Saleh, N., & Chittka, L. (2006). The importance of experience in the interpretation of conspecific chemical signals. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 61(2), 215–220.
Abstract: Abstract Foraging bumblebees scent mark flowers with hydrocarbon secretions. Several studies have found these scent marks act as a repellent to bee foragers. This was thought to minimize the risk of visiting recently depleted flowers. Some studies, however, have found a reverse, attractive effect of scent marks left on flowers. Do bees mark flowers with different scents, or could the same scent be interpreted differently depending on the bees? previous experience with reward levels in flowers? We use a simple experimental design to investigate if the scent marks can become attractive when bees forage on artificial flowers that remain rewarding upon the bees? return after having depleted them. We contrast this with bees trained in the more natural scenario where revisits to recently emptied flowers are unrewarding. The bees association between scent mark and reward value was tested with flowers scent marked from the same source. We find that the bees experience with the level of reward determines how the scent mark is interpreted: the same scent can act as both an attractant and a repellent. How experience and learning influence the interpretation of the meaning of chemical signals deposited by animals for communication has rarely been investigated.
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Dugatkin, L. A., & Alfieri, M. (1991). Guppies and the TIT FOR TAT strategy: preference based on past interaction. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 28(4), 243–246.
Abstract: The evolution of cooperation requires either (a) nonrandom interactions, such that cooperators preferentially interact with other cooperators, or (b) conditional behaviors, such that individuals act cooperatively primarily towards other cooperators. Although these conditions can be met without assuming sophisticated animal cognition, they are more likely to be met if animals can remember individuals with whom they have interacted, associate past interactions with these individuals, and base future behavior on this information. Here we show that guppies (Poecilia reticulata), in the context of predator inspection behavior, can identify and remember (for at least 4 h) the “more cooperative” among two conspecifics and subsequently choose to be near these individuals in future encounters.
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Cameron, E. Z.,, Linklater, W. L.,, Stafford, K. J.,, & Minot, E. O.,. (2003). Social grouping and maternal behaviour in feral horses (Equus caballus): the influence of males on maternal protectiveness. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 53(2), 92–101.
Abstract: The risk of infant injury or mortality influences maternal behaviour, particularly protectiveness. Mares are found in bands with a single stallion or bands with more than one stallion in which paternity is less certain. We investigated maternal behaviour in relation to band type. Mares in bands with more than one stallion were more protective of their foals, particularly when stallions and foals approached one another. The rate of aggression between the stallion and foal was a significant predictor of maternal protectiveness, and mare protectiveness was significantly correlated with reduced reproductive success in the subsequent year. Mares that changed band types with a foal at foot, or had their band type experimentally altered, were more protective of their foal in multi-stallion bands than they were in single-stallion bands. Equids are unusual amongst ungulates in that infanticide and feticide have been reported. Both occur where paternity has been uncertain, and equid social structure is similar to other species in which infanticide has been reported. Stallions benefit from infanticide as the mare has greater reproductive success in the subsequent year. Stallion aggression is a significant modifier of mare behaviour and maternal effort, probably due to the risk of infanticide.
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FitzGibbon, C. D. (1994). The costs and benefits of predator inspection behaviour in Thomson's gazelles. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 34(2), 139–148.
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Kavaliers, M., Colwell, D. D., & Choleris, E. (2005). Kinship, familiarity and social status modulate social learning about “micropredators” (biting flies) in deer mice. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 58(1), 60–71.
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Berger, J. (1977). Organizational systems and dominance in feral horses in the Grand Canyon. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 2(2), 131–146.
Abstract: 1. Several aspects of the behavioral ecology of feral horses (Equus caballus) were studied in Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA. Most bands contained three to five horses that included one stallion and his harem. Males that did not obtain a harem remained solitary. Throughout the study bands remained stable in composition.
2. Home ranges for all bands decreased in size in successive warm months, probably due to increased ambient temperature and drought. This resulted in greater utilization of spring areas that led to increased interband confrontation and agonistic display.
