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Author |
Scheffer, M.; van Nes, E.H. |
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Title |
Self-organized similarity, the evolutionary emergence of groups of similar species |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |
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Volume |
103 |
Issue |
16 |
Pages |
6230-6235 |
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Keywords |
Animals; *Competitive Behavior; *Ecosystem; *Evolution; *Models, Biological |
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Abstract |
Ecologists have long been puzzled by the fact that there are so many similar species in nature. Here we show that self-organized clusters of look-a-likes may emerge spontaneously from coevolution of competitors. The explanation is that there are two alternative ways to survive together: being sufficiently different or being sufficiently similar. Using a model based on classical competition theory, we demonstrate a tendency for evolutionary emergence of regularly spaced lumps of similar species along a niche axis. Indeed, such lumpy patterns are commonly observed in size distributions of organisms ranging from algae, zooplankton, and beetles to birds and mammals, and could not be well explained by earlier theory. Our results suggest that these patterns may represent self-constructed niches emerging from competitive interactions. A corollary of our findings is that, whereas in species-poor communities sympatric speciation and invasion of open niches is possible, species-saturated communities may be characterized by convergent evolution and invasion by look-a-likes. |
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Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 8080, 6700 DD, Wageningen, The Netherlands. marten.scheffer@wur.nl |
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0027-8424 |
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PMID:16585519 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
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510 |
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Author |
Wolf, M.; van Doorn, G.S.; Leimar, O.; Weissing, F.J. |
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Title |
Life-history trade-offs favour the evolution of animal personalities |
Type |
Journal Article |
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Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Nature |
Abbreviated Journal |
Nature |
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Volume |
447 |
Issue |
7144 |
Pages |
581-584 |
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Keywords |
Aggression/physiology/psychology; Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; *Evolution; Exploratory Behavior/physiology; Models, Biological; Personality/*physiology; Predatory Behavior/physiology; Reproduction/physiology; Risk-Taking; Selection (Genetics) |
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Abstract |
In recent years evidence has been accumulating that personalities are not only found in humans but also in a wide range of other animal species. Individuals differ consistently in their behavioural tendencies and the behaviour in one context is correlated with the behaviour in multiple other contexts. From an adaptive perspective, the evolution of animal personalities is still a mystery, because a more flexible structure of behaviour should provide a selective advantage. Accordingly, many researchers view personalities as resulting from constraints imposed by the architecture of behaviour (but see ref. 12). In contrast, we show here that animal personalities can be given an adaptive explanation. Our argument is based on the insight that the trade-off between current and future reproduction often results in polymorphic populations in which some individuals put more emphasis on future fitness returns than others. Life-history theory predicts that such differences in fitness expectations should result in systematic differences in risk-taking behaviour. Individuals with high future expectations (who have much to lose) should be more risk-averse than individuals with low expectations. This applies to all kinds of risky situations, so individuals should consistently differ in their behaviour. By means of an evolutionary model we demonstrate that this basic principle results in the evolution of animal personalities. It simultaneously explains the coexistence of behavioural types, the consistency of behaviour through time and the structure of behavioural correlations across contexts. Moreover, it explains the common finding that explorative behaviour and risk-related traits like boldness and aggressiveness are common characteristics of animal personalities. |
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Theoretical Biology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, Kerklaan 30, 9751 NN Haren, The Netherlands |
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1476-4687 |
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PMID:17538618 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4098 |
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Author |
Grosenick, L.; Clement, T.S.; Fernald, R.D. |
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Title |
Fish can infer social rank by observation alone |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Nature |
Abbreviated Journal |
Nature |
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Volume |
445 |
Issue |
7126 |
Pages |
429-432 |
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Keywords |
Aggression/physiology; Animals; Cognition/*physiology; Female; Fishes/*physiology; Learning/*physiology; Male; Models, Biological; *Social Dominance; Territoriality |
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Abstract |
Transitive inference (TI) involves using known relationships to deduce unknown ones (for example, using A > B and B > C to infer A > C), and is thus essential to logical reasoning. First described as a developmental milestone in children, TI has since been reported in nonhuman primates, rats and birds. Still, how animals acquire and represent transitive relationships and why such abilities might have evolved remain open problems. Here we show that male fish (Astatotilapia burtoni) can successfully make inferences on a hierarchy implied by pairwise fights between rival males. These fish learned the implied hierarchy vicariously (as 'bystanders'), by watching fights between rivals arranged around them in separate tank units. Our findings show that fish use TI when trained on socially relevant stimuli, and that they can make such inferences by using indirect information alone. Further, these bystanders seem to have both spatial and featural representations related to rival abilities, which they can use to make correct inferences depending on what kind of information is available to them. Beyond extending TI to fish and experimentally demonstrating indirect TI learning in animals, these results indicate that a universal mechanism underlying TI is unlikely. Rather, animals probably use multiple domain-specific representations adapted to different social and ecological pressures that they encounter during the course of their natural lives. |
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Address |
Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 94305, USA. logang@stanford.edu |
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1476-4687 |
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PMID:17251980 |
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no |
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Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
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600 |
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Author |
Flack, J.C.; Girvan, M.; de Waal, F.B.M.; Krakauer, D.C. |
