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Maffezzini N, Turner SP, Bolhuis JE, Arnott G, Camerlink I. Third-party intervention and post-conflict behaviour in agonistic encounters of pigs (Sus scrofa). Front Zool 2023; 20:28. [PMID: 37592308 PMCID: PMC10433626 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-023-00508-w] [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: 02/07/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 08/19/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Third-party interference in agonistic contests entails a deliberate intervention in an ongoing fight by a bystanding individual (third party) and may be followed by post-conflict social behaviour to provide support to a specific individual. The mechanisms behind third-party intervention are, however, still largely understudied. The aim of this study was to investigate third-party interference, with the predictions that (1) the interferer derives benefits from its action by winning a fight, (2) that patterns of intervention depend on familiarity, (3) that dyadic fights last longer than triadic fights, and (4) that interferers engage in non-agonistic social behaviours afterwards. Pre-pubertal pigs (Sus scrofa) (n = 384) were grouped with one familiar and four unfamiliar conspecifics (all non-kin) to elicit contests for dominance rank. Third-party interference was analysed for the first 30 min after grouping, along with the behaviour (nosing or aggression), contest duration, contest outcome, and interferer behaviour after the fight (post-conflict social behaviour). RESULTS Three types of interference were observed: non-agonistic involvement (nose contact) by the interferer in a dyadic fight; a triadic fight with each of three contestants fighting one opponent at a time; and triadic fights with two opponents jointly attacking the third one (two-against-one fights). The likelihood of a third-party intervention to occur did not depend on the presence of a familiar animal in the fight. However, once intervention was triggered, interferers attacked unfamiliar fight initiators more than familiar ones. Two-against-one fights lasted longer than other triadic fights and occurred more often when both initial contestants were females. Results of 110 triadic fights (out of 585 fights in total) revealed that interferers were more likely to win compared to the initial opponents at equal body weight. The most common post-conflict behaviour displayed by the interferer was agonistic behaviour towards another group member, independently of familiarity. CONCLUSIONS The general lack of discrimination for familiarity suggests interference is not driven by support to familiar individuals in pigs. The results show that intervening in an ongoing fight gives the interferer a high chance of contest success and may be a strategy that is beneficial to the interferer to increase its dominance status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole Maffezzini
- Institute of Genetics and Animal Biotechnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Jastrzębiec, Poland
- Animal Behaviour and Welfare, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Department, Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), West Mains Rd., Edinburgh, EH9 3JG, UK
| | - Simon P Turner
- Animal Behaviour and Welfare, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Department, Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), West Mains Rd., Edinburgh, EH9 3JG, UK
| | - J Elizabeth Bolhuis
- Adaptation Physiology Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Gareth Arnott
- Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University, Belfast, BT9 7BL, UK.
| | - Irene Camerlink
- Institute of Genetics and Animal Biotechnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Jastrzębiec, Poland
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Jim HL, Plohovich M, Marshall-Pescini S, Range F. Wolves and dogs fail to form reputations of humans after indirect and direct experience in a food-giving situation. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0271590. [PMID: 35976865 PMCID: PMC9385025 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271590] [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: 12/21/2021] [Accepted: 07/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Reputation is a key component in social interactions of group-living animals and appears to play a role in the establishment of cooperation. Animals can form reputations of individuals by directly interacting with them or by observing them interact with a third party, i.e., eavesdropping. Previous research has focused on whether dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) can eavesdrop on humans because of their ability to cooperate with humans, however the results are mixed and if they can eavesdrop, it is unknown whether this ability evolved during the domestication process or whether it was inherited from their ancestor, wolves (Canis lupus). Our study investigated whether equally hand-raised, pack-living dogs and wolves can form reputations of humans in a food-giving situation through indirect and/or direct experience. The experimental procedure comprised three parts: baseline (to test whether the subject preferred a person prior to the experiment), observation and testing. In the observation phase, the subject observed two humans interact with a dog demonstrator-one acted generously and fed the dog, and the other acted selfishly and refused to feed the dog. The subject could then choose which person to approach in the test phase. In the following experience phase, the animals interacted directly with the same two humans who behaved either in a generous or selfish manner. Then, they were again given a choice whom to approach. We found that dogs and wolves, at the group level, did not differentiate between a generous or selfish partner after indirect or direct experience, but wolves were more attentive towards the generous person during the observation phase and some dogs and wolves did prefer the generous partner, at least after indirect and direct experience was combined. Our study suggests that reputation formation may be more difficult than expected for animals and we emphasise the importance of context when studying reputation formation in animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hoi-Lam Jim
- Domestication Lab, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Marina Plohovich
- Domestication Lab, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Sarah Marshall-Pescini
- Domestication Lab, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Friederike Range
- Domestication Lab, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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McGetrick J, Poncet L, Amann M, Schullern-Schrattenhofen J, Fux L, Martínez M, Range F. Dogs fail to reciprocate the receipt of food from a human in a food-giving task. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0253277. [PMID: 34260627 PMCID: PMC8279367 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2020] [Accepted: 06/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Domestic dogs have been shown to reciprocate help received from conspecifics in food-giving tasks. However, it is not yet known whether dogs also reciprocate help received from humans. Here, we investigated whether dogs reciprocate the receipt of food from humans. In an experience phase, subjects encountered a helpful human who provided them with food by activating a food dispenser, and an unhelpful human who did not provide them with food. Subjects later had the opportunity to return food to each human type, in a test phase, via the same mechanism. In addition, a free interaction session was conducted in which the subject was free to interact with its owner and with whichever human partner it had encountered on that day. Two studies were carried out, which differed in the complexity of the experience phase and the time lag between the experience phase and test phase. Subjects did not reciprocate the receipt of food in either study. Furthermore, no difference was observed in the duration subjects spent in proximity to, or the latency to approach, the two human partners. Although our results suggest that dogs do not reciprocate help received from humans, they also suggest that the dogs did not recognize the cooperative or uncooperative act of the humans during the experience phase. It is plausible that aspects of the experimental design hindered the emergence of any potential reciprocity. However, it is also possible that dogs are simply not prosocial towards humans in food-giving contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jim McGetrick
- Domestication Lab, Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Ernstbrunn, Austria
- Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, Institute of Animal Welfare Science, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Lisa Poncet
- Domestication Lab, Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Ernstbrunn, Austria
- Normandie Université, Unicaen, CNRS, EthoS (Éthologie animale et humaine), Caen, France
- Université de Rennes, CNRS, EthoS (Éthologie animale et humaine), Rennes, France
| | - Marietta Amann
- Domestication Lab, Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Ernstbrunn, Austria
| | - Johannes Schullern-Schrattenhofen
- Domestication Lab, Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Ernstbrunn, Austria
| | - Leona Fux
- Domestication Lab, Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Ernstbrunn, Austria
| | - Mayte Martínez
- Domestication Lab, Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Ernstbrunn, Austria
| | - Friederike Range
- Domestication Lab, Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Ernstbrunn, Austria
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