3. Territoriality was not observed in individual horses or bands, but bands hierarchial in both inter- and intraband structures. Interband stallion dominance was reinforced through posturing and fighting. Intraband hierarchies, as determined by dominance coefficients, were independent of individual size in three of four bands.
4. Indexes of nervousness (NER), calculated while horses were drinking, showed that stallions were less nervous than mares. A low NER was correlated with individuals leading toward drinking areas, whereas a high NER existed in individuals initiating flight although no single horse acted consistently as a leader.
5. Diurnal activity patterns were correlated with ambient temperatures.
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Barton, R. A., Byrne, R. W., & Whiten, A. (1996). Ecology, feeding competition and social structure in baboons. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 38(5), 321–329.
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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Ginsberg, J. R., & Rubenstein, D. I. (1990). Sperm competiton and variation in zebra mating behaviour. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 26(6), 427–434.
Abstract: Data are presented on the breeding behavior of two zebra species to test whether intra- and interspecific variation in male reproductive behavior and physiology are correlated with differences in female promiscuity. In one species, plains zebra (Equus burchelli) females live in closed membership single male groups and mate monandrously. In the other species, the Grevy's zebra (E. grevyi) females live in groups whose membership is much more temporary. Typically, associations with individual males are brief and mating is polyandrous. However, some females – those having just given birth – reside with one male for long periods, mating monandrously. These differences in female mating behavior generate variability in the potential for sperm competition. We show that behavioral differences in male investment in reproductive activities correlate with the potential for sperm competition. When mating with promiscuous mares, Grevy's zebra stallions made a greater investment in reproductive behavior (calling, mounting, ejaculations) than did stallions of either species when mating with monandrous females. The evolution of large testes size in the Grevy's zebra, when compared to the congeneric plains zebra, horse, and mountain zebra, allows for this increased investment.
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Cameron, E. Z., Linklater, W. L., Stafford, K. J., & Minot, E. O. (2000). Aging and improving reproductive success in horses: declining residual reproductive value or just older and wiser? Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 47(4), 243–249.
Abstract: In many mammalian species, female success in raising offspring improves as they age. The residual reproductive value hypothesis predicts that each individual offspring will be more valuable to the mother as she ages because there is less conflict between the current and potential future offspring. Therefore, as mothers age, their investment into individual offspring should increase. Empirical evidence for an influence of declining residual reproductive value on maternal investment is unconvincing. Older mothers may not invest more, but may be more successful due to greater experience, allowing them to target their investment more appropriately (targeted reproductive effort hypothesis). Most studies do not preclude either hypothesis. Mare age significantly influenced maternal investment in feral horses living on the North Island of New Zealand. Older mares, that were more successful at raising foals, were more protective for the first 20 days of life, but less diligent thereafter. Total maternal input by older mothers did not seem to be any greater, but was better targeted at the most critical period for foal survival and a similar pattern was observed in mares that had lost a foal in the previous year. In addition, older mothers were more likely to foal in consecutive years, supporting the hypothesis that they are investing less than younger mares in individual offspring. Therefore, older mothers seem to become more successful by targeting their investment better due to experience, not by investing more in their offspring.
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Dugatkin, L. A. (1991). Dynamics of the TIT FOR TAT strategy during predator inspection in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 29(2), 127–132.
Abstract: One well-known solution to the iterated Prisoner's Dilemma is the TIT FOR TAT strategy. This strategy has three “characteristics” associated with it. TIT FOR TAT is nice (cooperates on the first move of a game), retaliatory (plays defect against an individual that defected on the prior move), and forgiving (cooperates with an individual which has defected in the past but cooperates in the present). Predator inspection behavior in guppies (Poecilia reticulata) was examined in order to determine whether guppies displayed these three characteristics. Results indicate that while it can be quite difficult to translate the abstract concepts of niceness, retaliation, and forgiveness into measurable behaviors, the data support the hypothesis that guppies display the three characteristics associated with the TIT FOR TAT strategy.
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