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Author Huffman, M.; Spiezio, C.; Sgaravatti, A.; Leca, J.-B.
Title Leaf swallowing behavior in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): biased learning and the emergence of group level cultural differences Type Journal Article
Year 2010 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 13 Issue 6 Pages (up) 871-880-880
Keywords Biomedical and Life Sciences
Abstract Demonstrating the ability to ‘copy’ the behavior of others is an important aspect in determining whether social learning occurs and whether group level differences in a given behavior represent cultural differences or not. Understanding the occurrence of this process in its natural context is essential, but can be a daunting task in the wild. In order to test the social learning hypothesis for the acquisition of leaf swallowing (LS), a self-medicative behavior associated with the expulsion of parasites, we conducted semi-naturalistic experiments on two captive groups of parasite-free, naïve chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Individuals in the group were systematically provided appropriate stimuli (rough hispid leaves) identical to those used by chimpanzees in the wild. Individuals initially responded in a variety of ways, ranging from total aversion to normal chewing and swallowing. Over time, however, the two groups adopted different variants for inserting and folding the leaves in the mouth prior to swallowing them (complete and partial LS), following the specific method spontaneously displayed by the first and primary LS models in their respective groups. These variants were similar to LS displayed by chimpanzees in the wild. Using the option-bias method, we found evidence for social learning leading to group-level biased transmission and group-level stabilization of these two variants. This is the first report on two distinct cultural variants innovated in response to the introduction of natural stimuli that emerged and spread spontaneously and concurrently within two adjacent groups of socially housed primates. These observations support the assertion that LS may reflect a generalized propensity for ingesting rough hispid leaves, which can be socially induced and transmitted within a group. Ingesting an adequate number of these leaves induces increased gut motility, which is responsible for the subsequent expulsion of particular parasite species in the wild. Cultural transmission and maintenance of LS within a group and associative learning by the individual of the positive consequences of this otherwise non-nutritive mode of ingestion is proposed to be the pivotal link between this feeding propensity and its maintenance as a self-medicative behavior by great apes in the wild.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5277
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Author Osthaus, B.; Marlow, D.; Ducat, P.
Title Minding the gap: spatial perseveration error in dogs Type Journal Article
Year 2010 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 13 Issue 6 Pages (up) 881-885-885
Keywords Biomedical and Life Sciences
Abstract We investigated a combination of perseveration and detour behaviour in 50 domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). They were required to make a detour through a gap at one end of a straight barrier in order to reach a target. After one, two, three or four repeats, the gap was moved to the opposite end of the barrier, and the detour behaviour of the dogs was recorded. Although the dogs could solve simple detour tasks (80% correct in the first trial), they committed a perseveration error of following the previously learned route despite the clearly visible change in the location of the gap. This ‘misbehaviour’ occurred in 29 of 30 dogs after only two learning trials. They never reached a 100% correct performance level again even after four runs through the second gap location. The results suggest that dogs are reluctant to unlearn acquired spatial motor responses and reinforced navigation, which has important implications for experimental design, everyday dog training and our understanding of their mental capacities.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5276
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Author Erhart, E.; Overdorff, D.
Title Female Coordination of Group Travel in Wild Propithecus and Eulemur Type Journal Article
Year 1999 Publication International Journal of Primatology Abbreviated Journal Int. J. Primatol.
Volume 20 Issue 6 Pages (up) 927-940-940
Keywords Biomedical and Life Sciences
Abstract Coordination of primate group movements by individual group members is generally categorized as leadership behavior, which entails several steps: deciding where to move next, initiating travel, and leading a group between food, water sources, and rest sites. Presumably, leaders are able to influence their daily foraging efficiency and nutritional intake, which could influence an individual's feeding ecology and long-term reproductive success. Within anthropoid species, females lead group movements in most female-bonded groups, while males lead groups in most nonfemale-bonded groups. Group leadership has not been described for social prosimians, which are typically not female-bonded. We describe group movements in two nonfemale-bonded, lemurid species living in southeastern Madagascar, Propithecus diadema edwardsi and Eulemur fulvus rufus. Although several social lemurids exhibit female dominance Eulemur fulvus rufus does not, and evidence for female dominance is equivocal in Propithecus diadema edwardsi. Given the ecological stresses that females face during reproduction, we predict that females in these two species will implement alternative behavioral strategies such as group leadership in conjunction with, or in the absence of, dominance interactions to improve access to food. We found that females in both species initiated and led group movements significantly more often than males did. In groups with multiple females, one female was primarily responsible for initiating and leading group movements. We conclude that female nutritional needs may determine ranging behavior to a large extent in these prosimian species, at least during months of gestation and lactation.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Springer Netherlands Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0164-0291 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5308
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Author Krause, J.; Lusseau, D.; James, R.
