Dominance affects resource partitioning in pigeons, but pair bonds do not

1996 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. 833-840 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Robichaud ◽  
Louis Lefebvre ◽  
Lucie Robidoux
Keyword(s):  
Resource Partitioning ◽  
Dominance Rank ◽  
Columba Livia ◽  
Pair Bonds ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
Lower Ranking ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
Feeding Trials ◽  
Access To Food ◽  
Diet Shifts

Pigeons (Columba livia) show individual feeding specializations both in the field and in captivity. In competitive feeding conditions, these specializations change in a way that decreases dietary overlap between birds. We examine two potential status determinants of feeding competition, dominance and pair bonds. In pigeons, pair bonds are used in aggressive feeding coalitions at defendable patches, while dominance affects both feeding rate and priority of access to food. We compared the seed choices of pigeons feeding alone and in competitive conditions with those of a conspecific. In experiment 1, the competitor was either the mate or a familiar nonmate of the opposite sex; in experiment 2, the dominance rank of the competitors was known from a round-robin series of dyadic encounters in the presence of a defendable feeder. Pair bonds had no effect on competitive diet shifts, but dominance did: in competition, lower ranking pigeons ate less of the seed type they specialized on when feeding alone, while higher ranking pigeons ate more. Confirming previous results on resource partitioning, food choice showed less overlap between individuals in competition than in solitary feeding trials, but the magnitude of the change was not proportional to initial overlap.

scholarly journals Social affiliation matters: both same-sex and opposite-sex relationships predict survival in wild female baboons

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1793) ◽  
pp. 20141261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Archie ◽  
Jenny Tung ◽  
Michael Clark ◽  
Jeanne Altmann ◽  
Susan C. Alberts
Keyword(s):  
Animal Studies ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
Dominance Rank ◽  
Limited Resource ◽  
Adult Survival ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Wild Female ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
Socially Isolated

Social integration and support can have profound effects on human survival. The extent of this phenomenon in non-human animals is largely unknown, but such knowledge is important to understanding the evolution of both lifespan and sociality. Here, we report evidence that levels of affiliative social behaviour (i.e. ‘social connectedness’) with both same-sex and opposite-sex conspecifics predict adult survival in wild female baboons. In the Amboseli ecosystem in Kenya, adult female baboons that were socially connected to either adult males or adult females lived longer than females who were socially isolated from both sexes—females with strong connectedness to individuals of both sexes lived the longest. Female social connectedness to males was predicted by high dominance rank, indicating that males are a limited resource for females, and females compete for access to male social partners. To date, only a handful of animal studies have found that social relationships may affect survival. This study extends those findings by examining relationships to both sexes in by far the largest dataset yet examined for any animal. Our results support the idea that social effects on survival are evolutionarily conserved in social mammals.

scholarly journals Social foraging in vampire bats is predicted by long-term cooperative relationships

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon P. Ripperger ◽  
Gerald G. Carter
Keyword(s):  
Social Evolution ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Food Sharing ◽  
Social Foraging ◽  
Social Grooming ◽  
Cooperative Relationships ◽  
Vampire Bats ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
Access To Food

AbstractStable social bonds in group-living animals can provide greater access to food. A striking example is that female vampire bats often regurgitate blood to socially bonded kin and nonkin that failed in their nightly hunt. Food-sharing relationships form via preferred associations and social grooming within roosts. However, it remains unclear whether these cooperative relationships extend beyond the roost. To evaluate if long-term cooperative relationships in vampire bats play a role in foraging, we tested if foraging encounters measured by proximity sensors could be explained by wild roosting proximity, kinship, or rates of co-feeding, social grooming, and food sharing during 22 months in captivity. We assessed evidence for six hypothetical scenarios of social foraging, ranging from individual to collective hunting. We found that female vampire bats departed their roost individually, but often re-united far outside the roost. Nonrandomly repeating foraging encounters were predicted by within-roost association and histories of cooperation in captivity, even when controlling for kinship. Foraging bats demonstrated both affiliative and competitive interactions and a previously undescribed call type. We suggest that social foraging could have implications for social evolution if ‘local’ cooperation within the roost and ‘global’ competition outside the roost enhances fitness interdependence between frequent roostmates.

