The Effects of Social Experience on Aggressive Behavior in the Green Anole Lizard (Anolis carolinensis)
To understand how context-specific aggression emerges from past experience, we examined how consecutive aggressive encounters influence aggressive behavior and stress responses of male green anole lizards (Anolis carolinensis). Animals were shown a video clip featuring an aggressively displaying conspecific male, which provoked aggressive responding, while control animals viewed a neutral video. After 5 d of […]
Mate acquisition by females in a butterfly: the effects of mating status and age on female mate-locating behaviour
In most species, female reproductive success is determined by realized fecundity, which depends on the amount of female reproductive reserves and the availability of time for oviposition. Consequently, selection is likely to favour behaviour in virgin females that increases the likelihood of encountering males and thereby minimizing time without sperm. We used the speckled wood […]
Dominance hierarchies in male lizards: Implications for zoo management programs
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.1430130510.abs Depending on spatial requirements and the distribution of key resources in the environment, social behavior among lizards varies from defense of exclusive territories to the establishment of dominance hierarchies. In captivity or under conditions where dispersal is not possible, dominance hierarchies often emerge in species that are otherwise territorial. This review explores some […]
Behavioral responses to the zoo environment by white handed gibbons
Although there is a growing literature on the effects of zoo environments on nonhuman primate behavior, comparatively little research has been published on the behavioral responses of gibbons and siamangs (family: Hylobatidae) to zoo visitors. Here, we present the findings from our study on the effects of noise, visitor group size, and the presence of […]
The role of prey abundance and flow regulation in the marking behaviour of Eurasian otters in a Mediterranean catchment
Scent marking is a common behaviour used to delineate territories by carnivores, yet it remains insufficiently understood as there are several alternative hypotheses, one being that sites are marked where resources are abundant, thus guaranteeing their exclusive use. Small Mediterranean rivers are highly variable environments throughout the year, representing an ideal scenario to test this […]
Effect of food abundance on aggressiveness and territory size of juvenile rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss
How food abundance affects (1) whether or not individuals defend territories and (2) what size of territory is defended are crucial to understanding the role that territoriality plays in regulating the population size of stream-dwelling salmonids. The threshold model of feeding territoriality predicts that territorial defence will be most intense at intermediate levels of food […]
Food and range defence in group-living primates
Why do some primate groups contest access to food resources primarily at territorial borders (periphery defence), whereas others are more likely to contest resources in the centre of the home range (core defence)? One possibility is that central areas contain more food resources and so are more important for core-defending groups, whereas peripheral areas are […]
Ecology rather than psychology explains co-occurrence of predation and border patrols in male chimpanzees
The intense arousal and excitement shown by adult male chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes, during territorial attacks on other chimpanzees and predation upon monkeys suggest that similar psychological mechanisms may be involved. Specifically, it has been proposed that hunting behaviour in chimpanzees evolved from intraspecies aggression. Over 32 years, chimpanzees at Gombe National Park, Tanzania were significantly […]
Experimental induction of social instability during early breeding does not alter testosterone levels in male black redstarts, a socially monogamous songbird
Testosterone plays an important role in territorial behavior of many male vertebrates and the Challenge Hypothesis has been suggested to explain differences in testosterone concentrations between males. For socially monogamous birds, the challenge hypothesis predicts that testosterone should increase during male–male interactions. To test this, simulated territorial intrusion (STI) experiments have been conducted, but only […]
Social recognition is context dependent in single male prairie voles
Single males might benefit from knowing the identity of neighbouring males when establishing and defending boundaries. Similarly, males should discriminate between individual females if this leads to more reproductive opportunities. Contextual social cues may alter the value of learning identity. Knowing the identity of competitors that intrude into an animal’s territory may be more salient […]