Latrine distribution and patterns of use by wild meerkats: implications for territory and mate defence

Jordan, Neil R.; Cherry, Michael; Manser, Marta B.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.06.010

Cited by 145 publications

(134 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…With playback experiments, we tested the behavioral response to alarm calls in the absence of predators using recordings of six low urgency and six medium urgency aerial alarm calls (Manser, 2001;Manser et al, 2002) from the long-term audio recording database (Manser, 1995(Manser, to 2007. Each alarm call had been recorded from adult meerkats of different groups unfamiliar to the focal individuals Schibler & Manser, 2007).…”

Section: (Ii) Alarm Call Playback Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All trials were conducted when pups were foraging with the groups. The effect of exogenous cortisol or saline administration on individual response to alarm call playbacks was assessed using recordings of six different medium-urgency aerial alarm calls from the long-term recording database (Manser, 1995(Manser, to 2007. Twenty-three trials were performed.…”

Section: Experiments II -Effects Of Cortisol Administrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the relationship between glucocorticoids and two different types of anti-predator behavior in a population of free-ranging animals. individually tagged with subcutaneous transponder chips and black hair-dye marks were frequently renewed for visual identification (Jordan et al, 2007). All animals were habituated to a level that made observations possible within 1m.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mean fecal glucocorticoid metabolites are associated with vigilance, whereas immediate cortisol levels better reflect acute anti-predator responses in meerkats

Voellmy

Gonçalves

Barrette

et al. 2014

Hormones and Behavior

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Adrenal hormones likely affect anti-predator behavior in animals. With experimental field studies, we first investigated associations between mean fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGC) excretion and vigilance and with behavioral responses to alarm call playbacks in free-ranging meerkats (Suricata suricatta). We then tested how vigilance and behavioral responses to alarm call playbacks were affected in individuals administered exogenous cortisol. We found a positive association between mean fGC concentrations and vigilance behavior, but no relationship with 2 the intensity of behavioral responses to alarm calls. However, in response to alarm call playbacks, individuals administered cortisol took slightly longer to resume foraging than control individuals treated with saline solution. Vigilance behavior, which occurs in the presence and absence of dangerous stimuli, serves to detect and avoid potential dangers, whereas responses to alarm calls serve to avoid immediate predation. Our data show that mean fGC excretion in meerkats was associated with vigilance, as a re-occurring anti-predator behavior over long time periods, and experimentally induced elevations of plasma cortisol affected the response to immediate threats. Together, our results indicate an association between the two types of anti-predator behavior and glucocorticoids, but that the underlying mechanisms may differ. Our study emphasizes the need to consider appropriate measures of adrenal activity specific to different contexts when assessing links between stress physiology and different anti-predator behaviors.

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Section: (Ii) Alarm Call Playback Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Experiments II -Effects Of Cortisol Administrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mean fecal glucocorticoid metabolites are associated with vigilance, whereas immediate cortisol levels better reflect acute anti-predator responses in meerkats

Voellmy

Gonçalves

Barrette

et al. 2014

Hormones and Behavior

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“…Latrine sites typically comprise several feces, are visited at regular intervals (Roper et al 1993, Kilshaw et al 2009), anddepending on the social organization of the species concerned-are often used by more than one individual (Buesching and Macdonald 2001). Investigations into latrine use are generally limited to territorial defense (Begg et al 2003, Jordan et al 2007, Kilshaw et al 2009), often at the expense of fully evaluating other, not mutually exclusive functions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hog badger (Arctonyx collaris) latrine use in relation to food abundance: evidence of the scarce factor paradox

et al. 2015

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2015. Hog badger (Arctonyx collaris) latrine use in relation to food abundance: evidence of the scarce factor paradox.Ecosphere 6(1):19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/ES14-00155.1Abstract. Many carnivores use latrines, and investigations of latrine use have typically been concerned with territorial defense, often at the expense of fully evaluating other, not mutually exclusive, functions. In particular, the relationship between food abundance and latrine use patterns has been explored inadequately, where latrine location may be used to aid spatial memory, to stake a claim on access to temporally variable food resources, or to signal the local depletion of resources. Little is known about the hog badger (Arctonyx collaris), however the consensus is that they are solitary, but nonetheless deposit their feces in latrines, but without any group-territory defense function. This provides an ideal study system to investigate how temporal and spatial variation in latrine use strategy is associated with food resource availability throughout the year. We use generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) and an informationtheoretic approach to test the hypothesis that seasonal latrine use patterns signal the resources most valued (i.e., the foraging book keeping hypothesis). We found that latrine use showed significant seasonal and habitat-related variations, where the number of feces per latrine reached seasonal maxima in early summer but was lowest in autumn, and was significantly higher in logged forest and selectively logged forest but lowest in farmland. The intensity of latrine use exhibited a significant negative relationship with environmental food abundance, and was related to dietary output (fecal contents). That is, hog badgers invested most in 'marking' those more limited resources, concurring with the scarce factor paradox, which asserts that the value of any commodity is a function of its rarity.

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“…Where suitable, additional data from the Kalahari Meerkat Project database were included, so some analyses are based on data from 15 groups. Groups were located by radio-tracking collared individuals (see Jordan et al 2007 for details of collaring procedures) and all individuals were identifiable by unique marks of black hair dye. Individuals were monitored from birth, so the ages of all animals were known precisely (G2 days).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in contributions to teaching by meerkats

Thornton

2008

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Recent evidence from cooperative insect, bird and mammal societies has challenged the assumption that teaching is restricted to humans. However, little is known about the factors affecting the degree to which individuals in such societies contribute to teaching. Here, I examine variation in contributions to teaching in meerkats, where older group members teach pups to handle difficult prey. I show that investment in teaching varies with characteristics of pups, helpers, groups and ecological conditions. Although prior experience in caring for pups did not significantly influence teaching behaviour, younger helpers, which were still investing in growth, contributed less to teaching than older individuals. This suggests that, in common with other cooperative activities, contributions to teaching vary with the costs experienced by individual group members. However, in contrast to other forms of helping in meerkats, I detected no effects of nutritional state on teaching, suggesting that it carries relatively low costs. In species where individuals can potentially gain direct or indirect fitness benefits from facilitating learning in others, low costs divided among multiple group members may help tip the balance towards selection for teaching.

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Latrine distribution and patterns of use by wild meerkats: implications for territory and mate defence

Cited by 145 publications

References 45 publications

Mean fecal glucocorticoid metabolites are associated with vigilance, whereas immediate cortisol levels better reflect acute anti-predator responses in meerkats

Mean fecal glucocorticoid metabolites are associated with vigilance, whereas immediate cortisol levels better reflect acute anti-predator responses in meerkats

Hog badger (Arctonyx collaris) latrine use in relation to food abundance: evidence of the scarce factor paradox

Variation in contributions to teaching by meerkats

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