Abstract: In many social species, relationships within groups seem to be non-random but related to variables such as rank, kinship or sexual attractiveness. The endangered African wild dog Lycaon pictus is a social carnivore that lives in large, stable packs, and intra-pack associations might be expected to display similar patterns. We investigated patterns of coalition formation (support during dominance interactions, and partnership interactions) and resting associations between members of a captive pack of 19 wild dogs. The social organization of the captive pack was similar to that of free-ranging packs in many respects. Polyadic (group) incidents of coalition support were also observed in a free-ranging pack. Patterns of coalition formation in the captive pack were related to rank. Most aggressive interactions involved high-ranking individuals (particularly the alpha, beta and third-ranking males) and coalitionary support tended to reinforce the existing hierarchy. However, there was at least one example of support influencing a successful rank challenge. Support was affected by potential risks and benefits, the latter including dominance through association and revolutionary alliances. An even stronger pattern overlaid associations between pack members: coalitions and resting associations were strongest between members of the same age–sex cohort, and may have enabled the eventual dominance of younger pack members over adults. Among adults, coalitionary associations were sometimes overridden by intersexual relationships. The results from this captive pack suggest that wild dogs are sensitive to differences in competitive ability. This information, in conjunction with strong affiliative bonds between littermates, is used to manoeuvre for position in the social hierarchy. It may also be important during dispersal, in encounters with other dispersing groups of the same sex. Although most features of the social structure of the captive pack were comparable to those of free-ranging packs, aspects such as the influence of relatedness on coalition formation still need to be explored.

Abstract: Relative brain size (measured as gross brain size after body size effects are removed) differs systematically between families of rodents, insectivores and lagomorphs. The Sciuridae have the largest relative brain size, the Soricidae and Bathyergidae the smallest. These results are discussed and compared with previous analyses of relative brain sizes among primates and bats. These differences complicate comparisons between relative brain size across phylogenetically diverse species and attempts to relate differences in relative brain size to ecological variables. To overcome these problems, best fit relationships were estimated for each family, and values for each genus were expressed as deviations from the lines of best fit. We refer to these values as Comparative Brain Size (CBS). Differences in CBS are related to differences in habitat type (forest-dwelling genera have larger CBS' than grassland forms), in diet (folivores have smaller CBS' than generalists or insectivores, frugivores and granivores), in zonation (arboreal genera have larger CBS' than terrestrial ones) and in activity timing (nocturnal genera have larger CBS' than dirurnal ones). However, these ecological categories are interrelated and, when the effects of other ecological differences are taken into account using analyses of variance, only the differences associated with diet, and possibly habitat remain.

Abstract: Social learning is fundamental to social life across the animal kingdom, but we still know little about how natural selection has shaped social learning abilities on a proximate level. Sometimes, complex social learning phenomena can be entirely explained by Pavlovian processes that have little to do with the evolution of sociality. This implies that the ability to learn socially could be an exaptation, not an adaptation, to social life but not that social learning abilities have been left untouched by natural selection. I discuss new empirical evidence for associative learning in social information use, explain how natural selection might facilitate the associative learning process and discuss why such studies are changing the way that we think about social learning.