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5,666 results for “Social”
Data from: Highly masculinized and younger males attain higher reproductive success in a social rodent
Abstract: Alternative morphotypes have been reported in males of different taxa. In some mammals highly masculinized and slightly masculinized males represent two opposite ends along a gradient of phenotypic variation in males. This phenotypical gradient originates during prenatal development. Laboratory studies have documented how highly and slightly masculinized males differ in several traits, including their reproductive success. However, the extent to which these reported differences materialize in natural populations remains unknown. We quantified the impact of male morphotype on male reproductive success in a natural population of Octodon degus, a highly social rodent. We assessed male morphotype through a continuous gradient of anogenital distance. We also tested the hypothesis that the social environment interacts with male morphotype to influence male reproductive success. We found that individual attributes, including masculinization level and age, impacted male reproductive success. Highly masculinized and younger males had greater reproductive success. Additionally, male body weight had a small magnitude but positive effect on male reproductive success. Male reproductive success was not affected by social attributes such as group composition. Thus, the number of males and females within a group did not affect male reproductive success, nor did the average male anogenital distance within a group. Our results support the hypothesis that the prenatal environment can result in long-term effects on individual life history and cause intrasexual phenotypical variation in natural populations. Our findings suggest that male phenotypical masculinization could be an adaptive trait, regardless of the social environment.
Data from: Social structure of the harem-forming promiscuous fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx, is the harem truly important?
Bats are social animals and display a diverse variety of mating and social systems, with most species exhibiting some form of polygyny. Their social organization is fluid and individuals frequently switch partners and roosting sites. While harem-like social organization is observed in multiple tropical species, its importance is contested in many of them. In this study, we investigated the role of harems in the social organization of the old world fruit bat Cynopterus sphinx. Based on regular behavioural observations over a period of 20 months and genetic data from microsatellite markers, we observed that the social organization is flexible, individuals regularly shift between roosts and the social organization resembles a fission–fusion society. Behavioural and genetic analyses suggest that the harems are not strict units of social structure, and the colony does not show signatures of subdivision with harems as behavioural units. We also observed that there was no correlation between individuals with high association index and pairwise relatedness. Our findings indicate that similar to the mating system, the social organization of C. sphinx can also be categorized as a fission–fusion society, and hence the term 'harem' is a misnomer. We conclude that the social system of C. sphinx is flexible, with multi-male multi-female organization, and individuals tend to be loyal to a given area rather than a roost.
Data from: When good neighbors don't need fences: Temporal landscape partitioning among baboon social groups
Intraspecific competition is a key factor shaping space-use strategies and movement decisions inmany species, yet how and when neighbors utilize shared areas while exhibiting active avoidance of one another is largely un- known. Here, we investigated temporal landscape partitioning in a population of wild baboons (Papio cynocephalus). We used global positioning system (GPS) collars to synchronously record the hourly locations of five baboon social groups for ∼900 days, and we used behavioral, demographic, and life history data to measure factors affecting use of overlap areas. Annual home ranges of neighboring groups overlapped substantially, as predicted (baboons are considered non-territorial), but home ranges overlapped less when space use was assessed over shorter time scales. Moreover, neighboring groups were in close spatial proximity to one another on fewer days than predicted by a null model, suggesting an avoidance-based spacing pattern. At all time scales examined (monthly, biweekly, and weekly), time spent in overlap areas was greater during time periods when groups fed on evenly dispersed, low-quality foods. The percent of fertile females in social groups was negatively correlated with time spent in overlap areas only during weekly time intervals. This suggests that broad temporal changes in ecological resources are a major predictor of how intensively overlap areas are used, and groups modify these ecologically driven spacing patterns at short time scales based on female reproductive status. Together, these findings offer insight into the economics of territoriality by highlighting the dynamics of spacing patterns at differing time scales.
