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Author Shultz, S.; Finlayson, L.V. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Large body and small brain and group sizes are associated with predator preferences for mammalian prey Type Journal Article
  Year 2010 Publication Behavioral Ecology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol.  
  Volume 21 Issue 5 Pages 1073-1079  
  Keywords (up)  
  Abstract Predation is a major force in shaping biological communities, both over ecological and evolutionary timescales. In response to predation pressure, prey have evolved characteristics designed to mitigate predation pressure. We evaluated predator foraging biases in relation to prey characteristics across 16 vertebrate communities. We show that although predator biases vary, some prey traits are consistently associated with predator diet composition. Within their acceptable prey size range, predators show positive bias toward larger bodied prey, small-brained prey (controlling for body size), small group size, and terrestriality. Thus, whether predator foraging decisions are passive or active, predator choice exerts differential pressure on prey species according to prey characteristics. Predator biases also were positively associated with early age at maturity, supporting the role of mortality in driving life-history characteristics. These results support several theoretical models of predation including its role as a selective force driving evolutionary changes in life history, brain size and sociality, optimal diet theory, and antiapostatic predation.  
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  Notes 10.1093/beheco/arq108 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5262  
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Author Smith, J.E.; Van Horn, R.C.; Powning, K.S.; Cole, A.R.; Graham, K.E.; Memenis, S.K.; Holekamp, K.E. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Evolutionary forces favoring intragroup coalitions among spotted hyenas and other animals Type Journal Article
  Year 2010 Publication Behavioral Ecology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol.  
  Volume 21 Issue 2 Pages 284-303  
  Keywords (up)  
  Abstract Coalitionary support in agonistic interactions represents cooperation because intervening in a fight is potentially costly to the donor of support but benefits the recipient. Here, we first review the characteristics of, and evolutionary forces favoring, intragroup coalitions in 49 species and find that patterns of intragroup coalition formation are remarkably similar between primates and nonprimates. We then test hypotheses suggesting kin selection, reciprocal altruism, and direct benefits as adaptive explanations for coalitionary interventions among adult female spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) belonging to a large social group in Kenya. As predicted by kin selection theory, females supported close kin most often, and the density (connectedness) of cooperation networks increased with genetic relatedness. Nevertheless, kinship failed to protect females from coalitionary attacks. We found no evidence of enduring alliances based on reciprocal support among unrelated adult females. Instead, donors generally minimized costs to themselves, intervening most often during low-intensity fights and when feeding opportunities were unavailable. Females also gained direct benefits from directing coalitionary attacks toward subordinates. Finally, females monitored the number of dominant bystanders in the “audience” at fights and modified their level of cooperation based on this knowledge. Overall, hyenas made flexible decisions regarding whether or not to intervene in fights, modifying their tendency to cooperate based on multiple types of information about their immediate social and ecological environments. Taken together, these findings indicate that the combined evolutionary forces of kin selection and direct benefits derived from reinforcing the status quo drive coalitionary interventions among adult female spotted hyenas.  
  Address agonistic support, audience effect, cooperation network, direct benefits, kin selection * reciprocal altruism * review  
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  Notes 10.1093/beheco/arp181 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5285  
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Author Dingemanse, N.J.; de Goede, P. url  doi
openurl 
  Title The relation between dominance and exploratory behavior is context-dependent in wild great tits Type Journal Article
  Year 2004 Publication Behavioral Ecology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol.  
  Volume 15 Issue 6 Pages 1023-1030  
  Keywords (up)  
  Abstract Individual differences in personality affect behavior in novel or challenging situations. Personality traits may be subject to selection because they affect the ability to dominate others. We investigated whether dominance rank at feeding tables in winter correlated with a heritable personality trait (as measured by exploratory behavior in a novel environment) in a natural population of great tits, Parus major. We provided clumped resources at feeding tables and calculated linear dominance hierarchies on the basis of observations between dyads of color-ringed individuals, and we used an experimental procedure to measure individual exploratory behavior of these birds. We show that fast-exploring territorial males had higher dominance ranks than did slow-exploring territorial males in two out of three samples, and that dominance related negatively to the distance between the site of observation and the territory. In contrast, fast-exploring nonterritorial juveniles had lower dominance ranks than did slow-exploring nonterritorial juveniles, implying that the relation between dominance and personality is context-dependent in the wild. We discuss how these patterns in dominance can explain earlier reported effects of avian personality on natal dispersal and fitness.  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5390  
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Author Hildenbrandt, H.; Carere, C.; Hemelrijk, C.K. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Self-organized aerial displays of thousands of starlings: a model Type Journal Article
  Year 2010 Publication Behavioral Ecology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol.  
