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Author Barette, C.; Vandal, D.
Title Social rank, dominance, antler size, and access to food in snow-bound wild woodland caribou Type Journal Article
Year 1986 Publication Behaviour Abbreviated Journal Behaviour
Volume 97 Issue 1-2 Pages 118-146
Keywords Canada; Quebec; Artiodactyla; Social dominance; Feeding behavior; Morphology; Antler; Rangifer tarandus; North America; America; Ungulata; Mammalia; Vertebrata
Abstract We spent two winters studying the social behaviour of wild woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) at a time when their main food (ground lichens; Cladina sp.) is available only at snow craters dug by the animals. The competition for access to such craters was severe, the animals constantly trying to take over the craters of others. During a two-month period when a group maintained a constant size (20) and composition (all age-sex classes represented), we could rank the animals in a rather linear dominance hierarchy (Landau's index = 0.87). Rank was correlated with access to resources, percent of time spent active, and percent of time feeding in craters. It was also correlated with age and antler size. However, rank is not an attribute of individuals, but of a relationship between individuals. As such it is only an intervening variable between physical attributes and access to resources, a variable whose value has meaning only within a given group. Among the three attributes studied (age, sex, antler size), the latter was by far the best predictor of the occurrence and outcome of interactions. Between two individuals within any of the three age-sex classes studied (adult and yearling males and adult females), the one with larger antlers initiated significantly more often, escalated its aggression (to the point of hitting the target) less often, and enjoyed a higher success rate in obtaining resources. When their antlers were larger than those of an adult male target (i.e. males that had shed their antlers), adult females won almost all their interactions with adult males even though they escalated only one fourth of them. This clarifies the long-standing speculation that female caribou have antlers and shed them later than males, in order to overcome their sexual handicap in competition for food in the winter. We conclude that the link between rank and dominance of an individual on one hand, and some of its attributes on the other (e.g. sex, age, weight, antler size) is fundamentally realized by the animal itself through its active preference for targets it is likely to beat, i.e. targets with smaller antlers.
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Call Number (up) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4269
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Author Uher, J.; Asendorpf, J.B.; Call, J.
Title Personality in the behaviour of great apes: temporal stability, cross-situational consistency and coherence in response Type Journal Article
Year 2008 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume 75 Issue 1 Pages 99-112
Keywords behaviour prediction; bonobo; bottom-up approach; chimpanzee; gorilla; individual differences; orang-utan; personality; traits
Abstract Using a multidisciplinary approach, the present study complements ethological behaviour measurements with basic theoretical concepts, methods and approaches of the personality psychological trait paradigm. Its adoptability and usefulness for animal studies are tested exemplarily on a sample of 20 zoo-housed great apes (five of each of the following species): bonobos, Pan paniscus; chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes verus; gorillas, Gorilla gorilla gorilla; and orang-utans, Pongo pygmaeus abelii. Data on 76 single trait-relevant behaviours were recorded in a series of 14 laboratory-based situations and in two different group situations. Data collection was repeated completely after a break of 2 weeks within a 60-day period. All behaviour records were sufficiently reliable. Individual- and variable-oriented analyses showed high/substantial temporal stability on different levels of aggregation. Distinctive and stable individual situational and response profiles clarified the importance of situations and of multiple trait-relevant behaviours. The present study calls for a closer collaboration between behavioural biologists and personality psychologists to tap the full potential of animal personality research.
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Call Number (up) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4278
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Author Lloyd, A.S.; Martin, J.E.; Bornett-Gauci, H.L.I.; Wilkinson, R.G.
Title Horse personality: Variation between breeds Type Journal Article
Year 2008 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 112 Issue 3-4 Pages 369-383
Keywords Horse personality; Breed; Assessment; Questionnaire survey; Animal
Abstract Anecdotal evidence from horse owners and handlers suggests the existence of breed typical behaviour and personality in horses. This is further supported by current research on heritability of personality characteristics in a range of species. The Horse Personality Questionnaire (HPQ) is a 25-item rating method that has previously been shown to be reliable for the assessment of personality in horses. Principal component analysis on HPQ data has identified six underlying personality components in horses. These are Dominance, Anxiousness, Excitability, Protection, Sociability and Inquisitiveness. Using the HPQ a survey of 1223 horses of eight different breeds was completed. Data were analysed to explore any differences in personality between breeds across the six personality components. Breed differences in personality were identified, and it was noted that variability between breeds varied between personality components. Anxiousness and Excitability showed the most variation between breeds, whilst Dominance and Protection showed the least variance. The results identified breed typical personalities that were comparable to results from previous studies as well as anecdotal evidence provided by the popular equine literature. The results are discussed in terms of the potential selection pressures that may have resulted in these differences.