Data from: Experimental manipulation of avian social structure reveals segregation is carried over across contexts
Our current understanding of animal social networks is largely based on observations or experiments that do not directly manipulate associations between individuals. Consequently, evidence relating to the causal processes underlying such networks is limited. By imposing specified rules controlling individual access to feeding stations, we directly manipulated the foraging social network of a wild bird community, thus demonstrating how external factors can shape social structure. We show that experimentally imposed constraints were carried over into patterns of association at unrestricted, ephemeral food patches, as well as at nesting sites during breeding territory prospecting. Hence, different social contexts can be causally linked, and constraints at one level may have consequences that extend into other aspects of sociality. Finally, the imposed assortment was lost following the cessation of the experimental manipulation, indicating the potential for previously perturbed social networks of wild animals to recover from segregation driven by external constraints.
Data from: Genetic variation in social environment construction influences the development of aggressive behavior in Drosophila melanogaster
Individuals are not merely subject to their social environments; they choose and create them, through a process called social environment (or social niche) construction. When genotypes differ in social environment-constructing behaviors, different genotypes are expected to experience different social environments. As social experience often affects behavioral development, quantitative genetics and psychology theories predict that genetic variation in social environment construction should have an important role in determining phenotypic variation; however, this hypothesis has not been tested directly. I identify multiple mechanisms of social environment construction that differ among natural genotypes of Drosophila melanogaster and investigate their consequences for the development of aggressive behavior. Male genotypes differed in the group sizes that they preferred and in their aggressive behavior; both of these behaviors influenced social experience, demonstrating that these behaviors function as social environment-constructing traits. Further, the effects of social experience—as determined in part by social environment construction—carried over to affect focal male aggression at a later time and with a new opponent. These results provide manipulative experimental support for longstanding hypotheses in psychology, that genetic variation in social environment construction has a causal role in behavioral development. More broadly, these results imply that studies of the genetic basis of complex traits should be expanded to include mechanisms by which genetic variation shapes the environments that individuals experience.
Data from: Interspecific social information use in habitat selection decisions among migrant songbirds
The presence of conspecifics is a social cue frequently used by songbirds in breeding-site selection. In migratory species, conspecific attraction is not possible for individuals that arrive first to breeding grounds, but these individuals may use information from ecologically similar heterospecifics. Resident tits (Paridae) are known to provide cues for migratory songbirds, however, the relevance of resident settlement decisions decreases as the season progresses. We investigated heterospecific attraction within migrant songbirds, and examined whether later arriving species use the presence of earlier arriving species as a cue for breeding habitat selection. We used a song playback experiment to test if wood warbler Phylloscopus sibilatrix settlement decisions are affected by chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita and blackcap Sylvia atricapilla cues. Our results suggest that wood warblers used cues from heterospecifics when deciding where to breed. Wood warblers settled earlier and more numerously on plots with simulated presence of chiffchaffs, in contrast blackcap presence had a negative effect on settlement, suggesting heterospecific avoidance. Chiffchaffs and blackcaps were attracted to sites with simulated presence of conspecifics, which provides evidence for conspecific attraction in breeding-site selection of these species. Our experiment suggests that heterospecific attraction is not a phenomenon limited to resident-migrant interactions, but acts also between migrant species. Our results show an interplay of attraction and avoidance when using social cues for habitat selection decisions within a migrant songbird guild, and stress the importance of both positive and negative effects of social environment on settlement behavior of individuals.
Data from: Variation in parent-offspring kinship in socially monogamous systems with extra-pair reproduction and inbreeding
Female extra-pair reproduction in socially monogamous systems is predicted to cause cuckolded socially-paired males to conditionally reduce paternal care, causing selection against extra-pair reproduction and underlying polyandry. However, existing models and empirical studies have not explicitly considered that cuckolded males might be related to their socially-paired female and/or to her extra-pair mate, and therefore be related to extra-pair offspring that they did not sire but could rear. Selection against paternal care, and hence against extra-pair reproduction, might then be weakened. We derive metrics that quantify allele-sharing between within-pair and extra-pair offspring and their mother and her socially-paired male in terms of coefficients of kinship and inbreeding. We use song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) paternity and pedigree data to quantify these metrics, and thereby quantify the joint effects of extra-pair reproduction and inbreeding on a brood's total allelic value to its socially-paired parents. Cuckolded male song sparrows were almost always detectably related to extra-pair offspring they reared. Consequently, although brood allelic value decreased substantially following female extra-pair reproduction, this decrease was reduced by within-pair and extra-pair reproduction among relatives. Such complex variation in kinship within nuclear families should be incorporated into models considering co-evolutionary dynamics of extra-pair reproduction, parental care and inbreeding.