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Title |
Policing stabilizes construction of social niches in primates |
Type |
Journal Article |
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Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Nature |
Abbreviated Journal |
Nature |
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Volume |
439 |
Issue |
7075 |
Pages |
426-429 |
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Keywords |
Animals; Conflict (Psychology); Female; Macaca nemestrina/*physiology/*psychology; Male; Models, Biological; *Social Behavior |
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Abstract |
All organisms interact with their environment, and in doing so shape it, modifying resource availability. Termed niche construction, this process has been studied primarily at the ecological level with an emphasis on the consequences of construction across generations. We focus on the behavioural process of construction within a single generation, identifying the role a robustness mechanism--conflict management--has in promoting interactions that build social resource networks or social niches. Using 'knockout' experiments on a large, captive group of pigtailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina), we show that a policing function, performed infrequently by a small subset of individuals, significantly contributes to maintaining stable resource networks in the face of chronic perturbations that arise through conflict. When policing is absent, social niches destabilize, with group members building smaller, less diverse, and less integrated grooming, play, proximity and contact-sitting networks. Instability is quantified in terms of reduced mean degree, increased clustering, reduced reach, and increased assortativity. Policing not only controls conflict, we find it significantly influences the structure of networks that constitute essential social resources in gregarious primate societies. The structure of such networks plays a critical role in infant survivorship, emergence and spread of cooperative behaviour, social learning and cultural traditions. |
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Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501, USA. jflack@santafe.edu |
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1476-4687 |
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PMID:16437106 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
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298 |
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Author |
Bell, A.M. |
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Title |
Evolutionary biology: animal personalities |
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Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Nature |
Abbreviated Journal |
Nature |
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Volume |
447 |
Issue |
7144 |
Pages |
539-540 |
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Keywords |
Aggression/physiology/psychology; Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; *Evolution; Humans; *Models, Biological; Personality/genetics/*physiology; Reproduction/genetics/physiology; Risk-Taking; Selection (Genetics) |
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1476-4687 |
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PMID:17538607 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4099 |
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Author |
Johnson, D.D.P.; Stopka, P.; Knights, S. |
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Title |
Sociology: The puzzle of human cooperation |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Nature |
Abbreviated Journal |
Nature |
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Volume |
421 |
Issue |
6926 |
Pages |
911-2; discussion 912 |
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Keywords |
Altruism; *Cooperative Behavior; Evolution; Humans; *Models, Biological; Punishment; Reward; Risk |
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Olin Institute for Strategic Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA. dominic@post.harvard.edu |
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0028-0836 |
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PMID:12606989 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
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467 |
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Author |
Wilson, A.M.; McGuigan, M.P.; Su, A.; van Den Bogert, A.J. |
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Title |
Horses damp the spring in their step |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2001 |
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Nature |
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Nature |
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Volume |
414 |
Issue |
6866 |
Pages |
895-899 |
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Keywords |
Animals; Biomechanics; Elasticity; Forelimb; Gait; Horses/anatomy & histology/*physiology; Leg Bones/*physiology; Locomotion; Models, Biological; Muscle Fibers/physiology; Muscle, Skeletal/anatomy & histology/*physiology; Tendons/anatomy & histology/*physiology; Vibration |
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The muscular work of galloping in horses is halved by storing and returning elastic strain energy in spring-like muscle-tendon units.These make the legs act like a child's pogo stick that is tuned to stretch and recoil at 2.5 strides per second. This mechanism is optimized by unique musculoskeletal adaptations: the digital flexor muscles have extremely short fibres and significant passive properties, whereas the tendons are very long and span several joints. Length change occurs by a stretching of the spring-like digital flexor tendons rather than through energetically expensive length changes in the muscle. Despite being apparently redundant for such a mechanism, the muscle fibres in the digital flexors are well developed. Here we show that the mechanical arrangement of the elastic leg permits it to vibrate at a higher frequency of 30-40 Hz that could cause fatigue damage to tendon and bone. Furthermore, we show that the digital flexor muscles have minimal ability to contribute to or regulate significantly the 2.5-Hz cycle of movement, but are ideally arranged to damp these high-frequency oscillations in the limb. |
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Department of Veterinary Basic Sciences, The Royal Veterinary College, Hatfield, Herts AL9 7TA, UK. awilson@rvc.ac.uk |
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0028-0836 |
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PMID:11780059 |
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no |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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2300 |
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Author |
Hamilton, W.D. |
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Title |
Geometry for the selfish herd |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
1971 |
Publication |
Journal of theoretical biology |
Abbreviated Journal |
J. Theor. Biol. |
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31 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
295-311 |
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Animals; Anura; *Behavior, Animal; Breeding; Communication; Evolution; Fear; Metallurgy; *Models, Biological; Probability; Snakes; *Spatial Behavior |
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This paper presents an antithesis to the view that gregarious behaviour is evolved through benefits to the population or species. Following Galton (1871) and Williams (1964) gregarious behaviour is considered as a form of cover-seeking in which each animal tries to reduce its chance of being caught by a predator.
