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Patris, B., Perrier, G., Schaal, B., & Coureaud, G. (2008). Early development of filial preferences in the rabbit: implications of nursing- and pheromone-induced odour learning? Anim. Behav., 76(2), 305–314.
Abstract: Newborn rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus, discriminate between different categories of adult conspecifics on the basis of their abdominal odour cues. Whether these cues can support the development of filial preferences has not been adequately tested. Using a two-choice paradigm, we assessed the ability of 3-8-day-old pups to orient selectively to the mother versus an unfamiliar female, either spontaneously or after odour conditioning. In experiment 1, nonconditioned pups roamed indifferently over the mother and an unfamiliar female. In experiment 2, pups conditioned to a neutral odorant while nursing or with the mammary pheromone became attracted by the odorant. In experiment 3, pups that had learned the odorant while nursing oriented for longer to any female carrying it, but the unscented mother and a scented unfamiliar female were equally attractive. Finally, in experiment 4, pups that had learned the odorant paired with the mammary pheromone showed a preference for their scented mother, but not systematically for a scented unfamiliar female; furthermore, they were equally attracted by the unscented mother and a scented unfamiliar female. In sum, pups did not spontaneously evince an olfactory preference for the mother when opposed to an unfamiliar female, although they seemed able to detect individual maternal odours. In fact, they appeared to react to both species-specific cues and individual cues that they had learned, and their responses depended on their degree of familiarity with the cues and on the context. The mammary pheromone by itself might act as both a releasing and a reinforcing signal in these early socially oriented behaviours.
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Parr, L. A., Matheson, M. D., Bernstein, I. S., & De Waal, F. B. M. (1997). Grooming down the hierarchy: allogrooming in captive brown capuchin monkeys, Cebus apella. Anim. Behav., 54(2), 361–367.
Abstract: Observations of captive female brown capuchin monkeys in five groups revealed that grooming is primarily the occupation of dominant females at both the individual and dyadic levels. When categorized according to rank class, alpha females were the only class to perform significantly more grooming than they received. These results are inconsistent with reports on vervets, baboons and macaques, and suggest that grooming in capuchin monkeys may have different functions from those reported for cercopithecine primates. A dyadic analysis revealed, however, that grooming occurred more often between closely ranked females, similar to what is seen in several Old World monkey species. Therefore, some aspects of grooming in capuchins are similar to that seen in Old World monkeys, but the way they distribute grooming is different, which may prompt a re-evaluation of current theories regarding the social function of allogrooming in non-human primates.
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Parker, G. A., & Rubenstein, D. I. (1981). Role assessment, reserve strategy, and acquisition of information in asymmetric animal conflicts. Anim. Behav., 29(1), 221–240.
Abstract: It was formerly argued that alternative evolutionarily stable strategies (ESSs) are possible for animal contests characterized by some asymmetry that can be perceived with perfect accuracy. Where roles A and B refer to the asymmetry between opponents, ESSs are: [`]fight when A, retreat when B', and vice versa. Either can be an ESS, but only if the [`]reserve strategy' (=what an animal does when it fights) is sufficiently damaging. We examine the [`]war of attrition' (winner = opponent that persists longer). In a population at either ESS, reserve strategy is never normally shown; it is therefore subject to drift unless the selective action of rare individuals which break the convention is considered. These could arise either by mutation or by mistakes in role assessment. When mutations and mistakes simply specify that occasionally an animal fights when it [`]should' retreat, selection adjusts reserve strategy to a level where only one ESS (the [`]commonsense' ESS) is possible, if the asymmetry is relevant to payoff. Thus for asymmetries in fighting ability or resource value, the individual with the lower score will retreat. However, we are particularly concerned with cases where both payoff-relevant aspects (fighting ability and resource value) are asymmetric. If opponents sustain contest costs at rates KA and KB, and their resource values are VA and VB, an [`]optimal assessor' strategy defined by the interaction between the two asymmetries, is a unique ESS. It obeys the rule [`]fight on estimating role A, where VA/KA>VB/KB; retreat in B'. If mistakes can occur in both roles, but are very rate, the ESS is not fundamentally altered though there will be infinitesimal tendencies for persisting in role B. Selection to improve assessment abilities intensifies as abilities improve, but is weak if roles A and B are rather similar. Over a range of similarity between roles, an [`]owner wins' convention may be adopted if ownership correlates positively with role A and an individual cannot tell when it would otherwise pay him to break the convention. We also examine a contest in which information about roles can be acquired only during a contest itself, and at a cost. Much depends on the rate at which information is acquired relative to the rate at which costs are expended, and on whether contests normally escalate in intensity, remain at the same level, or de-escalate. Selection favours short contests when costs are high relative to resource value, where the outcome of a round contains much information about fighting ability, and where the actual disparity in fighting ability is large.
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Parker, G. A., & MacNair, M. R. (1978). Models of parent-offspring conflict. I. Monogamy. Anim. Behav., 26, 97–110.