Emergent social cohesion for coping with community disruptions in disasters
<p>Social cohesion is an important determinant of community well-being, especially in times of distress such as disasters. This study investigates the phenomena of emergent social cohesion, which is characterized by abrupt, temporary, and extensive social ties with the goal of sharing and receiving information regarding a particular event influencing a community. In the context of disasters, emergent social cohesion, enabled by social media usage, could play a significant role in improving the ability of communities to cope with disruptions in recent disasters. In this study, we employed a network reticulation framework to examine the underlying mechanisms influencing emergent social cohesion in online social media while communities cope with disaster-induced disruptions. We analyzed neighborhood-tagged social media data (social media data whose users are tagged by neighborhoods) in Houston during Hurricane Harvey to characterize four modalities of network reticulation (i.e., enactment, activation, reticulation, and performance) giving rise to emergent social cohesion. Our results show that, unlike regular social cohesion, communication history and physical proximity do not significantly affect emergent social cohesion. The results also indicate that weak social ties play an important role in bridging different social network communities, and hence reinforce emergent social cohesion. The findings can inform public officials, emergency managers and decision-makers regarding the important role of neighborhood-tagged social media, as a new form of community infrastructure, for improving the ability of communities to cope with disaster disruptions through enhanced emergent social cohesion.</p>
Data from: Social networks predict gut microbiome composition in wild baboons
Social relationships have profound effects on health in humans and other primates, but the mechanisms that explain this relationship are not well understood. Using shotgun metagenomic data from wild baboons, we found that social group membership and social network relationships predicted both the taxonomic structure of the gut microbiome and the structure of genes encoded by gut microbial species. Rates of interaction directly explained variation in the gut microbiome, even after controlling for diet, kinship, and shared environments. They therefore strongly implicate direct physical contact among social partners in the transmission of gut microbial species. We identified 51 socially structured taxa, which were significantly enriched for anaerobic and non-spore-forming lifestyles. Our results argue that social interactions are an important determinant of gut microbiome composition in natural animal populations—a relationship with important ramifications for understanding how social relationships influence health, as well as the evolution of group living.
Data from: Group size and social status affect scent marking in dispersing female meerkats
Many animal species use scent marks such as faeces, urine, and glandular secretions to find mates, advertise their reproductive status, and defend an exclusive territory. Scent marking may be particularly important during dispersal, when individuals emigrate from their natal territory searching for mates and a new territory to settle and reproduce. In this study, we investigated the scent marking behaviour of 30 dispersing female meerkats (Suricata suricatta) during the three consecutive stages of dispersal – emigration, transience, and settlement. We expected marking patterns to differ between dispersal stages and depending on social circumstances such as presence of unrelated mates and social status of the individuals within each dispersing coalition; but also to be influenced by water and food availability. We showed that defecation probability increased with group size during the settlement stage, when newly formed groups are expected to signal their presence to other resident groups. Urination probability was higher in subordinate than in dominant individuals during each of the three dispersal stages, and it overall decreased as the dispersal process progressed. Urine may thus be linked to advertisement of the social status within a coalition. Anal marking probability did not change across dispersal stages, but increased with the presence of unrelated males and was higher in dominants than in subordinates. We did not detect any effect of rain or foraging success on defecation and urination probability. Our results suggest that faeces, urine, and anal markings serve different communication purposes (e.g. within and between group communication) during the dispersal process.
