Goswami VR, Srinivas N, Syiem BLN, Sarma A. Identifying important connectivity areas for the wide‐ranging Asian elephant across conservation landscapes of Northeast India. DIVERS DISTRIB 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/ddi.13419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Divya Vasudev
- Conservation Initiatives Guwahati Assam India
- Centre for Wildlife Studies Bengaluru Karnataka India
- Wildlife Conservation Trust Mumbai Maharashtra India
| | - Varun R. Goswami
- Conservation Initiatives Guwahati Assam India
- Centre for Wildlife Studies Bengaluru Karnataka India
| | | | - Biang La Nam Syiem
- Conservation Initiatives Guwahati Assam India
- Centre for Wildlife Studies Bengaluru Karnataka India
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences Deakin University Melbourne VIC Australia
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Affiliation(s)
- Jakub Szymkowiak
- Population Ecology Research Unit, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz Univ. Poznań Poland
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Kashetsky T, Avgar T, Dukas R. The Cognitive Ecology of Animal Movement: Evidence From Birds and Mammals. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.724887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Cognition, defined as the processes concerned with the acquisition, retention and use of information, underlies animals’ abilities to navigate their local surroundings, embark on long-distance seasonal migrations, and socially learn information relevant to movement. Hence, in order to fully understand and predict animal movement, researchers must know the cognitive mechanisms that generate such movement. Work on a few model systems indicates that most animals possess excellent spatial learning and memory abilities, meaning that they can acquire and later recall information about distances and directions among relevant objects. Similarly, field work on several species has revealed some of the mechanisms that enable them to navigate over distances of up to several thousand kilometers. Key behaviors related to movement such as the choice of nest location, home range location and migration route are often affected by parents and other conspecifics. In some species, such social influence leads to the formation of aggregations, which in turn may lead to further social learning about food locations or other resources. Throughout the review, we note a variety of topics at the interface of cognition and movement that invite further investigation. These include the use of social information embedded in trails, the likely important roles of soundscapes and smellscapes, the mechanisms that large mammals rely on for long-distance migration, and the effects of expertise acquired over extended periods.
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