Abstract: Theoretical models for Trivers (1974) concept of parent-offspring conflict are examined for species in which the effects of the conflict are felt by full sibs. A rare conflictor gene will spread if Image , whereÆ’(m) is the fitness gained by a conflictor relative to a non-conflictor offspring (Æ’(m) >1), and m is the amount of parental investment taken by a conflictor relative to m = 1 for a non-conflictor. The range of m alleles which can spread against the parent optimum decreases as the cost to the parent increases until a point is reached where there is no conflict of evolutionary interests. There would be no polymorphism for conflictor: non-conflictor alleles unless special conditions prevail. The conflictor allele which spreads most rapidly as a rare mutant against the parental optimum is not an evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS). The ESS for parent-offspring conflict in monogamous species has m0 = Æ’(m0)/2[dÆ’(m0)/dm0]. The analytical solutions are confirmed throughout by simulations.
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Palombit, R. A., Seyfarth, R. M., & Cheney, D. L. (1997). The adaptive value of 'friendships' to female baboons: experimental and observational evidence. Anim. Behav., 54(3), 599–614.
Abstract: Lactating female baboons, Papio cynocephalusoften maintain close associations with particular males. There are at least three proposed benefits of 'friendships' to females: (1) male protection against potentially infanticidal males; (2) male protection against harassment by dominant females; (3) male attachment to an infant that develops into future care of juveniles. These hypotheses were examined in a population of chacma baboons, P. c. ursinusin which male infanticide accounted for at least 38% of infant mortality. Almost all mothers of young infants formed strong bonds with one or two males with whom they had copulated during the cycle in which they conceived their infants. Females were primarily responsible for maintaining friendships during lactation, but they terminated these relationships if their infants died. In playbacks of females' screams, male friends responded more strongly than control males. They also responded more strongly to the screams of female friends than to the screams of control females. Following an infant's death, however, male friends responded less strongly than control males to the same females' screams. Finally, male friends responded more strongly than control males to playback sequences in which female screams were combined with the threat vocalizations of a potentially infanticidal alpha male, but not when female screams were combined with the threat calls of a non-infanticidal male or the alpha female. Both observations and experiments suggest that the benefits of friendships to females derive from the protection of their infants against infanticide.1997The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour
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Palagi, E., Antonacci, D., & Norscia, I. (2008). Peacemaking on treetops: first evidence of reconciliation from a wild prosimian (Propithecus verreauxi). Anim. Behav., 76(3), 737–747.
Abstract: Reconciliation is defined as the first postconflict affinitive contact between former opponents. While reconciliation in anthropoid primates has been widely investigated, few studies have focused on postconflict mechanisms in prosimians, and only in captivity. Unlike anthropoids, Malagasy prosimians show female dominance, lack of sexual dimorphism and seasonal breeding. However, they share features with anthropoids such as cohesive societies, female philopatry and individual recognition. Comparing social prosimians with anthropoids is crucial for understanding the evolution of reconciliation dynamics. Here we present the first study on reconciliation in a wild prosimian. We focused on the Propithecus verreauxi (sifaka) of the Berenty forest (southern Madagascar). We examined postconflict behaviour in the light of theoretical expectations based on potential costs and benefits of the individuals involved. Our results indicate that P. verreauxi can evaluate possible risks and benefits of engaging in postconflict reunions. Victims were most likely to interact affinitively with the aggressor after low-intensity aggression. Moreover, only the conflicts occurring outside the feeding context were reconciled. Such results are consonant with the fact that, in P. verreauxi, social dominance is translated more into feeding priority than into a framework of despotic relationships. In agreement with the valuable relationship hypothesis, P. verreauxi were more likely to reconcile with valuable partners: reconciliation preferentially occurred between subordinates and top-ranking individuals, and between animals sharing good relationships (high levels of affinitive behaviours). Over the short term, reconciliation in P. verreauxi seems to have an important role in reducing the probability of further attacks by the aggressor.
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Palagi, E. (2008). Sharing the motivation to play: the use of signals in adult bonobos. Anim. Behav., 75(3), 887–896.
Abstract: Gestures and facial displays are involved in regulating many aspects of mammal social life such as aggression, dominance-subordinate relationships, appeasement and play. Playful activity is an interesting behaviour for examining the role of signals as intentional communication systems. When animals play they perform patterns that are used in other serious contexts. To avoid miscommunication, many species have evolved signals to maintain a playful mood. Bonobos, Pan paniscus, with their flexible social relationships and playful propensity, may represent a good model species to test some hypotheses on adult play signalling. I analysed the potential roles of facial play expressions and solitary play in soliciting and regulating social play and found that adult bonobos used the play face (relaxed open-mouth display) in a selective manner. Play faces were more frequent during social than solitary play and, within social play, polyadic sessions (even though less frequent than dyadic sessions) were characterized by a higher frequency of signals. Following the rule of play intensity matching, play faces were more frequent when the two players matched in age and size (sessions among adults). Moreover, among dyads there was a positive correlation between the frequency of aggressive interactions performed and the frequency of play signals used, thus suggesting that signals are crucial in play negotiations among individuals showing high baseline levels of aggression. Finally, solitary play, especially when it involved pirouettes and somersaults, had an important role in triggering social play.
