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Robbins, R. L., & McCreery, E. K. (2003). African wild dog pup vocalizations with special reference to Morton's model. Behaviour, 140(3), 333–351.
Abstract: African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) pup vocalizations were studied in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe for weeks 3 through 7 of the socialization period. Here we present the vocal repertoire, including the use of repetitive and mixed sounds, and investigate the extent to which the emerging sound system of Lycaon conforms to predicted design features of Morton's (MS) motivation-structural rules. Features of the pup sound system are highlighted by comparison with adults and other social canids.TAGSTARTBRTAGEND Data were collected at three den sites (litter sizes: 8, 8, and 9) of two study packs. A total of 1903 vocalizations were classified, and eight vocal classes and seven subclasses were identified. Although all sounds identified persist into adulthood, observations indicate a delayed onset in some vocal classes, including both the lowest (i.e. rumbles) and highest (i.e. twitters) frequency sounds. As predicted by the (MS) model, pups invested heavily in high frequency, harmonic care/social soliciting sounds (91%, N = 1586 unmixed vocalizations), however, no clear association between acoustic structure and sound repetition was found. Significantly more repetition was heard in all vocal classes with the exception of moans and barks. Intra-pack aggression is generally muted in this obligate social carnivore suggesting that repetition may be a low cost strategy to induce social outcomes and obtain food. The patterning of mixed vocalizations (N = 317) was consistent with the (MS) model. Given the high degree of cooperation necessary for individual survival, the predominant use of cross-mixed sounds may serve to minimize conflict as pups begin to form relationships with littermates and adults. Noisy/noisy sounds were exceptionally rare. Comparative data suggest a relationship between the early patterning of mixed sounds and species-specific social organization in canids.
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Hemelrijk, C. K. (2002). Despotic societies, sexual attraction and the emergence of male 'tolerance': an agent-based model. Behaviour, 139(6), 729–747.
Abstract: During the period when females are sexually attractive – but only then – males of certain species of primates, such as chimpanzees, allow females access to resources. Because males are usually dominant over females, such male 'tolerance' is explained as a special, reproductive strategy to gain access to females. In this paper a simpler hypothesis is proposed on the basis of an individual-based model (called DomWorld): male 'tolerance' towards females arises in 'despotic' artificial societies as a kind of 'respectful timidity', because sexual attraction automatically increases female dominance over males as a side-effect. The model consists in a homogeneous, virtual world with agents that group and perform dominance-interactions in which the effects of victory and defeat are self-reinforcing. The artificial sexes differ in that VirtualMales have a higher intensity of aggression, they start with a greater capacity to win conflicts than VirtualFemales and they are especially attracted to the opposite sex during certain periods, whereas VirtualFemales are not. I shall explain how the introduction into DomWorld of the attraction of VirtualMales by VirtualFemales leads to female dominance, why it does so only in despotic, but not in egalitarian societies, and how it leads to other phenomena that are relevant to the study of primate behaviour.
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McCreery, E. K., & Robbins, R. L. (2001). Proximate Explanations For Failed Pack Formation In Lycaon Pictus. Behaviour, 138(11), 1467–1479.
Abstract: Among the most social of all canids, the endangered African wild dog lives in packs in which the alpha pair typically monopolizes breeding while nonreproductive members help care for the offspring. Consequently, the size of the breeding population is directly related to the number of packs in the population. Although the formation of new packs affects both individual fitness and population dynamics, little is known about the process of pack formation and the proximate factors that influence the outcome. In this paper, seven cases of attempted pack formation are documented, of which four failed. Three possible explanations for pack annulment are considered: group size, mate competition, and mate choice (i.e. group compatibility). Our observations suggest that group compatibility can influence whether stable reproductive units form. The influence of individual behavior, via the process of pack formation, on population dynamics is discussed. The potential conservation application of the theoretical study of wild dog pack formation is highlighted.
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Vervaecke, H., de Vries, H., & van Elsacker, L. (2000). The Pivotal Role Of Rank In Grooming And Support Behavior In A Captive Group Of Bonobos (Pan Paniscus). Behaviour, 137(11), 1463–1485.
