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Nagy M, Davidson JD, Vásárhelyi G, Ábel D, Kubinyi E, El Hady A, Vicsek T. Long-term tracking of social structure in groups of rats. Sci Rep 2024; 14:22857. [PMID: 39353967 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-72437-5] [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: 06/03/2024] [Accepted: 09/06/2024] [Indexed: 10/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Rodents serve as an important model for examining both individual and collective behavior. Dominance within rodent social structures can determine access to critical resources, such as food and mating opportunities. Yet, many aspects of the intricate interplay between individual behaviors and the resulting group social hierarchy, especially its evolution over time, remain unexplored. In this study, we utilized an automated tracking system that continuously monitored groups of male rats for over 250 days to enable an in-depth analysis of individual behavior and the overarching group dynamic. We describe the evolution of social structures within a group and additionally investigate how past behaviors influence the emergence of new social hierarchies when group composition and experimental area changes. Notably, we find that conventional individual and pairwise tests exhibit a weak correlation with group behavior, highlighting their limited accuracy in predicting behavioral outcomes in a collective context. These results emphasize the context-dependence of social behavior as an emergent property of interactions within a group and highlight the need to measure and quantify social behavior in more naturalistic environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Máté Nagy
- Department of Biological Physics, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
- MTA-ELTE 'Lendület' Collective Behaviour Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
- MTA-ELTE Statistical and Biological Physics Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Constance, Germany.
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Constance, Germany.
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Constance, Germany.
| | - Jacob D Davidson
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Constance, Germany.
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Constance, Germany.
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Constance, Germany.
| | - Gábor Vásárhelyi
- Department of Biological Physics, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
- MTA-ELTE Statistical and Biological Physics Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Dániel Ábel
- Department of Biological Physics, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Enikő Kubinyi
- Department of Ethology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
- ELTE NAP Canine Brain Research Group, Budapest, Hungary
- MTA-ELTE Lendület 'Momentum' Companion Animal Research Group, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Ahmed El Hady
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Constance, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Constance, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Constance, Germany
| | - Tamás Vicsek
- Department of Biological Physics, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
- MTA-ELTE Statistical and Biological Physics Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
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Ross CT, McElreath R, Redhead D. Modelling animal network data in R using STRAND. J Anim Ecol 2024; 93:254-266. [PMID: 37936514 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.14021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023]
Abstract
There have been recent calls for wider application of generative modelling approaches in applied social network analysis. At present, however, it remains difficult for typical end users-for example, field researchers-to implement generative network models, as there is a dearth of openly available software packages that make application of such models as simple as other, permutation-based approaches. Here, we outline the STRAND R package, which provides a suite of generative models for Bayesian analysis of animal social network data that can be implemented using simple, base R syntax. To facilitate ease of use, we provide a tutorial demonstrating how STRAND can be used to model proportion, count or binary network data using stochastic block models, social relation models or a combination of the two modelling frameworks. STRAND facilitates the application of generative network models to a broad range of data found in the animal social networks literature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cody T Ross
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology, and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Richard McElreath
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology, and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Daniel Redhead
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology, and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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Ballesta S, Meunier H. Is this worth the trouble? Strategic conflict management in Tonkean macaques. iScience 2023; 26:108176. [PMID: 37915605 PMCID: PMC10616331 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108176] [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: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 07/20/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Conflict management entails preventing and repairing damages resulting from social conflicts. While previous research has emphasized post-conflict actions like reconciliation, the understanding of how primates weigh the costs and benefits of conflict remains limited. Uncovering this hidden but fundamental aspect of conflict management requires addressing actively avoided social conflicts. In a study involving semi-free ranging Tonkean macaques, individuals were presented with social dilemmas: displacing a peer to access a preferred juice reward or opting for a peer-free but less preferred one to avoid conflict. The results showed that subjects attributed a cost to the social conflict and did not demonstrate a systematic drive to dominate. Decision modeling revealed integration of peer hierarchy and reward subjective value, with subjects' own social rank impacting the balance between these social and economic dimensions. Overall, this research highlights how primates strategically address group cohesion and peacekeeping, sometimes at the expense of personal preferences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sébastien Ballesta
