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Krueger, K., Flauger, B., Farmer, K., & Hemelrijk, C. (2014). Movement initiation in groups of feral horses. Behav. Process., 103, 91–101.
Abstract: Abstract Herds of ungulates, flocks of birds, swarms of insects and schools of fish move in coordinated groups. Computer models show that only one or very few animals are needed to initiate and direct movement. To investigate initiation mechanisms further, we studied two ways in which movement can be initiated in feral horses: herding, and departure from the group. We examined traits affecting the likelihood of a horse initiating movement i.e. social rank, affiliative relationships, spatial position, and social network. We also investigated whether group members join a movement in dominance rank order. Our results show that whereas herding is exclusive to alpha males, any group member may initiate movement by departure. Social bonds, the number of animals interacted with, and the spatial position were not significantly associated with movement initiation. We did not find movement initiation by departure to be exclusive to any type of individual. Instead we find evidence for a limited form of distributed leadership, with higher ranking animals being followed more often.
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Puga-Gonzalez, I., Hildenbrandt, H., & Hemelrijk, C. K. (2009). Emergent Patterns of Social Affiliation in Primates, a Model. PLoS Comput Biol, 5(12), e1000630.
Abstract: Author Summary
<p>Individual primates distribute their affiliative behaviour (such as grooming) in complex patterns among their group members. For instance, they reciprocate grooming, direct it more to partners the higher the partner's rank, use it to reconcile fights and do so in particular with partners that are more valuable. For several types of patterns (such as reconciliation and exchange), a separate theory based on specific cognitive processes has been developed (such as individual recordkeeping, a tendency to exchange, selective attraction to the former opponent, and estimation of the value of a relationship). It is difficult to imagine how these separate theories can all be integrated scientifically and how these processes can be combined in the animal's mind. To solve this problem, we first surveyed the empirical patterns and then we developed an individual-based model (called GrooFiWorld) in which individuals group, compete and groom. The grooming rule is based on grooming out of fear of defeat and on the anxiety reducing effects of grooming. We show that in this context this rule alone can explain many of the patterns of affiliation as well as the differences between egalitarian and despotic species. Our model can be used as a null model to increase our understanding of affiliative patterns of primates.</p>
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