Animal Behaviour: Evolution and Mechanisms
The study of animal behaviour is one of the fastest growing sub-disciplines in biology. The resulting diversity of conceptual approaches and methodological innovations makes it increasingly difficult for professionals and students to keep abreast of impor
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Individual performance in complex social systems: the greylag goose example KURT KOTRSCHAL, ISABELLA B.R. SCHEIBER AND KATHARINA HIRSCHENHAUSER
ABSTRACT Convergent social structures can be found in taxa that split a long time ago, for example more than 230 Mio years ago as in the case of mammals and birds. Such convergence is explained by common selection regimes, as all social systems are shaped by sex-specific tactics and strategies to optimise their reproductive success. In addition, the major social mechanisms, brain and physiology, are highly conserved throughout the vertebrates. Manoeuvring social contexts tends to be energetically costly and, hence, favours efficient decision-making. Therefore, at least in vertebrates, complex social systems generally select for social cognition. As an example for social convergence between mammals and birds, we introduce the surprisingly complex social system of greylag geese, featuring components such as a female-bonded clan structure, long parent-offspring relationships, as well as elaborate and highly functional patterns of mutual social support. Our results show that partners in reproductively successful goose pairs are in hormonal synchrony and provide social support to each other. We suggest that social support may be a major structuring principle of other social systems with long-term individualized and valuable partnerships as well. In general, individual performance in social systems is determined by the interplay between proximate mechanisms and ultimate functions.
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Kurt Kotrschal, Isabella B.R. Scheiber and Katharina Hirschenhauser
5.1 Introduction: being social is the default setting in mammals and birds Vertebrate bodies, physiologies and minds are shaped by individual relationships with others. Being social may be useful, rewarding, disastrous, pleasant or intimidating, but it is certainly unavoidable in most species. Therefore, individuals and species cannot be understood via their adaptations to the physical and ecological environments alone, but their social dimension needs to be considered as well. In contrast to simple groups, such as aggregations that coordinate in space and time (Krause and Ruxton 2002), many social systems are relatively complex, i.e. individuals live with a partner and/or a group permanently or seasonally, and they engage in specific, valuable and durable relationships. In fact, the essence of all social life is to optimise one’s own fitness whilst keeping one’s own social web intact (Fig. 5.1). This insight points at the importance of the individual styles of stress coping and conflict behaviour (Aureli and de Waal 2000, Aureli et al. 2002, Koolhaas et al. 2007) for sociality. At least in homoeothermic vertebrates, sociality is probably the default option. This assumption is supported by a number of structures and mechanisms, which feature prominently in vertebrate brain and physiology (Fig. 5.2), including the ‘social behaviour network’ (Goodson 2005, McGregor 2005), bonding mechanisms (Curley and Keverne 2005, Goodson et al
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