It is easy to see how pruning of marginal individuals can maintain centripetal instincts in already gregarious species; some evidence that marginal pruning actually occurs is summarized. Besides this, simply defined models are used to show that even in non-gregarious species selection is likely to favour individuals who stay close to others.
Although not universal or unipotent, cover-seeking is a widespread and important element in animal aggregation, as the literature shows. Neglect of the idea has probably followed from a general disbelief that evolution can be dysgenic for a species. Nevertheless, selection theory provides no support for such disbelief in the case of species with outbreeding or unsubdivided populations.
The model for two dimensions involves a complex problem in geometrical probability which has relevance also in metallurgy and communication science. Some empirical data on this, gathered from random number plots, is presented as of possible heuristic value. |
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0022-5193 |
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PMID:5104951 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
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771 |
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Author |
Waite, T.A. |
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Title |
Interruptions improve choice performance in gray jays: prolonged information processing versus minimization of costly errors |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
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5 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
209-214 |
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Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Choice Behavior; Female; Learning; Male; Models, Biological; Motivation; Reinforcement Schedule; Songbirds/*physiology; Time Factors |
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Abstract |
Under the assumption that selection favors minimization of costly errors, erroneous choice may be common when its fitness cost is low. According to an adaptive-choice model, this cost depends on the rate at which an animal encounters the choice: the higher this rate, the smaller the cost of choosing a less valuable option. Errors should thus be more common when interruptions to foraging are shorter. A previous experiment supported this prediction: gray jays, Perisoreus canadensis, were more error prone when subjected to shorter delays to access to food rewards. This pattern, though, is also predicted by an attentional-constraints model. Because the subjects were able to inspect the rewards during delays, their improved performance when subjected to longer delays could have been a byproduct of the experimentally prolonged opportunity for information processing. To evaluate this possibility, a follow-up experiment manipulated both delay to access and whether rewards could be inspected during delays. Depriving jays of the opportunity to inspect rewards (using opaque lids) induced only a small, nonsignificant increase in error rate. This effect was independent of length of delay and so the jays' improved performance when subjected to longer delays was not simply a byproduct of prolonged information processing. More definitively, even when the jays were prevented from inspecting rewards during delays, their performance improved when subjected to longer delays. The findings are thus consistent with the adaptive-choice model. |
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Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University, 1735 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210-1293, USA. waite.1@osu.edu |
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1435-9448 |
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PMID:12461598 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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2592 |
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Viscido, S.V.; Miller, M.; Wethey, D.S. |
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Title |
The response of a selfish herd to an attack from outside the group perimeter |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2001 |
Publication |
Journal of theoretical biology |
Abbreviated Journal |
J. Theor. Biol. |
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208 |
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3 |
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315-328 |
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Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Computer Simulation; Models, Biological; *Movement; Predatory Behavior |
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According to the selfish herd hypothesis, animals can decrease predation risk by moving toward one another if the predator can appear anywhere and will attack the nearest target. Previous studies have shown that aggregations can form using simple movement rules designed to decrease each animal's Domain of Danger. However, if the predator attacks from outside the group's perimeter, these simple movement rules might not lead to aggregation. To test whether simple selfish movement rules would decrease predation risk for those situations when the predator attacks from outside the flock perimeter, we constructed a computer model that allowed flocks of 75 simulated fiddler crabs to react to one another, and to a predator attacking from 7 m away. We attacked simulated crab flocks with predators of different sizes and attack speeds, and computed relative predation risk after 120 time steps. Final trajectories showed flight toward the center of the flock, but curving away from the predator. Path curvature depended on the predator's size and approach speed. The average crab experienced a greater decrease in predation risk when the predator was small or slow moving. Regardless of the predator's size and speed, however, predation risk always decreased as long as crabs took their flock-mates into account. We conclude that, even when flight away from an external predator occurs, the selfish avoidance of danger can lead to aggregation. |
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Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, U.S.A. viscido@u.washington.edu |
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0022-5193 |
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PMID:11207093 |
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refbase @ user @ |
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555 |
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