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Author Wittemyer, G.; Getz, W.M.
Title Hierarchical dominance structure and social organization in African elephants, Loxodonta africana Type Journal Article
Year 2007 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume 73 Issue 4 Pages 671-681
Keywords African elephant; between-group competition; Loxodonta africana; nepotism; resource distribution; socioecology; transitive dominance; within-group competition
Abstract According to the socioecological framework, transitivity (or linearity) in dominance relationships is related to competition over critical resources. When a population is structured into groups, the intensity of between- versus within-group competition influences the form and function of its social organization. Few studies have compared the type and relative intensity of competition at these two levels. African elephants have well-structured social relations, providing an exemplary system for such a study. We report on dominance hierarchies among free-ranging elephants and evaluate the factors that drive their socioecological structure to lie in a region of the three-dimensional nepotism/despotism/tolerance space rarely observed among social species; namely, where non-nepotistic, transitive dominance hierarchies within groups emerge despite kin-based philopatry and infrequent agonistic interactions over widely distributed resources. We found significant transitivity in dominance hierarchies between groups. Dominance relations among the matriarchs of different social groups were primarily age based, rather than driven by physical or group size, and group matriarch rank influenced the dominance relationships among nonmatriarchal females in the population. Our results suggest that between-group dominance relationships induce tolerance among group members, which in combination with high group relatedness, reduces the benefits of nepotism. We postulate that cognitive abilities and high risk of injury in contests enhance winner and loser effects, facilitating the formation of transitive dominance relationships, despite widely distributed resources over which infrequent competition occurs. The interplay of cognitive abilities, winner and loser effects, resource distribution, and within- and between-group dominance relationships may produce behaviour in other strongly social mammals that differs from that predicted by a superficial application of current socioecological models.
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Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 449
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Author Czaran, T.
Title Game theory and evolutionary ecology: Evolutionary Games & Population Dynamics by J. Hofbauer and K. Sigmund, and Game Theory & Animal Behaviour, edited by L.A. Dugatkin and H.K. Reeve Type Journal Article
Year 1999 Publication Trends in Ecology & Evolution Abbreviated Journal Trends. Ecol. Evol
Volume 14 Issue 6 Pages 246-247
Keywords Game theory; Evolutionary ecology; Population dynamics; Ethology
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Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 485
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Author Dall, Sasha R. X; Houston, Alasdair I.; McNamara, John M.
Title The behavioural ecology of personality: consistent individual differences from an adaptive perspective Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication Ecology Letters Abbreviated Journal Ecol. Letters
Volume 7 Issue Pages 734-739
Keywords Adaptive individual differences, behavioural ecology, behavioural syndromes, evolutionary game theory, life history strategies, personality differences, state-dependent dynamic programming
Abstract Individual humans, and members of diverse other species, show consistent differences in

aggressiveness, shyness, sociability and activity. Such intraspecific differences in

behaviour have been widely assumed to be non-adaptive variation surrounding

(possibly) adaptive population-average behaviour. Nevertheless, in keeping with recent

calls to apply Darwinian reasoning to ever-finer scales of biological variation, we sketch

the fundamentals of an adaptive theory of consistent individual differences in behaviour.

Our thesis is based on the notion that such .personality differences. can be selected for if

fitness payoffs are dependent on both the frequencies with which competing strategies

are played and an individual`s behavioural history. To this end, we review existing models

that illustrate this and propose a game theoretic approach to analyzing personality

differences that is both dynamic and state-dependent. Our motivation is to provide

insights into the evolution and maintenance of an apparently common animal trait:

