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Author Shultz, S.; Dunbar, R.I.M. url  doi
openurl 
  Title (up) Both social and ecological factors predict ungulate brain size Type Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication Proceedings. Biological Sciences / The Royal Society Abbreviated Journal Proc Biol Sci  
  Volume 273 Issue 1583 Pages 207-215  
  Keywords Animals; Artiodactyla/*anatomy & histology/*physiology; Brain/*anatomy & histology/physiology; *Ecosystem; Organ Size; Perissodactyla/*anatomy & histology/*physiology; *Social Behavior  
  Abstract Among mammals, the members of some Orders have relatively large brains. Alternative explanations for this have emphasized either social or ecological selection pressures favouring greater information-processing capacities, including large group size, greater foraging efficiency, higher innovation rates, better invasion success and complex problem solving. However, the focal taxa for these analyses (primates, carnivores and birds) often show both varied ecological competence and social complexity. Here, we focus on the specific relationship between social complexity and brain size in ungulates, a group with relatively simple patterns of resource use, but extremely varied social behaviours. The statistical approach we used, phylogenetic generalized least squares, showed that relative brain size was independently associated with sociality and social complexity as well as with habitat use, while relative neocortex size is associated with social but not ecological factors. A simple index of sociality was a better predictor of both total brain and neocortex size than group size, which may indicate that the cognitive demands of sociality depend on the nature of social relationships as well as the total number of individuals in a group.  
  Address School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Biosciences Building, Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK. susanne.shultz@liv.ac.uk  
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  ISSN 0962-8452 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:16555789 Approved no  
  Call Number Serial 2098  
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Author Stanley, C.R.; Dunbar, R.I.M. url  doi
openurl 
  Title (up) Consistent social structure and optimal clique size revealed by social network analysis of feral goats, Capra hircus Type Journal Article
  Year 2013 Publication Anim Behav Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 85 Issue Pages  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Stanley2013 Serial 6253  
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Author Dunbar, R.I.; Dunbar, E.P. doi  openurl
  Title (up) Contrasts in social structure among black-and-white colobus monkey groups Type Journal Article
  Year 1976 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.  
  Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 84-92  
  Keywords Agonistic Behavior; Animals; *Colobus; Copulation; Female; *Haplorhini; *Hierarchy, Social; Male; *Social Dominance  
  Abstract Three types of Colobus guereza groups may be distinguished on the bases of size and composition, namely small one-male groups, large, one-male groups and multi-male groups. The social structure of each type of group is described in terms of the distribution of non-agonistic interactions, the frequency and distribution of agonistic behaviour and the organization of the roles of vigilance, territorial defence and leadership. A number of differences are found between the group types which appear to be related to the differences in group size and composition. It is suggested that these group types represent stages in the life-cycle of colobus groups, and that such an interpretation may help to resolve some of the conflicting reports in the literature.  
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  ISSN 0003-3472 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:817624 Approved no  
  Call Number Serial 2049  
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Author Zhou, W.-X.; Sornette, D.; Hill, R.A.; Dunbar, R.I.M. doi  openurl
  Title (up) Discrete hierarchical organization of social group sizes Type Journal Article
  Year 2005 Publication Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society Abbreviated Journal Proc Biol Sci  
  Volume 272 Issue 1561 Pages 439-444  
  Keywords Anthropology, Cultural; *Group Structure; Humans; *Models, Biological; *Social Behavior; *Social Environment  
  Abstract The 'social brain hypothesis' for the evolution of large brains in primates has led to evidence for the coevolution of neocortical size and social group sizes, suggesting that there is a cognitive constraint on group size that depends, in some way, on the volume of neural material available for processing and synthesizing information on social relationships. More recently, work on both human and non-human primates has suggested that social groups are often hierarchically structured. We combine data on human grouping patterns in a comprehensive and systematic study. Using fractal analysis, we identify, with high statistical confidence, a discrete hierarchy of group sizes with a preferred scaling ratio close to three: rather than a single or a continuous spectrum of group sizes, humans spontaneously form groups of preferred sizes organized in a geometrical series approximating 3-5, 9-15, 30-45, etc. Such discrete scale invariance could be related to that identified in signatures of herding behaviour in financial markets and might reflect a hierarchical processing of social nearness by human brains.  