Title Animal social networks: an introduction Type Journal Article
Year 2009 Publication Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
Volume 63 Issue 7 Pages (up) 967-973-973
Keywords Biomedical and Life Sciences
Abstract Network analysis has a long history in the mathematical and social sciences and the aim of this introduction is to provide a brief overview of the potential that it holds for the study of animal behaviour. One of the most attractive features of the network paradigm is that it provides a single conceptual framework with which we can study the social organisation of animals at all levels (individual, dyad, group, population) and for all types of interaction (aggressive, cooperative, sexual etc.). Graphical tools allow a visual inspection of networks which often helps inspire ideas for testable hypotheses. Network analysis itself provides a multitude of novel statistical tools that can be used to characterise social patterns in animal populations. Among the important insights that networks have facilitated is that indirect social connections matter. Interactions between individuals generate a social environment at the population level which in turn selects for behavioural strategies at the individual level. A social network is often a perfect means by which to represent heterogeneous relationships in a population. Probing the biological drivers for these heterogeneities, often as a function of time, forms the basis of many of the current uses of network analysis in the behavioural sciences. This special issue on social networks brings together a diverse group of practitioners whose study systems range from social insects over reptiles to birds, cetaceans, ungulates and primates in order to illustrate the wide-ranging applications of network analysis.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0340-5443 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5209
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Author James, R.; Croft, D.; Krause, J.
Title Potential banana skins in animal social network analysis Type Journal Article
Year 2009 Publication Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
Volume 63 Issue 7 Pages (up) 989-997-997
Keywords Biomedical and Life Sciences
Abstract Social network analysis is an increasingly popular tool for the study of the fine-scale and global social structure of animals. It has attracted particular attention by those attempting to unravel social structure in fission–fusion populations. It is clear that the social network approach offers some exciting opportunities for gaining new insights into social systems. However, some of the practices which are currently being used in the animal social networks literature are at worst questionable and at best over-enthusiastic. We highlight some of the areas of method, analysis and interpretation in which greater care may be needed in order to ensure that the biology we extract from our networks is robust. In particular, we suggest that more attention should be given to whether relational data are representative, the potential effect of observational errors and the choice and use of statistical tests. The importance of replication and manipulation must not be forgotten, and the interpretation of results requires care.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0340-5443 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5206
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Author Ramos-Fernández, G.; Boyer, D.; Aureli, F.; Vick, L.
Title Association networks in spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) Type Journal Article
Year 2009 Publication Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
Volume 63 Issue 7 Pages (up) 999-1013-1013
Keywords Biomedical and Life Sciences
Abstract We use two novel techniques to analyze association patterns in a group of wild spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) studied continuously for 8 years. Permutation tests identified association rates higher or lower than chance expectation, indicating active processes of companionship and avoidance as opposed to passive aggregation. Network graphs represented individual adults as nodes and their association rates as weighted edges. Strength and eigenvector centrality (a measure of how strongly linked an individual is to other strongly linked individuals) were used to quantify the particular role of individuals in determining the network's structure. Female–female dyads showed higher association rates than any other type of dyad, but permutation tests revealed that these associations cannot be distinguished from random aggregation. Females formed tightly linked clusters that were stable over time, with the exception of immigrant females who showed little association with any adult in the group. Eigenvector centrality was higher for females than for males. Adult males were associated mostly among them, and although their strength of association with others was lower than that of females, their association rates revealed a process of active companionship. Female–male bonds were weaker than those between same-sex pairs, with the exception of those involving young male adults, who by virtue of their strong connections both with female and male adults, appear as temporary brokers between the female and male clusters of the network. This analytical framework can serve to develop a more complete explanation of social structure in species with high levels of fission–fusion dynamics.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0340-5443 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5220
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Author Henzi, S.; Lusseau, D.; Weingrill, T.; van Schaik, C.; Barrett, L.