Abstract: We investigated dyadic grooming relationships in a captive group of bonobos (Pan paniscus) and questioned what social function grooming fulfils in the 'market of services and favors'. Hereto we examined which of two theoretical models – grooming for support (Seyfarth, 1977, 1980) or grooming according to the similarity principle (de Waal & Luttrell, 1986) – best accounted for the observed grooming distribution. Similarity in traits did not correlate with increased grooming or close proximity among the individuals. Therefore, the similarity hypothesis was rejected. Seyfarth's model of rank-related grooming was largely confirmed. The animals distributed their grooming according to the rank of the receivers. We found an exchange between grooming and receipt of support. There was more grooming up than down the hierarchy. However, not all predictions about rank-related competition over grooming were confirmed. We found that dyadic grooming reciprocity indeed increased with decreasing rank distance. Yet, there was no increase of grooming within the dyad with decreasing rank distance and high ranking individuals were not competed over at the highest rates. The observed correlation between grooming and support received represents an important fit with Seyfarth's prediction, but does not allow for conclusions about underlying causal processes. Other causal explanations, besides the 'groom to receive support' hypothesis, that could explain a similar correlation are discussed.
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McLean, I. G., Schmitt, N. T., Jarman, P. J., Duncan, C., & Wynne, C. D. L. (2000). Learning For Life: Training Marsupials To Recognise Introduced Predators. Behaviour, 137(10), 1361–1376.
Abstract: Raising endangered species in captivity for reintroduction necessarily results in animals that lack appropriate skills for coping with problems to be faced in the wild, such as predators. Using classical conditioning techniques involving linking fear of a live dog with the image of a fox, we demonstrate an adjusted fear response for two wallaby species (rufous bettongs Aepyprymnus rufescens, quokkas Setonix brachyurus). No differences in response to the fox were found for wild-caught and captive-born bettongs, even though wild-caught subjects were likely to have encountered canids prior to capture. Attempts to condition a fear response by quokkas to an odour were unsuccessful. An attempt to induce fear of the stuffed fox by linking to fear of humans in quokkas was unsuccessful, but quokkas generalised from fear of the dog to fear of the fox, despite a delay of several weeks. Trained dogs offer a valuable and ethically acceptable mechanism for improving the ability of captive-reared (or sequestered) animals to recognise and cope with predators.
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Griffin, A. S. (2008). Socially acquired predator avoidance: Is it just classical conditioning? Special Issue:Brain Mechanisms, Cognition and Behaviour in Birds, 76(3), 264–271.
Abstract: Associative learning theories presume the existence of a general purpose learning process, the structure of which does not mirror the demands of any particular learning problem. In contrast, learning scientists working within an Evolutionary Biology tradition believe that learning processes have been shaped by ecological demands. One potential means of exploring how ecology may have modified properties of acquisition is to use associative learning theory as a framework within which to analyse a particular learning phenomenon. Recent work has used this approach to examine whether socially transmitted predator avoidance can be conceptualised as a classical conditioning process in which a novel predator stimulus acts as a conditioned stimulus (CS) and acquires control over an avoidance response after it has become associated with alarm signals of social companions, the unconditioned stimulus (US). I review here a series of studies examining the effect of CS/US presentation timing on the likelihood of acquisition. Results suggest that socially acquired predator avoidance may be less sensitive to forward relationships than traditional classical conditioning paradigms. I make the case that socially acquired predator avoidance is an exciting novel one-trial learning paradigm that could be studied along side fear conditioning. Comparisons between social and non-social learning of danger at both the behavioural and neural level may yield a better understanding of how ecology might shape properties and mechanisms of learning.
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Boy, V., & Duncan, P. (1979). Time-budgets of Camargue horses. I. Developmental changes in the time-budgets of foals. Behaviour, 71, 187–201.
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Cheney, D. L., & Seyfarth, R. M. (1989). Reconciliation and redirected aggression in vervet monkeys, Behaviour. Behaviour, 110, 258–275.
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Mrosovsky, N., & Shettleworth, S. J. (1974). Further studies of the sea-finding mechanism in green turtle hatchlings. Behaviour, 51(3-4), 195–208.
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Mrosovsky, N., & Shettleworth, S. J. (1968). Wavelength preferences and brightness cues in the water finding behaviour of sea turtles. Behaviour, 32(4), 211–257.
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