personality, which has far reaching ecological and evolutionary implications.
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Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 494
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Author Berger, J
Title Wild horses of the Great Basin Type Book Whole
Year 1986 Publication University of Chicago Press, Abbreviated Journal Univ. of Chic. Press
Volume Issue Pages
Keywords wildlife equine behaviour ecology
Abstract Describes the behavior of wild horses living in the Great Basin Desert of Nevada and discusses the role of the horses in the area's ecology
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Publisher University of Chicago Press Place of Publication Chicago Editor
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ISSN ISBN 0-226-04367-3 Medium
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Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 659
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Author Barton, R.A.; Byrne, R.W.; Whiten, A.
Title Ecology, feeding competition and social structure in baboons Type Journal Article
Year 1996 Publication Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
Volume 38 Issue 5 Pages 321-329
Keywords Key words Ecology – Competition – Group size – Baboons
Abstract Predictions of the model of van Schaik (1989) of female-bonding in primates are tested by systematically comparing the ecology, level of within-group contest competition for food (WGC), and patterns of social behaviour found in two contrasting baboon populations. Significant differences were found in food distribution (percentage of the diet from clumped sources), feeding supplant rates and grooming patterns. In accord with the model, the tendencies of females to affiliate and form coalitions with one another, and to be philopatric, were strongest where ecological conditions promoted WGC. Group fission in the population with strong WGC was “horizontal” with respect to female dominance rank, and associated with female-female aggression during a period of elevated feeding competition. In contrast, where WGC was low, females' grooming was focused on adult males rather than other females. Recent evidence suggests that group fission here is initiated by males, tends to result in the formation of one-male groups, and is not related to feeding competition but to male-male competition for mates. An ecological model of baboon social structure is presented which incorporates the effects of female-female competition, male-male competition, and predation pressure. The model potentially accounts for wide variability in group size, group structure and social relationships within the genus Papio. Socio-ecological convergence between common baboons and hamadryas baboons, however, may be limited in some respects by phylogenetic inertia.
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Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 807
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Author Feh, C.; Munkhtuya, B.; Enkhbold, S.; Sukhbaatar, T.
Title Ecology and social structure of the Gobi khulan Equus hemionus subsp. in the Gobi B National Park, Mongolia Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Biological Conservation Abbreviated Journal Biol. Conserva.
Volume 101 Issue 1 Pages 51-61
Keywords Equus hemionus; Ecology and social structure; Gobi National Park; Mongolia
Abstract The status of the Gobi khulan Equus hemionus subsp. is recorded as “insufficiently known” in the Species Survival Commission's Equid Action Plan. Recent counts confirm that Mongolia holds the most important population of the whole species. Since 1953, the animals have benefited from a protected status, but this is now challenged. A 5-year study in the B part of the Gobi National Park on one subpopulation showed that it has remained stable over the past 15 years with an adequate mean reproductive rate of 15% and a 50% survival rate over the first year. Age/sex related mortality and prey analysis indicate that wolf predation probably has some impact on the population, in particular for 4-6-year-olds of both sexes at the start of reproduction. Desert and mountain steppes are the khulan's year-round preferred habitat, but `oases', play an important role at the beginning of lactation. Anthropogenic factors affect both home range and habitat use through direct intervention or permanent occupation of the scarce water sources. Khulans of this subpopulation, unlike other Asian and African wild asses, form year-round stable, non-territorial families. These families and all-male groups join together into “bands” in winter, and herds of several hundred animals, where reproductive rate is highest, form throughout the year. The existence of such herds may thus be critical for the breeding success of the population. Our study provides the first detailed quantitative data for this subspecies, which will help to monitor changes in the future.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2289
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Author Henson, S.M.; Dennis, B.; Hayward, J.L.; Cushing, J.M.; Galusha, J.G.
Title Predicting the dynamics of animal behaviour in field populations Type Journal Article
Year 2007 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume 74 Issue 1 Pages 103-110
Keywords colony occupancy; differential equation; dynamic modelling; glaucous-winged gull; habitat ecology; Larus glaucescens; mathematical modelling; sleep; territory attendance
Abstract Many species show considerable variation in behaviour among individuals. We show that some behaviours are largely deterministic and predictable with mathematical models. We propose a general differential equation model of behaviour in field populations and use the methodology to explain and predict the dynamics of sleep and colony attendance in seabirds as a function of environmental factors. Our model explained over half the variability in the data to which it was fitted, and it predicted the dynamics of an independent data set. Differential equation models may provide new approaches to the study of behaviour in animals and humans.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4206