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Call Number (up) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4279
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Author McElreath, R.; Strimling, P.
Title How noisy information and individual asymmetries can make `personality' an adaptation: a simple model Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume 72 Issue 5 Pages 1135-1139
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Abstract Recent attention has been drawn to the existence of individual differences in correlated behaviour across contexts, animal `personality' (Gosling 2001, Psychological Bulletin, 127, 45-86) and behavioural syndromes (Sih et al. 2004b, Quarterly Review of Biology, 79, 241-277). The causes of these patterns of behaviour are subjects of debate. Here, we present a very simple model of how adaptively managing noisy information, combined with differences in individual state, can lead to evolutionarily stable differences in how individuals respond to environmental cues. When information is very noisy, behavioural syndromes are most likely, but as long as there is some error, some types of individuals display the same behaviour in all contexts. In extreme cases, very few individuals display flexible behaviour, and different stable behavioural types dominate the population.
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Call Number (up) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4280
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Author unknown
Title Personality and Personality Disorders Type Book Chapter
Year 1997 Publication Behavioural Genetics Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages 195-207
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Publisher W. H. Freeman and Company Place of Publication New York Editor Plomin, R.; DeFries, J.C.; McClearn, G.E.;Rutter, M.
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Series Volume Series Issue Edition 3
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Call Number (up) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4283
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Author de Vries, H.
Title An improved test of linearity in dominance hierarchies containing unknown or tied relationships Type Journal Article
Year 1995 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume 50 Issue 5 Pages 1375-1389
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Abstract Appleby (1983, Anim. Behav., 31, 600-608) described a statistical test, based on the work of Kendall (1962, Rank Correlation Methods), for the significance of linearity in dominance hierarchies. He suggested that unknown relationships should be assigned the value 1/2 and that subsequently the same test procedure can be used. In this paper it is shown that incorrect results are obtained by this method whenever there are unknown relationships. Values of the linearity index are systematically too low. P-values can be too high (underestimating the significance) or too low (overestimating), and seem to differ by not much more than a factor two (respectively a half) from the correct P-value. An improved method is developed for testing linearity in a set of dominance relationships containing unknown relationships. Furthermore, it is argued that, if one admits the possibility of tied dominance relationships, which should indeed be assigned the value 1/2, Landau's linearity index is to be preferred to Kendall's index. A randomization test is developed for assessing the significance of linearity or non-linearity in a set of dominance relationships containing unknown or tied relationships. The test statistic employed in this testing procedure is based on Landau's linearity index, but takes the unknown and tied relationships into account.
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Call Number (up) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4284
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Author Nelissen, M.H.J.
Title The effect of tied rank numbers on the linearity of dominance hierarchies Type Journal Article
Year 1986 Publication Behavioural Processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.
Volume 12 Issue 2 Pages 159-168
Keywords dominance hierarchy, linearity, Landau's index, despotism
Abstract The occurence of tied rank numbers in dominance hierarchies is discussed, especially its effect on the linearity of the hierarchy. This linearity is measured with Landau's index, that is calculated for several hierarchies with tied ranks on one, two of three levels. Linearity is mostly affected by ties in small groups with many ties. A distinction is made between a hierarchy of individuals and hierarchical levels. The phenomenon of despotism is called an extreme case of tied ranks. It is proposed to regard hierarchies with a linearity in a continuous scale.
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Call Number (up) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4285
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Author Appleby, M.C.