Interpersonal Neural Synchronization during Interpersonal Touch Underlies Affiliative Pair Bonding between Romantic Couples

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuhang Long ◽  
Lifen Zheng ◽  
Hui Zhao ◽  
Siyuan Zhou ◽  
Yu Zhai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Near Infrared ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Romantic Love ◽  
Pair Bonding ◽  
Romantic Couples ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Neural Synchronization ◽  
Interpersonal Touch ◽  
Pair Bonds ◽  
Opposite Sex

Abstract Interpersonal touch plays a key role in creating and maintaining affiliative pair bonds in romantic love. However, the neurocognitive mechanism of interpersonal touch in affiliative pair bonding remains unclear. Here, we hypothesized that interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) during interpersonal touch underlies affiliative pair bonding between romantic couples. To test this hypothesis, INS between heterosexual romantic couples and between opposite-sex friends was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based hyperscanning, while the pairs of participants touched or vocally communicated with each other. The results showed significantly greater INS between the mentalizing and sensorimotor neural systems of two members of a pair during interpersonal touch than during vocal communication between romantic couples but not between friends. Moreover, touch-induced INS was significantly correlated with the self-reported strength of romantic love. Finally, the results also showed that men’s empathy positively modulated the association between touch-induced INS increase and the strength of romantic love. These findings support the idea that INS during interpersonal touch underlies affiliative pair bonding between romantic couples and suggest that empathy plays a modulatory role in the neurocognitive mechanism of interpersonal touch in affiliative pair bonding.

Resource defense and priority of access to food by the mate in pigeons

1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (9) ◽  
pp. 1889-1892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Lefebvre ◽  
Derin Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Food Source ◽  
Resource Defense ◽  
Pair Bonds ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Time Required ◽  
Access To Food ◽  
Competition For Resources

When pigeons in a group compete for access to a spatially restricted food source, feeding by one bird may coincide with defense of the area around the source by that bird's mate. Defense while the mate is feeding varies between individuals, between trials, and between sexes, males defending more than females. Priority of access to food, as measured by the time required for 5 min of feeding, is highly correlated with the amount of defense performed by the mate. Satiation reduces but does not abolish defense. Birds within a mated pair have similar positions in the priority of access hierarchy. Pair bonds in pigeons may partially function as reciprocal coalition systems used in competition for resources.

Male Dominance and Reproductive Success in a Captive Group of Rhesus Macaques (Macaca Mulatta)

Behaviour ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 129 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 225-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Glenn Smith
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Macaca Mulatta ◽  
Dominance Hierarchy ◽  
Rhesus Macaques ◽  
Dominance Rank ◽  
Male Dominance ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Young Males ◽  
Captive Group ◽  
Lower Ranking

AbstractPaternity exclusion analysis was employed to estimate the reproductive success (RS) of 32 males who experienced at least one breeding season over the age of four years between 1977 and 1991 in a captive group of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Although three different males held alpha rank during the period, the male dominance hierarchy remained relatively stable even when the number of males was high. Average dominance rank and overall RS of males while in the group were strongly correlated. However, during most years the correlation between male dominance rank and RS was not statistically significant because males who achieved high rank 1)were those who experienced relatively high RS as lower ranking subadults and 2) maintained high dominance rank after experiencing a sustained decline in RS. Correlations between male dominance rank and RS were highest when the number of subadult males entering the dominance hierarchy was increasing and one or a very few males were least effective in monopolizing females. These results are not consistent with expectations based solely on the priority of access model of intrasexual selection. Female choice, as exemplified by the preference of females for mating with young males that are rising in rank, might also influence the evolution of social dominance in rhesus macaques.

Do Female Chacma Baboons Compete for a Safe Spatial Position in a Southern Woodland Habitat?

Behaviour ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 133 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 475-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamar Ron ◽  
S. Peter Henzi ◽  
Uzi Motro
Keyword(s):  
Dominance Rank ◽  
Food Competition ◽  
Spatial Position ◽  
Female Dominance ◽  
Papio Cynocephalus ◽  
Troop Fission ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Lower Ranking ◽  
Chacma Baboons ◽  
Feeding Bout

AbstractIn this study troop of chacma baboons (Papio cynocephalus ursinus) at Mkuzi Game Reserve, Zululand, South-Africa, it is suggested that risk of predation and competition over safe spatial position had more importance and effect on female behaviour than did competition for food. Only 6.4% of all agonistic events were over food patches and no significant correlation was found between a female's dominance rank and proportion of time spent feeding, feeding bout length or diet composition. Parameters of reproductive success, such as inter-birth intervals and infant mortality were not correlated with female dominance rank. Female mortality, however, was related to dominance rank and all of the five females who disappeared during the study were low-ranking. Four of the five females disappeared after troop fission. There is circumstantial evidence supporting the suggestion that predation by leopards is the main cause of mortality of females at Mkuzi. High levels of female aggression were recorded, with almost no occurrences of support coalitions. Most of the aggression took place among similar ranking females, or was directed by the top ranking toward the lowest ranking females. Most of the female-to-female agonistic encounters were in a social context, and more than half were over a spatial position next to other adult troop members. Aggression among females increased after troop fission. It is suggested that the higher-ranking females may be better protected from predation, through access to more central spatial positions in the troop. Indeed, a positive correlation was found between a female's dominance rank and the time spent next to other adult troop members. It may be that avoiding food competition by keeping larger distances from others, while foraging, was translated in lower ranking females to a cost of higher predation risk.