  Address State Key Laboratory of Chemical Reaction Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China  
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  ISSN 0962-8452 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:15734699 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 549  
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Author Shi, J.; Dunbar, R.I.M.; Buckland, D.; Miller, D. url  doi
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  Title (up) Dynamics of grouping patterns and social segregation in feral goats (Capra hircus) on the Isle of Rum, NW Scotland Type Journal Article
  Year 2005 Publication Mammalia Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 69 Issue Pages  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Shi2005 Serial 6257  
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Author Pérez-Barbería, F.J.; Shultz, S.; Dunbar, R.I.M.; Janis, C. doi  openurl
  Title (up) Evidence For Coevolution Of Sociality And Relative Brain Size In Three Orders Of Mammals Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Evolution Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 61 Issue 12 Pages 2811-2821  
  Keywords Brain size, carnivores, coevolution, primates, sociality, ungulates  
  Abstract Abstract

As the brain is responsible for managing an individual's behavioral response to its environment, we should expect that large relative brain size is an evolutionary response to cognitively challenging behaviors. The “social brain hypothesis†argues that maintaining group cohesion is cognitively demanding as individuals living in groups need to be able to resolve conflicts that impact on their ability to meet resource requirements. If sociality does impose cognitive demands, we expect changes in relative brain size and sociality to be coupled over evolutionary time. In this study, we analyze data on sociality and relative brain size for 206 species of ungulates, carnivores, and primates and provide, for the first time, evidence that changes in sociality and relative brain size are closely correlated over evolutionary time for all three mammalian orders. This suggests a process of coevolution and provides support for the social brain theory. However, differences between taxonomic orders in the stability of the transition between small-brained/nonsocial and large-brained/social imply that, although sociality is cognitively demanding, sociality and relative brain size can become decoupled in some cases. Carnivores seem to have been especially prone to this.
 
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  Notes doi: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2007.00229.x Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4781  
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Author Pérez-Barbería, F.J.; Shultz, S.; Dunbar, R.I. url  doi
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  Title (up) Evidence for coevolution of sociality and relative brain size in three orders of mammals Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Evolution Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 61 Issue Pages  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Pérez-Barbería2007 Serial 6221  
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Author Dunbar, R.I.M.; Shultz, S. doi  openurl
  Title (up) Evolution in the Social Brain Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Science Abbreviated Journal Science  
  Volume 317 Issue 5843 Pages 1344-1347  
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  Abstract The evolution of unusually large brains in some groups of animals, notably primates, has long been a puzzle. Although early explanations tended to emphasize the brain's role in sensory or technical competence (foraging skills, innovations, and way-finding), the balance of evidence now clearly favors the suggestion that it was the computational demands of living in large, complex societies that selected for large brains. However, recent analyses suggest that it may have been the particular demands of the more intense forms of pairbonding that was the critical factor that triggered this evolutionary development. This may explain why primate sociality seems to be so different from that found in most other birds and mammals: Primate sociality is based on bonded relationships of a kind that are found only in pairbonds in other taxa.  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4243  
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Author Dunbar, R. doi  openurl
  Title (up) Evolution of the social brain Type Journal Article
  Year 2003 Publication Science Abbreviated Journal Science  
  Volume 302 Issue 5648 Pages 1160-1161  
  Keywords Animals; Animals, Wild; *Cognition; Endorphins/physiology; *Evolution; Female; Grooming; Hierarchy, Social; Language; Neocortex/anatomy & histology/physiology; Papio/physiology/*psychology; *Reproduction; *Social Behavior; Social Dominance; Social Support; Vocalization, Animal  
  Abstract  
  Address School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK. rimd@liv.ac.uk  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1095-9203 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:14615522 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 548  
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Author Shi, J.; Dunbar, R. doi  openurl
  Title (up) Feeding competition within a feral goat population on the Isle of Rum, NW Scotland Type Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication Journal of Ethology Abbreviated Journal J. Ethol.  
  Volume 24 Issue 2 Pages 117-124  
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  Abstract This study investigated feeding competition within and between different age-sex classes of feral goats (Capra hircus) on the Isle of Rum (northwest Scotland) from August to November 2000 (inclusive). Although contests in a feeding context were common, most were relatively passive: little overt agonistic behaviour was observed between opponents and the distance between feeding animals involved did not change significantly after an interaction. Month (but not sex or habitat type) had a significant effect on feeding interaction rates, and the proportion of interactions involving more intense forms of conflict was highest in November when forage availability was beginning to decline. The results show that the initiator won most feeding encounters, with adult males being dominant over females. The ability to win conflicts increased with age for both males and females. However, it decreased sharply for adult males older than 5 years, which may, in part, explain the reduced overwinter survival of these individuals.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 805  
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