Social relationships formed within a network of interacting group members can have a profound impact on an indi- vidual＇s behavior and fitness. However, we have little understanding of how individuals perceive their ...Social relationships formed within a network of interacting group members can have a profound impact on an indi- vidual＇s behavior and fitness. However, we have little understanding of how individuals perceive their relationships and how this perception relates to our external measures of interactions. We investigated the perception of affiliative and agonistic relation- ships at both the dyadic and emergent social levels in two captive groups of monk parakeets （Myiopsitta monachus, n = 21 and 19） using social network analysis and playback experiments. At the dyadic social scale, individuals directed less aggression to- wards their strong affiliative partners and more aggression towards non-partner neighbors.At the emergent social scale, there was no association between relationships in different social contexts and an individual＇s dominance rank did not correlate with its popularity rank. Playback response pattems were mainly driven by relationships in affiliative social contexts at the dyadic scale. In both groups, individual responses to playback experiments were significantly affected by strong affiliative relationships at the dyadic social scale, albeit in different directions in the two groups. Response pattems were also affected by affiliative relation- ships at the emergent social scale, but only in one of the two groups. Within affiliative relationships, those at the dyadic social scale were perceived by individuals in both groups, but those at the emergent social scale only affected responses in one group. These results provide preliminary evidence that relationships in affiliative social contexts may be perceived as more important than agonistic relationships in captive monk parakeet groups. Our approach could be used in a wide range of social species and comparative analyses could provide important insight into how individuals perceive relationships across social contexts and social scales [Current Zoology 61 （1）： 55-69, 2015].展开更多
The underlying kin structure of groups of animals may be glimpsed from patterns of spatial position or temporal as- sociation between individuals, and is presumed to facilitate inclusive fitness benefits. Such structu...The underlying kin structure of groups of animals may be glimpsed from patterns of spatial position or temporal as- sociation between individuals, and is presumed to facilitate inclusive fitness benefits. Such structure may be evident at a finer, behavioural, scale with individuals preferentially interacting with kin. We tested whether kin structure within groups of meerkats Suricata suricatta matched three forms of social interaction networks： grooming, dominance or foraging competitions. Networks of dominance interactions were positively related to networks of kinship, with close relatives engaging in dominance interactions with each other. This relationship persisted even after excluding the breeding dominant pair and when we restricted the kinship network to only include links between first order kin, which are most likely to be able to discern kin through simple rules of thumb. Conversely, we found no relationship between kinship networks and either grooming networks or networks of foraging competitions. This is surprising because a positive association between kin in a grooming network, or a negative association be- tween kin in a network of foraging competitions offers opportunities for inclusive fitness benefits. Indeed, the positive association between kin in a network of dominance interactions that we did detect does not offer clear inclusive fitness benefits to group members. We conclude that kin structure in behavioural interactions in meerkats may be driven by factors other than indirect fit- ness benefits, and that networks of cooperative behaviours such as grooming may be driven by direct benefits accruing to indi- viduals perhaps through mutualism or manipulation展开更多
文摘Social relationships formed within a network of interacting group members can have a profound impact on an indi- vidual＇s behavior and fitness. However, we have little understanding of how individuals perceive their relationships and how this perception relates to our external measures of interactions. We investigated the perception of affiliative and agonistic relation- ships at both the dyadic and emergent social levels in two captive groups of monk parakeets （Myiopsitta monachus, n = 21 and 19） using social network analysis and playback experiments. At the dyadic social scale, individuals directed less aggression to- wards their strong affiliative partners and more aggression towards non-partner neighbors.At the emergent social scale, there was no association between relationships in different social contexts and an individual＇s dominance rank did not correlate with its popularity rank. Playback response pattems were mainly driven by relationships in affiliative social contexts at the dyadic scale. In both groups, individual responses to playback experiments were significantly affected by strong affiliative relationships at the dyadic social scale, albeit in different directions in the two groups. Response pattems were also affected by affiliative relation- ships at the emergent social scale, but only in one of the two groups. Within affiliative relationships, those at the dyadic social scale were perceived by individuals in both groups, but those at the emergent social scale only affected responses in one group. These results provide preliminary evidence that relationships in affiliative social contexts may be perceived as more important than agonistic relationships in captive monk parakeet groups. Our approach could be used in a wide range of social species and comparative analyses could provide important insight into how individuals perceive relationships across social contexts and social scales [Current Zoology 61 （1）： 55-69, 2015].
文摘The underlying kin structure of groups of animals may be glimpsed from patterns of spatial position or temporal as- sociation between individuals, and is presumed to facilitate inclusive fitness benefits. Such structure may be evident at a finer, behavioural, scale with individuals preferentially interacting with kin. We tested whether kin structure within groups of meerkats Suricata suricatta matched three forms of social interaction networks： grooming, dominance or foraging competitions. Networks of dominance interactions were positively related to networks of kinship, with close relatives engaging in dominance interactions with each other. This relationship persisted even after excluding the breeding dominant pair and when we restricted the kinship network to only include links between first order kin, which are most likely to be able to discern kin through simple rules of thumb. Conversely, we found no relationship between kinship networks and either grooming networks or networks of foraging competitions. This is surprising because a positive association between kin in a grooming network, or a negative association be- tween kin in a network of foraging competitions offers opportunities for inclusive fitness benefits. Indeed, the positive association between kin in a network of dominance interactions that we did detect does not offer clear inclusive fitness benefits to group members. We conclude that kin structure in behavioural interactions in meerkats may be driven by factors other than indirect fit- ness benefits, and that networks of cooperative behaviours such as grooming may be driven by direct benefits accruing to indi- viduals perhaps through mutualism or manipulation