  Volume 21 Issue 6 Pages 1349-1359  
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  Abstract Through combining theoretical models and empirical data, complexity science has increased our understanding of social behavior of animals, in particular of social insects, primates, and fish. What are missing are studies of collective behavior of huge swarms of birds. Recently detailed empirical data have been collected of the swarming maneuvers of large flocks of thousands of starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) at their communal sleeping site (roost). Their flocking maneuvers are of dazzling complexity in their changes in density and flock shape, but the processes underlying them are still a mystery. Recent models show that flocking may arise by self-organization from rules of co-ordination with nearby neighbors, but patterns in these models come nowhere near the complexity of those of the real starlings. The question of this paper, therefore, is whether such complex patterns can emerge by self-organization. In our computer model, called StarDisplay, we combine the usual rules of co-ordination based on separation, attraction, and alignment with specifics of starling behavior: 1) simplified aerodynamics of flight, especially rolling during turning, 2) movement above a “roosting area” (sleeping site), and 3) the low fixed number of interaction neighbors (i.e., the topological range). Our model generates patterns that resemble remarkably not only qualitative but also quantitative empirical data collected in Rome through video recordings and position measurements by stereo photography. Our results provide new insights into the mechanisms underlying complex flocking maneuvers of starlings and other birds.  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5403  
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Author Preiszner, B.; Vincze, E.; Seress, G.; Papp, S.; Bókony, V.; Liker, A.; Lendvai, Á.Z.; Patras, L.; Pap, P.L.; Vágási, C.I.; Németh, J. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Necessity or capacity? Physiological state predicts problem-solving performance in house sparrows Type Journal Article
  Year 2013 Publication Behavioral Ecology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol.  
  Volume 25 Issue 1 Pages 124-135  
  Keywords (up)  
  Abstract Innovative behaviors such as exploiting novel food sources can grant significant fitness benefits for animals, yet little is known about the mechanisms driving such phenomena, and the role of physiology is virtually unexplored in wild species. Two hypotheses predict opposing effects of physiological state on innovation success. On one hand, poor physiological condition may promote innovations by forcing individuals with poor competitive abilities to invent alternative solutions. On the other hand, superior physiological condition may ensure greater cognitive capacity and thereby better problem-solving and learning performance. To test these hypotheses, we studied the behavior of wild-caught house sparrows (Passer domesticus) in 4 novel tasks of food acquisition, one of which was presented to the birds in repeated trials, and we investigated the relationships of individual performance with relevant physiological traits. We found that problem-solving performance across the 4 tasks was moderately consistent within individuals. Birds with lower integrated levels of corticosterone, the main avian stress hormone, solved the most difficult task faster and were more efficient learners in the repeated task than birds with higher corticosterone levels. Birds with higher concentration of total glutathione, a key antioxidant, solved 2 relatively easy tasks faster, whereas birds with fewer coccidian parasites tended to solve the difficult task more quickly. Our results, thus, indicate that aspects of physiological state influence problem-solving performance in a context-dependent manner, and these effects on problem-solving capacity, probably including cognitive abilities, are more likely to drive individual innovation success than necessity due to poor condition.  
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  ISSN 1045-2249 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 6552  
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Author Anderson, C.; Franks, N.R. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Teams in animal societies Type Journal Article
  Year 2001 Publication Behavioral Ecology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol.  
  Volume 12 Issue 5 Pages 534-540  
  Keywords (up) animal societies, cooperation, division of labor, groups, invertebrates, task types, teams, vertebrates  
  Abstract We review the existence of teams in animal societies. Teams have previously been dismissed in all but a tiny minority of insect societies. “Team” is a term not generally used in studies of vertebrates. We propose a new rigorous definition of a team that may be applied to both vertebrate and invertebrate societies. We reconsider what it means to work as a team or group and suggest that there are many more teams in insect societies than previously thought. A team task requires different subtasks to be performed concurrently for successful completion. There is a division of labor within a team. Contrary to previous reviews of teams in social insects, we do not constrain teams to consist of members of different castes and argue that team members may be interchangeable. Consequently, we suggest that a team is simply the set of individuals that performs a team task. We contrast teams with groups and suggest that a group task requires the simultaneous performance and cooperation of two or more individuals for successful completion. In a group, there is no division of labor--each individual performs the same task. We also contrast vertebrate and invertebrate teams and find that vertebrate teams tend to be associated with hunting and are based on individual recognition. Invertebrate teams occur in societies characterized by a great deal of redundancy, and we predict that teams in insect societies are more likely to be found in large polymorphic (“complex”) societies than in small monomorphic (“simple”) societies.  