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Ord, T. J., Peters, R. A., Evans, C. S., & Taylor, A. J. (2002). Digital video playback and visual communication in lizards. Anim. Behav., 63(5), 879–890.
Abstract: Experimental analyses of dynamic visual signals have to overcome the technical obstacle of reproducing complex motor patterns such as those found in courtship and threat displays. Video playback offers a potential solution to this problem, but it has recently been criticized because of sensory differences between humans and nonhuman animals, which suggest that video stimuli might be perceived as deficient relative to live conspecifics. Quantitative comparisons are therefore necessary to determine whether video sequences reliably evoke natural responses. Male Jacky dragons, Amphibolurus muricatus, compete for territories using complex displays delivered in a rapid stereotyped sequence. We evaluated video playback as a technique for studying this visual signal. Digital video sequences depicting a life-sized displaying male were indistinguishable from live male conspecifics in the rate and structure of aggressive displays evoked. Other measures of social behaviour suggested that video stimuli were more effective in this context. Lizards produced significantly more appeasement displays and had higher rates of substrate licking and locomotor activity in response to video playback than to confined male opponents, which failed to produce aggressive displays. Lizards tracked temporal changes in the display rate of video stimuli and were also sensitive to individual differences in morphology and behaviour between video exemplars. These results show that video stimuli are appropriate for the experimental analysis of Jacky dragon aggressive displays. We compare the potential shortcomings of video playback with those of other techniques and conclude that no approach offers a panacea, but that several have complementary characteristics. Copyright 2002 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Nuñez, C. M. V., Adelman, J. S., Mason, C., & Rubenstein, D. I. (2009). Immunocontraception decreases group fidelity in a feral horse population during the non-breeding season. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 117(1-2), 74–83.
Abstract: The behavioral effects of the immunocontraceptive agent porcine zona pellucida (PZP) have not been adequately studied. Important managerial decisions for several species, including the wild horse (Equus caballus), have been based on this limited research. We studied 30 horses on Shackleford Banks, North Carolina, USA to determine the effects of PZP contraception on female fidelity to the harem male. We examined two classes of females: contracepts, recipients of the PZP vaccine (n = 22); and controls, females that have never received PZP (n = 8). We conducted the study during the non-breeding season from December 2005 to February 2006, totaling 102.2 h of observation. Contracepted mares changed groups more often than control mares (P = 0.04). Contracepts also visited more harem groups than did control mares (P = 0.02) and exhibited more reproductive interest (P = 0.05). For both contracepted and control females, the number of group changes (P = 0.01) and number of groups visited (P = 0.003) decreased with the proportion of years mares were pregnant. Our study shows that the application of PZP has significant consequences for the social behavior of Shackleford Banks horses. In gregarious species such as the horse, PZP application may disrupt social ties among individuals and inhibit normal social functioning at the population level.
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Norris, M. J. (1962). Group effects on the activity and behaviour of adult males of the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria Forsk.) in relation to sexual maturation. Anim. Behav., 10(3-4), 275–291.
Abstract: During the pre-maturation period crowded males of Schistocerca gregaria are more active than isolated ones but the greater part of their extra activity is not locomotory but consists of the kicking movements made in response to contact with other locusts. Isolated males walk less often during this period but tend to jump (or fly) more than crowded ones. Activity increases with maturity and the increase is greater in the isolated males so that in spite of the absence of mechanical stimulation by other locusts their locomotor activity is now at least as great as that of the crowded ones and their jumping activity greater. Within one batch there is a tendency for those males which are most active during the first two weeks of adult life to mature earliest. The activity of young males crowded with fledglings is at first similar to that of males crowded with older locusts, but after the first two weeks the activity of both mature and immature males is depressed by crowding with fledglings. Mature males habitually isolated become less active when temporarily crowded with fledglings, but not when crowded with mature males. Mature and immature males habitually crowded with fledglings become more active when temporarily isolated and still more active when crowded with each other, or with other mature males. The inhibiting effect of the fledglings on maturation and their depressive effect on activity should in natural conditions promote synchronization of maturation and the cohesion of the group. There was little difference in activity between young males kept in single pairs and in isolation, except that in one experiment the isolated ones jumped more often. Young males kept in pairs with mature males are more active during the first week of adult life than those kept in pairs with each other. The males paired with mature males were also seen feeding much less often than those paired with each other. This was the only treatment in which a significant effect on the frequency of feeding was recorded. The femoral vibrations made by both mature and immature males in response to stimulation by mature males, occur less often in habitually crowded males than in those temporarily crowded or kept with one mature male only. This is presumably the result of habituation to the stimulus. The behaviour of wild Schistocerca males in a large outdoor cage was very similar to that of a low density laboratory group. All results suggest that there is an association between high activity and rapid maturation. This is compatible with the conclusion from earlier work that a low level of feeding is associated with rapid maturation.
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