Title The probability of linearity in hierarchies Type Journal Article
Year 1983 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume 31 Issue 2 Pages 600-608
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Abstract The common practice of ranking a group of animals in the closest possible order to a linear dominance hierarchy assumes that dominance among those animals is generally transitive. In fact, analysis of groups in which dominance relationships are random shows that this method has a surprisingly high probability of producing an apparently linear or near-linear hierarchy by chance. As such, the existence of transitive dominance should be tested before it is used in ranking. A suitable statistical test is described here. Chance may also contribute to the linear appearance of hierarchies based on other factors.
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Call Number (up) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4286
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Author Bayly, K.L.; Evans, C.S.; Taylor, A.
Title Measuring social structure: A comparison of eight dominance indices Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Behavioural Processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.
Volume 73 Issue 1 Pages 1-12
Keywords Social status; Methods; Behaviour in groups
Abstract Measurement of social status is an important component of many behavioural studies. A variety of techniques have been developed and adopted, but while there have been some analyses of index properties using simulated data, the rationale for selecting a method remains poorly documented. As a first step in exploring the implications of index choice, we compared the characteristics of eight popular indices by applying each to the same data set from interactions between male fowl Gallus gallus, the system in which social hierarchies were first described. Data from eight social groups, observed over four successive breeding seasons, were analysed to determine whether different indices produced consistent dominance scores. These scores were then used in tests of the relation between social status and crowing to explore whether index choice affected the results obtained. We also examined the pattern of dominance index use over the last decade to infer whether this has likely been influenced by tradition, or by taxa of study animal. Overall agreement among methods was good when groups of birds had perfectly linear hierarchies, but results diverged when social structure was more complex, with either intransitive triads or reversals. While all regression analyses revealed a positive relationship between dominance and vocal behaviour, there were substantial differences in the amount of variance accounted for, even though the original data were identical in every case. Index selection can hence perturb estimates of the importance of dominance, relative to other factors. We also found that several methods have been adopted only by particular research teams, while the use of others has been taxonomically constrained, patterns implying that indices have not always been chosen solely upon their merits. Taken together, our results read as a cautionary tale. We suggest that selection of a dominance index requires careful consideration both of algorithm properties and of the factors affecting social status in the system of interest.
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Call Number (up) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4289
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Author Beaugrand, J.P
Title Relative importance of initial individual differences, agonistic experience, and assessment accuracy during hierarchy formation: a simulation study Type Journal Article
Year 1997 Publication Behavioural Processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.
Volume 41 Issue Pages 177-192
Keywords Dominance; Hierarchy formation; RHP; Agonistic experience; Assessment; Self-organization; Simulation
Abstract This simulation study explores some conditions leading to transitivity within dominance orders. Combinations of three parameters were varied to study their consequences upon hierarchy formation and upon the degree of linearity of resultant structures. The factors studied were: (1) the importance of initial resource holding potentials (RHPs); (2) changes brought in RHPs by successive victories and defeats; and (3) accuracy of RHP assessment made by opponents. Results show that initial differences in RHP always lead to perfectly transitive chains whose rank order reflects the importance of initial differences. Even when simulated animals make important errors while assessing each other during round robin tournaments, emerging dominance structures are perfectly linear and ranks obtained in the structure are highly correlated with initial values in RHPs. Moreover, accumulated experiences of victory and/or defeat alone always lead to perfectly linear hierarchies. Their combination with initial individual differences in RHP led to the same conclusion. Even when assessment was far from being perfect, not only perfect chains were formed but initial values in RHPs significantly influenced rank order when the contribution of victory and defeat to RHP was relatively unimportant. The higher the importance of victory and defeat to RHP as compared to that of initial RHP values, the lower was the correlation between initial RHP values and the ranks order reached by individuals in the resultant hierarchies. In general also, the lower the variation within initial RHPs, the lower was the correlation between initial RHPs and ranks in the hierarchy. At a given level of initial RHP dispersion, increasing the contribution of victory and defeat to RHP diminished the correlation between initial RHP values and obtained ranks. In addition, inaccurate assessment reduced the overall correlation, especially when dispersion of initial RHP values was low and the contribution of victory and defeat relatively unimportant. These results shed some light on the controversy about the respective roles of initial individual attributes and that of patterns of resolution in the formation of animal hierarchies. We present the emergence of social order within closed systems as those simulated here as a case of self-organization.
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Call Number (up) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4290
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