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Author Janson, C.; Byrne, R.
Title What wild primates know about resources: opening up the black box Type Journal Article
Year 2007 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 10 Issue 3 Pages 357-367
Keywords Cognitive map – Primate – Foraging – Ecology – Psychology
Abstract Abstract  We present the theoretical and practical difficulties of inferring the cognitive processes involved in spatial movement decisions of primates and other animals based on studies of their foraging behavior in the wild. Because the possible cognitive processes involved in foraging are not known a priori for a given species, some observed spatial movements could be consistent with a large number of processes ranging from simple undirected search processes to strategic goal-oriented travel. Two basic approaches can help to reveal the cognitive processes: (1) experiments designed to test specific mechanisms; (2) comparison of observed movements with predicted ones based on models of hypothesized foraging modes (ideally, quantitative ones). We describe how these two approaches have been applied to evidence for spatial knowledge of resources in primates, and for various hypothesized goals of spatial decisions in primates, reviewing what is now established. We conclude with a synthesis emphasizing what kinds of spatial movement data on unmanipulated primate populations in the wild are most useful in deciphering goal-oriented processes from random processes. Basic to all of these is an estimate of the animals ability to detect resources during search. Given knowledge of the animals detection ability, there are several observable patterns of resource use incompatible with a pure search process. These patterns include increasing movement speed when approaching versus leaving a resource, increasingly directed movement toward more valuable resources, and directed travel to distant resources from many starting locations. Thus, it should be possible to assess and compare spatial cognition across a variety of primate species and thus trace its ecological and evolutionary correlates.
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Call Number Admin @ knut @ Serial 4214
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Author Griffin, A.S.
Title Socially acquired predator avoidance: Is it just classical conditioning? Type Journal Article
Year 2008 Publication Brain Research Bulletin Abbreviated Journal Special Issue:Brain Mechanisms, Cognition and Behaviour in Birds
Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 264-271
Keywords Learning; Classical (Pavlovian) conditioning; Social learning; Ecological specialization; General process theory; Ecology; Predation; Backward conditioning
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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ISSN 0361-9230 ISBN Medium
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4697
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Author Healy, S.D.; Jones, C.M.
Title Animal learning and memory: an integration of cognition and ecology Type Journal Article
Year 2002 Publication Zoology Abbreviated Journal Zoology
Volume 105 Issue 4 Pages 321-327
Keywords cognitive ecology; spatial learning and memory; adaptive specialisation
Abstract Summary A wonderfully lucid framework for the ways to understand animal behaviour is that represented by the four [`]whys' proposed by Tinbergen (1963). For much of the past three decades, however, these four avenues have been pursued more or less in parallel. Functional questions, for example, have been addressed by behavioural ecologists, mechanistic questions by psychologists and ethologists, ontogenetic questions by developmental biologists and neuroscientists and phylogenetic questions by evolutionary biologists. More recently, the value of integration between these differing views has become apparent. In this brief review, we concentrate especially on current attempts to integrate mechanistic and functional approaches. Most of our understanding of learning and memory in animals comes from the psychological literature, which tends to use only rats or pigeons, and more occasionally primates, as subjects. The underlying psychological assumption is of general processes that are similar across species and contexts rather than a range of specific abilities. However, this does not seem to be entirely true as several learned behaviours have been described that are specific to particular species or contexts. The first conspicuous exception to the generalist assumption was the demonstration of long delay taste aversion learning in rats (Garcia et al., 1955), in which it was shown that a stimulus need not be temporally contiguous with a response for the animal to make an association between food and illness. Subsequently, a number of other examples, such as imprinting and song learning in birds (e.g., Bolhuis and Honey, 1998; Catchpole and Slater, 1995; Horn, 1998), have been thoroughly researched. Even in these cases, however, it has been typical for only a few species to be studied (domestic chicks provide the [`]model' imprinting species and canaries and zebra finches the song learning [`]models'). As a result, a great deal is understood about the neural underpinnings and development of the behaviour, but substantially less is understood about interspecific variation and whether variation in behaviour is correlated with variation in neural processing (see review by Tramontin and Brenowitz, 2000 but see ten Cate and Vos, 1999).
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ISSN 0944-2006 ISBN Medium
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4741
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