Data from: Fitness consequences of outcrossing in a social spider with an inbreeding mating system
Inbreeding mating systems are uncommon because of inbreeding depression. Mating among close relatives can evolve, however, when outcrossing is constrained. Social spiders show obligatory mating among siblings. In combination with a female-biased sex ratio, sib-mating results in small effective populations. In such a system high genetic homozygosity is expected, and drift may cause population divergence. We tested the effect of outcrossing in the social spider Stegodyphus dumicola. Females were mated to sib-males, to a non-nestmate within the population, or to a male from a distant population, and fitness traits of F1s were compared. We found reduced hatching success of broods from between-population crosses, suggesting the presence of population divergence at a large geographical scale that may result in population incompatibility. However, a lack of a difference in offspring performance between inbred and outbred crosses indicates little genetic variation between populations, and could suggest recent colonisation by a common ancestor. This is consistent with population dynamics of frequent colonisations by single sib-mated females of common origin, and extinctions of populations after few generations. While drift or single mutations can lead to population divergence at a relatively short time scale, it is possible that dynamic population processes homogenize these effects at longer time scales.
Data from: Can social partnerships influence the microbiome? insights from ant farmers and their trophobiont mutualists.
Mutualistic interactions with microbes have played a crucial role in the evolution and ecology of animal hosts. However, it is unclear what factors are most important in influencing particular host-microbe associations. While closely related animal species may have more similar microbiota than distantly related ones due to phylogenetic contingencies, social partnerships with other organisms, such as those in which one animal farms another, may also influence an organism's symbiotic microbiome. We studied a mutualistic network of Brachymyrmex and Lasius ants farming several honeydew-producing Prociphilus aphids and Rhizoecus mealybugs to test whether the mutualistic microbiomes of these interacting insects are primarily correlated with their phylogeny or with their shared social partnerships. Our results confirm a phylogenetic signal in the microbiomes of aphid and mealybug trophobionts, with each species harboring species-specific endosymbiont strains of Buchnera (aphids), Tremblaya and Sodalis (mealybugs), and Serratia (both mealybugs and aphids) despite being farmed by the same ants. This is likely explained by strict vertical transmission of trophobiont endosymbionts between generations. In contrast, the ants' microbiome is potentially shaped by their social partnerships, with ants that farm the same trophobionts also sharing strains of sugar-processing Acetobacteraceae bacteria, known from other honeydew-feeding ants and which likely reside extracellularly in the ants' guts. These ant-microbe associations are arguably more 'open' and subject to horizontal transmission or social transmission within ant colonies. These findings suggest that the role of social partnerships in shaping a host's symbiotic microbiome can be variable, and is likely dependent on how the microbes are transmitted across generations.
Data from: Promiscuity resolves constraints on social mate choice imposed by population viscosity
Population viscosity can have major consequences for adaptive evolution, in particular for phenotypes involved in social interactions. For example, population viscosity increases the probability of mating with close kin, resulting in selection for mechanisms that circumvent the potential negative consequences of inbreeding. Female promiscuity is often suggested to be one such mechanism. However, whether avoidance of genetically similar partners is a major selective force shaping patterns of promiscuity remains poorly supported by empirical data. Here, we show (i) that fine-scale genetic structure constrains social mate choice in a pair-bonding lizard, resulting in individuals pairing with genetically similar individuals, (ii) that these constraints are circumvented by multiple mating with less related individuals and (iii) that this results in increased heterozygosity of offspring. Despite this, we did not detect any significant effects of heterozygosity on offspring or adult fitness or a strong relationship between pair relatedness and female multiple mating. We discuss these results within the context of incorporating the genetic context dependence of mating strategies into a holistic understanding of mating system evolution.