Title Cyclicity in the structure of female baboon social networks Type Journal Article
Year 2009 Publication Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
Volume 63 Issue 7 Pages (up) 1015-1021-1021
Keywords Biomedical and Life Sciences
Abstract There is an established and very influential view that primate societies have identifiable, persistent social organizations. It assumes that association patterns reflect long-term strategic interests that are not qualitatively perturbed by short-term environmental variability. We used data from two baboon troops in markedly different habitats over three consecutive seasons to test this assumption. Our results demonstrate pronounced cyclicity in the extent to which females maintained differentiated relationships. When food was plentiful, the companionships identified by social network analysis in the food-scarce season disappeared and were replaced by casual acquaintanceships more representative of mere gregariousness. Data from the fourth, food-scarce, season at one site indicated that few companions were re-united. It is likely that this reflected stochastic variation in individual circumstances. These results suggest that attention could profitably be paid to the effects of short-term local contingencies on social dynamics, and has implications for current theories of primate cognitive evolution.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0340-5443 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5203
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Author Naug, D.
Title Structure and resilience of the social network in an insect colony as a function of colony size Type Journal Article
Year 2009 Publication Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
Volume 63 Issue 7 Pages (up) 1023-1028-1028
Keywords Biomedical and Life Sciences
Abstract Social interactions are critical to the organization of worker activities in insect colonies and their consequent ecological success. The structure of this interaction network is therefore crucial to our understanding of colony organization and functioning. In this paper, I study the properties of the interaction network in the colonies of the social wasp Ropalidia marginata. I find that the network is characterized by a uniform connectivity among individuals with increasing heterogeneity as colonies become larger. Important network parameters are found to be correlated with colony size and I investigate how this is reflected in the organization of work in colonies of different sizes. Finally, I test the resilience of these interaction networks by experimental removal of individuals from the colony and discuss the structural properties of the network that are related to resilience in a social network.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0340-5443 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5213
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Author McDonald, D.
Title Young-boy networks without kin clusters in a lek-mating manakin Type Journal Article
Year 2009 Publication Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
Volume 63 Issue 7 Pages (up) 1029-1034-1034
Keywords Biomedical and Life Sciences
Abstract I use 10 years of data from a long-term study of lek-mating long-tailed manakins to relate the social network among males to their spatial and genetic structure. Previously, I showed that the network connectivity of young males predicts their future success. Here, I ask whether kinship might shape the organization of this young-boy network . Not surprisingly, males that were more socially distant (linked by longer network paths) were affiliated with perch zones (lek arenas) that were further apart. Relatedness (r) among males within the network decreased as social distance increased, as might be expected under kin selection. Nevertheless, any role for indirect inclusive fitness benefits is refuted by the slightly negative mean relatedness among males at all social distances within the network (overall mean r = -0.06). That is, relatedness ranged from slightly negative (-0.04) to more negative (-0.2). In contrast, relatedness in dyads for which at least one of the males was outside the social network (involving at least one blood-sampled male not documented to have interacted with other banded males) was slightly above the random expectation (mean r = 0.05). The slight variations around r = 0 among males of different categories likely reflect dispersal dynamics, rather than any influence of kinship on social organization. Relatedness did not covary with the age difference between males. These results, together with previous results for lack of relatedness between alpha and beta male partners, refute any role for kin selection in the evolution of cooperative display in this lek-mating system.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0340-5443 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5211
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Author Fischhoff, I.; Dushoff, J.; Sundaresan, S.; Cordingley, J.; Rubenstein, D.
Title Reproductive status influences group size and persistence of bonds in male plains zebra (Equus burchelli) Type Journal Article
Year 2009 Publication Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
Volume 63 Issue 7 Pages (up) 1035-1043-1043
Keywords Biomedical and Life Sciences
Abstract Animal groups arise from individuals’ choices about the number, characteristics, and identity of associates. Individuals make these choices to gain benefits from their associations. As the needs of an individual change with its phenotype, so too we expect the nature of its associations to vary. In this paper, we investigate how the social priorities of male plains zebra (Equus burchelli) depend on reproductive state. An adult male is either a bachelor, and lacking mating access, or a stallion defending a harem. Multiple harems and bachelor males aggregate in larger herds. Herds frequently split and merge, affording males opportunities to change associates. Over a 4-year period, we sampled the herd associations in a population of 500–700 zebras. To isolate the effects of reproductive state on male social behavior, we account for potential confounding factors: changes in population size, grouping tendencies, and sampling intensity. We develop a generally applicable permutation procedure, which allows us to test the null hypothesis that social behavior is independent of male status. Averaging over all individuals in the population, we find that a typical bachelor is found in herds containing significantly more adults, bachelors, and stallions than the herds of a typical stallion. Further, bachelors’ bonds with each other are more persistent over time than those among stallions. These results suggest that bachelors form cohesive cliques, in which we may expect cooperative behaviors to develop. Stallion–stallion associations are more diffuse, and less conducive to long-term cooperation.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0340-5443 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5193
Permanent link to this record