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  Notes 10.1093/beheco/12.5.534 Approved no  
  Call Number Serial 2070  
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Author Lusseau, D.; Conradt, L. url  doi
openurl 
  Title The emergence of unshared consensus decisions in bottlenose dolphins Type Journal Article
  Year 2009 Publication Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.  
  Volume 63 Issue 7 Pages 1067-1077  
  Keywords (up) Behavioral ecology – Decision-making process – Bottlenose dolphin – Group living  
  Abstract Abstract  Unshared consensus decision-making processes, in which one or a small number of individuals make the decision for the rest of a group, are rarely documented. However, this mechanism can be beneficial for all group members when one individual has greater knowledge about the benefits of the decision than other group members. Such decisions are reached during certain activity shifts within the population of bottlenose dolphins residing in Doubtful Sound, New Zealand. Behavioral signals are performed by one individual and seem to precipitate shifts in the behavior of the entire group: males perform side flops and initiate traveling bouts while females perform upside-down lobtails and terminate traveling bouts. However, these signals are not observed at all activity shifts. We find that, while side flops were performed by males that have greater knowledge than other male group members, this was not the case for females performing upside-down lobtails. The reason for this could have been that a generally high knowledge about the optimal timing of travel terminations rendered it less important which individual female made the decision.  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5109  
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Author Eagle, N.; Pentland, A. doi  openurl
  Title Eigenbehaviors: identifying structure in routine Type Journal Article
  Year 2009 Publication Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.  
  Volume 63 Issue 7 Pages 1057-1066-1066  
  Keywords (up) Biomedical and Life Sciences  
  Abstract Longitudinal behavioral data generally contains a significant amount of structure. In this work, we identify the structure inherent in daily behavior with models that can accurately analyze, predict, and cluster multimodal data from individuals and communities within the social network of a population. We represent this behavioral structure by the principal components of the complete behavioral dataset, a set of characteristic vectors we have termed eigenbehaviors. In our model, an individual’s behavior over a specific day can be approximated by a weighted sum of his or her primary eigenbehaviors. When these weights are calculated halfway through a day, they can be used to predict the day’s remaining behaviors with 79% accuracy for our test subjects. Additionally, we demonstrate the potential for this dimensionality reduction technique to infer community affiliations within the subjects’ social network by clustering individuals into a behavior space spanned by a set of their aggregate eigenbehaviors. These behavior spaces make it possible to determine the behavioral similarity between both individuals and groups, enabling 96% classification accuracy of community affiliations within the population-level social network. Additionally, the distance between individuals in the behavior space can be used as an estimate for relational ties such as friendship, suggesting strong behavioral homophily amongst the subjects. This approach capitalizes on the large amount of rich data previously captured during the Reality Mining study from mobile phones continuously logging location, proximate phones, and communication of 100 subjects at MIT over the course of 9 months. As wearable sensors continue to generate these types of rich, longitudinal datasets, dimensionality reduction techniques such as eigenbehaviors will play an increasingly important role in behavioral research.  
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  Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor  
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  ISSN 0340-5443 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5189  
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Author Fischhoff, I.; Dushoff, J.; Sundaresan, S.; Cordingley, J.; Rubenstein, D. doi  openurl
  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 1035-1043-1043  
  Keywords (up) 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.  
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  Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor  
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  ISSN 0340-5443 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5193  
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Author Franks, D.; James, R.; Noble, J.; Ruxton, G. doi  openurl
  Title A foundation for developing a methodology for social network sampling Type Journal Article
  Year 2009 Publication Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.  
  Volume 63 Issue 7 Pages 1079-1088-1088  
  Keywords (up) Biomedical and Life Sciences  
  Abstract Researchers are increasingly turning to network theory to understand the social nature of animal populations. We present a computational framework that is the first step in a series of works that will allow us to develop a quantitative methodology of social network sampling to aid ecologists in their social network data collection. To develop our methodology, we need to be able to generate networks from which to sample. Ideally, we need to perform a systematic study of sampling protocols on different known network structures, as network structure might affect the robustness of any particular sampling methodology. Thus, we present a computational tool for generating network structures that have user-defined distributions for network properties and for key measures of interest to ecologists. The user defines the values of these measures and the tool will generate appropriate network randomizations with those properties. This tool will be used as a framework for developing a sampling methodology, although we do not present a full methodology here. We describe the method used by the tool, demonstrate its effectiveness, and discuss how the tool can now be utilized. We provide a proof-of-concept example (using the assortativity measure) of how such networks can be used, along with a simulated egocentric sampling regime, to test the level of equivalence of the sampled network to the actual network.  
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  Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor  
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  ISSN 0340-5443 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5194  
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