Data from: A highly social, land-dwelling fish defends territories in a constantly fluctuating environment
The Pacific leaping blenny (Alticus arnoldorum) is a marine fish that has made a highly successful transition to land. We report an extensive field study on the behavior of this remarkable fish and how it has coped with life on land. The fish occurs in great abundance above the waterline along the rocky coastlines of Micronesia. We found them to be terrestrial in all aspects of their adult daily life, but heavily constrained by large fluctuations in both tide and temperature with almost all activity limited to a brief period at mid-tide. Despite this, the fish were highly social and data were consistent with males defending exclusive territories on land. A variety of metrics – the use of visual displays, the allometry of ornaments, and sexual dimorphism – further imply sexual selection on both sexes was strong. Despite being restricted to an extremely narrow habitable zone in which conditions change constantly, the Pacific leaping blenny is remarkably adapted to life on land and rarely returned to water. The genus is unique among the living fishes in its degree of terrestriality and serves as a useful model of the constraints and adaptations that accompany major ecological transitions.
Data from: The value of oviposition timing, queen presence and kinship in a social insect
Reproductive cooperation confers benefits, but simultaneously creates conflicts among cooperators. Queens in multi-queen colonies of ants share a nest and its resources, but reproductive competition among queens often results in unequal reproduction. Two mutually non-exclusive factors may produce such inequality in reproduction: worker intervention or queen traits. Workers may intervene by favouring some queens over others, owing to either kinship or queen signals. Queens may differ in their intrinsic fecundity at the onset of oviposition or in their timing of the onset of oviposition, leading to their unequal representation in the brood. Here, we test the role of queen kin value (relatedness) to workers, timing of the onset of oviposition and signals of presence by queens in determining the maternity of offspring. We show that queens of the ant Formica fusca gained a significantly higher proportion of sexuals in the brood when ovipositing early, and that the presence of a caged queen resulted in a significant increase in both her share of sexual brood and her overall reproductive share. Moreover, the lower the kin value of the queen, the more the workers invested in their own reproduction by producing males. Our results show that both kinship and breeding phenology influence the outcome of reproductive conflicts, and the balance of direct and indirect fitness benefits in the multi-queen colonies of F. fusca.
Divergent neurogenomic responses shape social learning of both personality and mate preference
<p>Behavior plays a fundamental role in shaping the origin and fate of species. Mating decisions can act to promote or restrict gene flow, as can personality traits that influence dispersal and niche use. Mate choice and personality are often both learned and therefore influenced by an individual's social environment throughout development. Likewise, the molecular pathways that shape these behaviors may also be co-expressed. In this study on swordtail fish (<i>Xiphophorus birchmanni</i>), we show that female mating preferences for species-typical pheromone cues are entirely dependent on social experience with adult males. Experience with adults also shapes development along the shy-bold personality axis, with shy behaviors arising from exposure to risk-averse heterospecifics as a potential stress-coping strategy. In maturing females, conspecific exposure results in a strong upregulation of olfaction and vision genes compared to heterospecific exposure, as well as immune response genes previously linked to anxiety, learning and memory. Conversely, heterospecific exposure involves an increased expression of genes important for neurogenesis, synaptic plasticity and social decision-making. We identify subsets of genes within the social decision-making network and with known stress-coping roles that may be directly coupled to the olfactory processes females rely on for social communication. Based on these results, we conclude that the social environment affects the neurogenomic trajectory through which socially-sensitive behaviors are learned, resulting in adult phenotypes adapted for specific social groupings.</p>
Data from: No energetic benefits from sociality in tropical hibernation
Mammals generally profit from social thermoregulation, and the primary benefit of sociality during hibernation is thought to be the reduction of metabolic demands during periodic arousals. It has even been postulated that the energetic advantages during hibernation might have been the driver for the evolution of sociality in some mammal species. As the necessity to show arousals and the concurring energetic costs depend on the temperature regime in the hibernacula, we tested whether this is also a plausible scenario in tropical hibernators such as the Malagasy lemur Cheirogaleus medius, with comparatively high and often fluctuating temperature regimes in their hibernacula. To this end, we studied group composition and energy budgets (skin temperature patterns, metabolic rate) over three hibernation and activity seasons in a total of 53 free-ranging C. medius. Our results show that C. medius mostly occupied tree hollows solitarily during hibernation, contrary to the active season, and that the energetic savings were comparable for individuals hibernating socially in groups or solitarily (both about 74% compared to the resting metabolic rate of the active season). However, in larger groups hibernation patterns were less regular and synchronized and individual torpor-arousal cycles were more frequently interrupted by euthermic group members than in individuals hibernating solitarily or in pairs. We conclude that sociality during hibernation is not necessarily driven by energetic demands, and might even be energetically disadvantageous in tropical species (at least in larger groups). Other factors, like social coherence or ecological and behavioural constraints, may be of greater influence for the evolution of sociality under tropical conditions.