scholarly journals An association between feather damaging behavior and corticosterone metabolite excretion in captive African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus)

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierluca Costa ◽  
Elisabetta Macchi ◽  
Emanuela Valle ◽  
Michele De Marco ◽  
Daniele M. Nucera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Disorders ◽  
Repeated Measure ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Positive Correlation ◽  
Psittacus Erithacus ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Corticosterone Metabolites

BackgroundAfrican grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) are kept as pets and are frequently hand-reared. It has been observed that hand-reared African grey parrots may develop behavioral disorders such as feather damaging behavior (FDB). It is well known that chronic stress is involved in behavioral disorders in captive parrots. The main glucocorticoid in birds is corticosterone; its quantification provides information about adrenocortical activity and is considered to be a reliable indicator of stress levels in birds. We analyzed the differences in the excretion of corticosterone metabolites (CM) in the droppings of African grey parrots characterized by: 1. different rearing histories (parent rearing vs. hand rearing); and 2. the presence or absence of FDB in hand-reared parrots.MethodsA total of 82 African grey parrots that were kept in captivity were considered. According to breeding methods, three groups of birds were defined: 1. The parent-reared (PR) parrots included birds kept in pairs (n= 30 pairs) with a conspecific partner of the opposite sex. All of these birds were healthy and never showed FDB signs; 2. The healthy hand-reared parrots (H-HR) included pet parrots individually kept, that were hand-reared and did not display any sign of FDB (n= 11, 7 males and 4 females); 3. The FDB hand-reared parrot (FDB-HR) included pet parrots individually kept, that were hand-reared and displayed FDB (n= 11, 7 males and 4 females). Droppings were collected in the morning over three alternating days in autumn 2014 and spring 2015. The CM were determined using a multi-species corticosterone enzyme immunoassay kit. Split-plot repeated-measure ANOVA was used to examine any differences using group, season and group × season as the main factors.ResultsDifferent quantities of CM in droppings were found for the three groups. The mean CM value was 587 ng/g in the PR parrots, 494 ng/g in the H-HR parrots and 1,744 ng/g in the FDB-HR parrots, irrespective of the season. The excretion of CM in FDB-HR was significantly higher than in PR or H-HR parrots. CM in droppings were not influenced by the season (autumn vs. spring); furthermore, the interaction between group and sampling season was not significant. Limited to the H-HR and FDB-HR groups, a trend in the significance of the difference in the mean CM excreted by male and female birds was observed, with the levels excreted by males being higher than those excreted by females. When the effect of age was considered (in the two separate groups), there was a statistically significant positive correlation only for H-HR.ConclusionsThe highest amount of CM excretion was found in FDB-HR parrots, and a positive correlation between age and CM excretion was found in H-HR. Given that the CM excretion of both PR and H-HR parrots was similar in our study, future research is recommended to investigate the specific aspects of hand-rearing to improve parrot welfare.

Dynamic Pair Bonds in Hylobatids: Implications Regarding Monogamous Social Systems

Behaviour ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 128 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 65-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryne Palombit
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Nuclear Family ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Temporal Stability ◽  
Pair Bond ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Neighboring Group ◽  
Pair Bonds ◽  
Opposite Sex

AbstractDescriptions of monogamy in the gibbons (Hylobates spp., Hylobatidae) have generally emphasized features derived from inference rather than direct observation: 1) adults mate for life; 2) the genetic structure of groups corresponds with a ''nuclear family'' pattern of parents and their mutual offspring; 3) first mate acquisition is achieved when two ncwly dispersed, unaccompanied, young adults of opposite sex establish a new pair and territory together. The six-year history of mating associations of adults in three groups of sympatric, wild siamang (Hylobates syndactylus) and three groups of white-handed gibbon (Hylobates lar) at the Ketambe Research Station (Sumatra, Indonesia) challenge the generality of these assumptions. These longitudinal sociodemographic data suggest that gibbon pair bonds are not necessarily life-long and that adults may leave mates permanently or temporarily, sometimes in order to exploit new reproductive opportunities. Of 11 heterosexual pair bonds that existed at some time during the study, only two were terminated by death of one adult, whereas five were terminated when one adult left its current mate. In some cases, the ''deserting'' individual left its mate and joined a neighboring adult of opposite sex who had recently lost its own mate through death or desertion. This turnover in pair bond membership generated stable, ''non-nuclear'' family groups in which the replacement mate was not the parent of the resident nonadults. Mechanisms of mate acquistion observed at Ketambe included two processes that may also promote non-nuclear families. A young adult may obtain its first mate by: 1) replacing an adult of the same sex in a neighboring group or in the group in which it resides; 2) establishing a new pair bond (and territory) with another unmated young adult of opposite sex who is, however, accompanied in dispersal by juvenile conspecifics from its group. Finally, observed extra-pair copulations (in siamang) suggested an additional, but as yet unspecified potential for variable relatedness between adult males and resident nonadults. Review of other long-term histories of pair bonds in wild gibbons and of studies of socio-sexual behavior in captivity reinforce the conclusion that the apparent temporal stability and underlying behavioral inflexibility of pair bonds has been over-emphasized. Although data on behavior and reproduction are limited, they nevertheless suggest strongly that the mating and social systems of these monogamous primates are considerably more dynamic and complex than previously appreciated.

