No abstract

An important and necessary step in the analysis of any communication system involves quantitative descriptions of how signals vary at multiple levels of organization (e.g., species, populations, individuals). Such descriptions provide a basis for generating testable predictions about the functions of signals and their specific physical properties in different behavioral contexts. Here, we report results from acoustical and statistical analyses of the advertisement calls of the boreal chorus frog, Pseudacris maculata. In addition to characterizing measures of central tendency and dispersion for our study population, we assess how calls encode potentially relevant information in the contexts of sexual selection and social recognition. Specifically, we describe the relationships between call properties and both body size and condition, and relate these findings to predictions about female mate choice and male‐male competition. We also make predictions about the shapes of female preference functions based on analyses of the patterns of within‐individual variation in call properties. Findings from multivariate analyses of advertisement calls are used to generate testable predictions about the potential for these signals to function in social recognition. We also discuss our results in relation to wildlife conservation and relevant studies of geographic variation.

For group-living animals to remain cohesive they must agree on where to travel. Theoretical models predict shared group decisions should be favoured, and a number of empirical examples support this. However, the behavioural mechanisms that underpin shared decision-making are not fully understood. Groups may achieve consensus of direction by active communication of individual preferences (i.e. voting), or by responding to each other's orientation and movement (i.e. copying). For example, African buffalo ( Syncerus caffer ) are reported to use body orientation to vote and indicate their preferred direction to achieve a consensus on travel direction, while golden shiners ( Notemigonus crysoleucas ) achieve consensus of direction by responding to the movement cues of their neighbours. Here, we present a conceptual model (supported by agent-based simulations) that allows us to distinguish patterns of motion that represent voting or copying. We test our model predictions using high-resolution GPS and magnetometer data collected from a herd of free-ranging goats ( Capra aegagrus hircus ) in the Namib Desert, Namibia. We find that decisions concerning travel direction were more consistent with individuals copying one another's motion and find no evidence to support the use of voting with body orientation. Our findings highlight the role of simple behavioural rules for collective decision-making by animal groups.

Many social animal species produce vocalizations believed to facilitate group contraction when one or more group members have become distant. However, the mechanisms underlying this function remain unclear for many species. We examined this question with data on a semi-free ranging group of 16 adult domesticated goats (Capra aegagrus hircus) inhabiting Tsaobis Nature Park, Namibia. All goats wore dataloggers consisting of a GPS and audio recorder for 5-6 h per day for 10 days, providing continuous data on their geolocations and vocal communication. We found that callers were farther from the group centroid than expected by chance and that call production was associated with the cessation of group expansion and subsequent group contraction. We did not find strong evidence for antiphonal call exchange between distant and core group members. Rather, we found that (i) call production by distant group members is associated with a significant reduction of group movement away from the caller, and (ii) call production by core group members is associated with greater, though not significantly greater, group movement toward the caller. These findings suggest that calls may be used by distant, and potentially core, group members to facilitate the contraction of group spread. Results from our study clarify the mechanisms through which social animals can regulate collective movement behavior and the specific role that vocalizations play in this process.

Researchers of team behavior have long been interested in the essential components of effective teamwork. Much existing research focuses on examining correlations between team member traits, team processes, and team outcomes, such as collective intelligence or team performance. However, these approaches are insufficient for providing insight into the dynamic, causal mechanisms through which the components of teamwork interact with one another and impact the emergence of team outcomes. Advances in the field of animal behavior have enabled a precise understanding of the behavioral mechanisms that enable groups to perform feats that surpass the capabilities of the individuals that comprise them. In this manuscript, we highlight how studies of animal swarm intelligence can inform research on collective intelligence in human teams. By improving the ability to obtain precise, time-varying measurements of team behaviors and outcomes and building upon approaches used in studies of swarm intelligence to analyze and model individual and group-level behaviors, researchers can gain insight into the mechanisms underlying the emergence of collective intelligence. Such understanding could inspire targeted interventions to improve team effectiveness and support the development of a comparative framework of group-level intelligence in animal and human groups.