Social learning of acoustic anti-predator cues occurs between wild bird species
<p>In many species, individuals gather information about their environment both through direct experience and through information obtained from others. Social learning, or the acquisition of information from others, can occur both within and between species and <span>may </span>facilitate the rapid spread of antipredator behaviour. Within birds, acoustic signals are frequently used to alert others to the presence of predators, and individuals can quickly learn to associate novel acoustic cues with predation risk. However, few studies have addressed whether <span>such learning occurs only though direct experience or whether it has a social component, nor whether such learning can occur between species. We investigate these questions in</span> two sympatric species of Parids: blue tits (<i>Cyanistes caeruleus</i>) and great tits (<i>Parus major</i>). <span>Using playbacks of unfamiliar bird vocalisations paired with a predator model in a controlled aviary setting, we find that blue tits can learn to associate a novel sound with predation risk via direct experience, and that antipredator response to the sound can be socially transmitted to heterospecific observers, despite lack of first-hand experience. Our results suggest that social learning of acoustic cues can occur between species. </span><span>Such i</span><span>nterspecific social information transmission may help to mediate the formation of mixed-species aggregations.</span></p>
Data from: Extra-pair mating in a socially monogamous and paternal mouthbrooding cardinalfish
Many vertebrates form monogamous pairs to mate and care for their offspring. However, genetic tools have increasingly shown that many offspring arise from matings outside of the monogamous pair bond. Social monogamy is relatively common in coral reef fishes, but there have been relatively few studies that have confirmed monogamy or extra-pair reproduction, either for males or females. Here long-term observations and genetic tools were applied to examine the parentage of embryos in a paternally mouthbrooding cardinalfish, Sphaeramia nematoptera. Paternal care in fishes, such as mouth brooding, is thought to be associated with a high degree of confidence in paternity. Two-years of observations confirmed that S. nematoptera form long-term pair bonds within larger groups. However, genetic parentage revealed extra-pair mating by both sexes. Of 105 broods analysed from 64 males, 30.1% were mothered by a female that was not the partner and 11.5% of broods included eggs from two females. Despite the high paternal investment associated with mouthbrooding, 7.5% of broods were fertilised by two males. Extra-pair matings appeared to be opportunistic encounters with individuals from outside the immediate group. We argue that while pair formation contributes to group cohesion, both males and females can maximise lifetime reproductive success by taking advantage of extra-pair mating opportunities. The results contradict the theory that paternal care is associated with a high confidence in paternity.
Data from: Genetic variation in social influence on mate preferences
Patterns of phenotypic variation arise in part from plasticity owing to social interactions, and these patterns contribute, in turn, to the form of selection that shapes the variation we observe in natural populations. This proximate–ultimate dynamic brings genetic variation in social environments to the forefront of evolutionary theory. However, the extent of this variation remains largely unknown. Here, we use a member of the Enchenopa binotata species complex of treehoppers (Hemiptera: Membracidae) to assess how mate preferences are influenced by genetic variation in the social environment. We used full-sibling split-families as 'treatment' social environments, and reared focal females alongside each treatment family, describing the mate preferences of the focal females. With this method, we detected substantial genetic variation in social influence on mate preferences. The mate preferences of focal females varied according to the treatment families along with which they grew up. We discuss the evolutionary implications of the presence of such genetic variation in social influence on mate preferences, including potential contributions to the maintenance of genetic variation, the promotion of divergence, and the adaptive evolution of social effects on fitness-related traits.
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Allen Brain Atlas
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Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
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