scholarly journals Bystanders intervene to impede grooming in Western chimpanzees and sooty mangabeys

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (11) ◽  
pp. 171296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Mielke ◽  
Liran Samuni ◽  
Anna Preis ◽  
Jan F. Gogarten ◽  
Catherine Crockford ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Dominance Rank ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Sooty Mangabeys ◽  
Lower Ranking ◽  
Cercocebus Atys ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Grooming interactions benefit groomers, but may have negative consequences for bystanders. Grooming limits bystanders' grooming access and ensuing alliances could threaten the bystander's hierarchy rank or their previous investment in the groomers. To gain a competitive advantage, bystanders could intervene into a grooming bout to increase their own grooming access or to prevent the negative impact of others' grooming. We tested the impact of dominance rank and social relationships on grooming intervention likelihood and outcome in two sympatric primate species, Western chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes verus ) and sooty mangabeys ( Cercocebus atys atys ). In both species, rather than increasing their own access to preferred partners, bystanders intervened mainly when an alliance between groomers could have a negative impact on them: when the lower-ranking groomer was close to the bystander in rank, when either groomer was an affiliation partner whose services they could lose, or the groomers were not yet strongly affiliated with each other. Thus, bystanders in both species appear to monitor grooming interactions and intervene based on their own dominance rank and social relationships, as well as triadic awareness of the relationship between groomers. While the motivation to intervene did not differ between species, mangabeys appeared to be more constrained by dominance rank than chimpanzees.

scholarly journals Genetic ancestry predicts male-female affiliation in a natural baboon hybrid zone

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arielle S. Fogel ◽  
Emily M. McLean ◽  
Jacob B. Gordon ◽  
Elizabeth A. Archie ◽  
Jenny Tung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Hybrid Zone ◽  
Social Evolution ◽  
Dominance Rank ◽  
Genetic Ancestry ◽  
Social Partner ◽  
List Type ◽  
Papio Cynocephalus ◽  
Affiliative Behavior ◽  
Opposite Sex

ABSTRACTOpposite-sex social relationships are important predictors of fitness in many animals, including several group-living mammals. Consequently, understanding sources of variance in the tendency to form opposite-sex relationships is important for understanding social evolution. Genetic contributions are of particular interest due to their importance in long-term evolutionary change, but little is known about genetic effects on male-female relationships in social mammals, especially outside of the mating context. Here, we investigate the effects of genetic ancestry on male-female affiliative behavior in a hybrid zone between the yellow baboon (Papio cynocephalus) and the anubis baboon (P. anubis), in a population in which male-female social bonds are known predictors of lifespan. We place our analysis within the context of other social and demographic predictors of affiliative behavior in baboons. Genetic ancestry was the most consistent predictor of opposite-sex affiliative behavior we observed, with the exception of strong effects of dominance rank. Our results show that increased anubis genetic ancestry is associated with subtly, but significantly higher rates of opposite-sex affiliative behavior, in both males and females. Additionally, pairs of anubis-like males and anubis-like females were the most likely to socially affiliate, resulting in moderate assortativity in grooming and proximity behavior as a function of genetic ancestry. Our findings indicate that opposite-sex affiliative behavior partially diverged during baboon evolution to differentiate yellow and anubis baboons, despite overall similarities in their social structures and mating systems. Further, they suggest that affiliative behavior may simultaneously promote and constrain baboon admixture, through additive and assortative effects of ancestry, respectively.HIGHLIGHTSOpposite-sex social relationships can have important fitness consequences.In hybrid baboons, genetic ancestry predicted male-female affiliative behavior.Both an individual’s genetic ancestry and that of its social partner mattered.Male-female affiliation was assortative with respect to genetic ancestry.Dominance rank and group demography also influenced male-female social affiliation.

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