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Jacobs, A., Maumy, M., & Petit, O. (2008). The influence of social organisation on leadership in brown lemurs (Eulemur fulvus fulvus) in a controlled environment. Behav. Process., 79(2), 111–113.
Abstract: Studies on leadership during group movements in several lemur species showed that females were responsible for the travelling choices concerning time and direction. Interestingly, in these species females are dominant over males. We investigated the influence of social organisation upon leadership processes by studying a lemur species in which social organisation is characterized by the absence of female dominance: the brown lemur (Eulemur fulvus fulvus). The study was conducted on a semi-free ranging group of 11 individuals and the analysis performed on 69 group movements showed that all the individuals could initiate a group movement. In 34 cases, the whole group moved. There was no significant difference in the number of start attempts or in the number of group members involved from one initiator to another. Moreover, there was no effect of sex or age of the initiator on the number of individuals following it or on the speed of the joining process. Therefore, the leadership observed is widely distributed to all group members. These results support the hypothesis of an influence of social organisation upon the decision-making processes but still remain to be studied in a more relevant ecological context.
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Keiper, R. R. (1986). Social structure. Vet Clin North Am Equine Pract, 2(3), 465–484.
Abstract: Socially feral horses live in stable social groups characterized by one adult male, a number of adult females, and their offspring up to 2 years of age. Extra males either live by themselves or with other males in bachelor groups. The bands occupy nondefended home ranges that often overlap. Many abnormal behaviors seen in domestic horses occur because some aspect of their normal social behavior cannot be carried out in captivity.
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Li, F. - H., Zhong, W. - Q., Wang, Z., & Wang, D. - H. (2007). Rank in a food competition test and humoral immune functions in male Brandt's voles (Lasiopodomys brandtii). Physiol. Behav., 90(2-3), 490–495.
Abstract: Social status can influence an animal's immune and reproductive functions, eventually leading to alterations in immunocompetence and reproductive success. Here, we report that rank assessed in a food competition test, considered as an index of social status, has significant influences on humoral immune functions in male Brandt's voles (Lasiopodomys brandtii) living in a group. Our data reveal a negative correlation of the spleen mass and serum antibody levels with social status, as well as a positive correlation of serum cortisol levels with social status. Males winning in food competition had a smaller spleen, a lower level of serum antibodies, and a higher level of serum cortisol than did their conspecific counterparts. These data indicate interactions between social status and humoral immune functions and might illustrate a trade-off between infection risks and reproductive success in male Brandt's voles.
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Mitman, G. (1990). Dominance, leadership, and aggression: animal behavior studies during the Second World War. J Hist Behav Sci, 26(1), 3–16.
Abstract: During the decade surrounding the Second World War, an extensive literature on the biological and psychological basis of aggression surfaced in America, a literature that in general emphasized the significance of learning and environment in the origins of aggressive behavior. Focusing on the animal behavior research of Warder Clyde Allee and John Paul Scott, this paper examines the complex interplay among conceptual, institutional, and societal forces that created and shaped a discourse on the subjects of aggression, dominance, and leadership within the context of World War II. The distinctions made between sexual and social dominance during this period, distinctions accentuated by the threat of totalitarianism abroad, and the varying ways that interpretations of behavior could be negotiated attests to the multiplicity of interactions that influence the development of scientific research.
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Overli, O., Korzan, W. J., Hoglund, E., Winberg, S., Bollig, H., Watt, M., et al. (2004). Stress coping style predicts aggression and social dominance in rainbow trout. Horm Behav, 45(4), 235–241.
Abstract: Social stress is frequently used as a model for studying the neuroendocrine mechanisms underlying stress-induced behavioral inhibition, depression, and fear conditioning. It has previously been shown that social subordination may result in increased glucocorticoid release and changes in brain signaling systems. However, it is still an open question which neuroendocrine and behavioral differences are causes, and which are consequences of social status. Using juvenile rainbow trout of similar size and with no apparent differences in social history, we demonstrate that the ability to win fights for social dominance can be predicted from the duration of a behavioral response to stress, in this case appetite inhibition after transfer to a new environment. Moreover, stress responsiveness in terms of confinement-induced changes in plasma cortisol was negatively correlated to aggressive behavior. Fish that exhibited lower cortisol responses to a standardized confinement test were markedly more aggressive when being placed in a dominant social position later in the study. These findings support the view that distinct behavioral-physiological stress coping styles are present in teleost fish, and these coping characteristics influence both social rank and levels of aggression.
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Seyfarth, R. M., & Cheney, D. L. (1984). The acoustic features of vervet monkey grunts. J Acoust Soc Am, 75(5), 1623–1628.
Abstract: East African vervet monkeys give short (125 ms), harsh-sounding grunts to each other in a variety of social situations: when approaching a dominant or subordinate member of their group, when moving into a new area of their range, or upon seeing another group. Although all these vocalizations sound similar to humans, field playback experiments have shown that the monkeys distinguish at least four different calls. Acoustic analysis reveals that grunts have an aperiodic F0, at roughly 240 Hz. Most grunts exhibit a spectral peak close to this irregular F0. Grunts may also contain a second, rising or falling frequency peak, between 550 and 900 Hz. The location and changes in these two frequency peaks are the cues most likely to be used by vervets when distinguishing different grunt types.
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