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives et Adaptatives, UMR 7364, Strasbourg, France
- Centre de Primatologie de l’Université de Strasbourg, Niederhausbergen, France
| | - Hélène Meunier
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives et Adaptatives, UMR 7364, Strasbourg, France
- Centre de Primatologie de l’Université de Strasbourg, Niederhausbergen, France
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Formaux A, Sperber D, Fagot J, Claidière N. Guinea baboons are strategic cooperators. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadi5282. [PMID: 37889969 PMCID: PMC10610893 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adi5282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023]
Abstract
Humans are strategic cooperators; we make decisions on the basis of costs and benefits to maintain high levels of cooperation, and this is thought to have played a key role in human evolution. In comparison, monkeys and apes might lack the cognitive capacities necessary to develop flexible forms of cooperation. We show that Guinea baboons (Papio papio) can use direct reciprocity and partner choice to develop and maintain high levels of cooperation in a prosocial choice task. Our findings demonstrate that monkeys have the cognitive capacities to adjust their level of cooperation strategically using a combination of partner choice and partner control strategies. Such capacities were likely present in our common ancestor and would have provided the foundations for the evolution of typically human forms of cooperation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony Formaux
- Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive, UMR7290, Université Aix-Marseille/CNRS, Marseille, France
- Station de Primatologie-Celphedia, CNRS UAR846, Rousset, France
| | - Dan Sperber
- Central European University, Wien, Austria
- Institut Jean Nicod, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
| | - Joël Fagot
- Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive, UMR7290, Université Aix-Marseille/CNRS, Marseille, France
- Station de Primatologie-Celphedia, CNRS UAR846, Rousset, France
- Institute for Language, Communication and the Brain, Université Aix-Marseille, CNRS, Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Nicolas Claidière
- Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive, UMR7290, Université Aix-Marseille/CNRS, Marseille, France
- Station de Primatologie-Celphedia, CNRS UAR846, Rousset, France
- Institute for Language, Communication and the Brain, Université Aix-Marseille, CNRS, Aix-en-Provence, France
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Ballesta S, Sadoughi B, Miss F, Whitehouse J, Aguenounon G, Meunier H. Assessing the reliability of an automated method for measuring dominance hierarchy in non-human primates. Primates 2021; 62:595-607. [PMID: 33847852 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-021-00909-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2020] [Accepted: 04/02/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Among animal societies, dominance is an important social factor that influences inter-individual relationships. However, assessing dominance hierarchy can be a time-consuming activity which is potentially impeded by environmental factors, difficulties in the recognition of animals, or disturbance of animals during data collection. Here we took advantage of novel devices, machines for automated learning and testing (MALT), designed primarily to study non-human primate cognition, to additionally measure the dominance hierarchy of a semi-free-ranging primate group. When working on a MALT, an animal can be replaced by another, which could reflect an asymmetric dominance relationship. To assess the reliability of our method, we analysed a sample of the automated conflicts with video scoring and found that 74% of these replacements included genuine forms of social displacements. In 10% of the cases, we did not identify social interactions and in the remaining 16% we observed affiliative contacts between the monkeys. We analysed months of daily use of MALT by up to 26 semi-free-ranging Tonkean macaques (Macaca tonkeana) and found that dominance relationships inferred from these interactions strongly correlated with the ones derived from observations of spontaneous agonistic interactions collected during the same time period. An optional filtering procedure designed to exclude chance-driven displacements or affiliative contacts suggests that the presence of 26% of these interactions in data sets did not impair the reliability of this new method. We demonstrate that this method can be used to assess the dynamics of both individual social status, and group-wide hierarchical stability longitudinally with minimal research labour. Further, it facilitates a continuous assessment of dominance hierarchies in captive groups, even during unpredictable environmental or challenging social events, which underlines the usefulness of this method for group management purposes. Altogether, this study supports the use of MALT as a reliable tool to automatically and dynamically assess dominance hierarchy within captive groups of non-human primates, including juveniles, under conditions in which such technology can be used.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sébastien Ballesta
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives et Adaptatives, UMR 7364, Strasbourg, France. .,Centre de Primatologie, Université de Strasbourg, Niederhausbergen, France.
| | - Baptiste Sadoughi
- Centre de Primatologie, Université de Strasbourg, Niederhausbergen, France.,Department of Life Sciences, University of Roehampton, London, UK.,Oniris - Nantes Atlantic College of Veterinary Medicine, Food Science and Engineering, Nantes, France
| | - Fabia Miss
- Centre de Primatologie, Université de Strasbourg, Niederhausbergen, France.,Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Jamie Whitehouse
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives et Adaptatives, UMR 7364, Strasbourg, France.,Centre de Primatologie, Université de Strasbourg, Niederhausbergen, France
| | - Géraud Aguenounon
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives et Adaptatives, UMR 7364, Strasbourg, France.,Centre de Primatologie, Université de Strasbourg, Niederhausbergen, France
| | - Hélène Meunier
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives et Adaptatives, UMR 7364, Strasbourg, France.,Centre de Primatologie, Université de Strasbourg, Niederhausbergen, France
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