Male Social Dynamics

Lee, Phyllis C.; Poole, Joyce H.; Njiraini, Norah; Sayialel, Catherine N.; Moss, Cynthia J.

doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226542263.003.0017

Cited by 39 publications

(30 citation statements)

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“…Supporters argue when a quota system for trophies is managed carefully following ecological theory, trophy hunting only removes a few older males with low reproductive value from a population, which should have a negligible effect on the wider environment 12,13 . However, researchers frequently voice concern that this model fails to consider the mating and social system of the species of interest when applied to African savannah elephants 17,60,61 . Our finding that mature adult bulls act as leaders during collective movement complements existing research that highlights the central role of mature bulls in all-male African savannah elephant societies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After prolonged use, these habitual routes can lead to "elephant pathways", which are proposed to facilitate optimal foraging strategies by connecting predictable resources and landscape features such as drinking points 16 . Male elephants disperse from the natal herd between the age of 10-20 years and establish themselves in a separate bull society 17 . Males roam vast distances during their life time 18 , and social associations among males are weaker and more transitory than among females 19,20 .…”

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confidence: 99%

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Importance of old bulls: leaders and followers in collective movements of all-male groups in African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana)

Allen

Brent

Motsentwa³

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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In long-lived social species, older individuals can provide fitness benefits to their groupmates through the imparting of ecological knowledge. Research in this area has largely focused on females in matrilineal societies where, for example, older female African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana) are most effective at making decisions crucial to herd survival, and old post-reproductive female resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) lead collective movements in hunting grounds. in contrast, little is known about the role of older males as leaders in long-lived social species. By analysing leadership patterns of all-male African savannah elephant traveling groups along elephant pathways in Makgadikgadi pans national park, Botswana, we found that the oldest males were more likely to lead collective movements. our results challenge the assumption that older male elephants are redundant in the population and raise concerns over the biased removal of old bulls that currently occurs in both legal trophy hunting and illegal poaching. Selective harvesting of older males could have detrimental effects on the wider elephant society through loss of leaders crucial to younger male navigation in unknown, risky environments. During coordinated group movements certain individuals can consistently arise as "leaders" with a regular influence over group decisions, with high dominance rank 1 , bold temperament 2 and greater age (often associated with enhanced knowledge or experience 3) noted as common traits characterising leaders (for review, see 4). Whilst in some cases leadership can be a passive process, a consequence of simple consensus decisions to maintain group cohesion 5 , in other cases leaders actively communicate their intent to recruit followers 6. In long-lived species, older individuals often respond more appropriately to complex, changing environments 7,8 , providing substantial fitness benefits to younger group mates. For example, older matriarchs are more effective at mobilising groups in response to predation threats and conspecifics in female African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana) 8,9 , Similarly, in resident killer whale (Orcinus orca) groups there is a greater reliance on older, post-menopausal females as leaders of hunting groups in years of low salmon abundance 10. Non-human research in this area has tended to focus on females and less attention has been given to the potential for old males to act as repositories of ecological knowledge and leaders in long-lived social species. In many social mammals, males are often assumed to be replaceable because they are typically the dispersing sex 11 , and old males may be reproductively redundant, which is commonly used as an argument to support the legal trophy hunting of old males in many species 12,13. This combined with desirable features such as larger body size and ornaments, leads to selective harvesting of older males in many species, including the African savannah elephant 14. However, there is no reason to believe there would be sex-based differe...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Importance of old bulls: leaders and followers in collective movements of all-male groups in African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana)

Allen

Brent

Motsentwa³

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…Sex-biased dispersal in elephants does not lead to the complete separation of male and female relatives1132. Accordingly, even when males are fully independent and mature, kin appear to be commonly available as potential mates in natural populations; sexually active males return to core female areas, including their own natal area, to find mates32.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The African elephant ( Loxodonta africana ) exhibits a fission fusion society 9 and is one example of a social, yet spatial dispersed species. The ranging pattern of males and females can cover huge areas (in Kenya averaging 225 km 2 (14–783 km 2 ) 10 depending on habitat type and size as well as seasonal effects, and hundreds of individuals can be encountered opportunistically 11 . Females are the more social sex, maintaining close bonds between the members of a family unit (composed of adult females and their offspring), and are further linked to other families, forming bond groups 9 12 .…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Females are the more social sex, maintaining close bonds between the members of a family unit (composed of adult females and their offspring), and are further linked to other families, forming bond groups 9 12 . Males leave their natal family at an average of 14 years 11 , but also form all-male alliances or associations, although the bonds are less tight than those of female family members 13 14 15 .…”

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Male African elephants discriminate and prefer vocalizations of unfamiliar females

Stoeger

Baotic

2017

Sci Rep

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Gaining information about conspecifics via long-distance vocalizations is crucial for social and spatially flexible species such as the African elephant (Loxodonta africana). Female elephants are known to discriminate individuals and kin based on acoustic cues. Specifically, females approached the loudspeaker exclusively with playbacks of familiar individuals with high association indexes, intentionally fusing with their affiliates. For males, which are less bonded, gathering social information via vocalizations could still have important implications, but little is known about their vocal discrimination skills. We experimentally tested the ability of male African elephants to discriminate the social rumbles of familiar (from the same population) versus unfamiliar females. Male elephants discriminated and preferentially moved towards the rumbles of unfamiliar females, showing longer attentive reactions and significantly more orientating (facing and approaching the speaker) behavior. The increased orientating response of males towards playbacks of unfamiliar females is converse to the reaction of female subjects. Our results provide evidence that male elephants extract social information from vocalizations, yet with a different intention than females. Accordingly, males might use social cues in vocalizations to assess mating opportunities, which may involve selection to identify individuals or kin in order to avoid inbreeding.

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Evolutionary and demographic processes shaping geographic patterns of genetic diversity in a keystone species, the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)

Ishida

Gugala

Georgiadis

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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The past processes that have shaped geographic patterns of genetic diversity may be difficult to infer from current patterns. However, in species with sex differences in dispersal, differing phylogeographic patterns between mitochondrial (mt) and nuclear (nu) DNA may provide contrasting insights into past events. Forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) were impacted by climate and habitat change during the Pleistocene, which likely shaped phylogeographic patterns in mitochondrial (mt) DNA that have persisted due to limited female dispersal. By contrast, the nuclear (nu) DNA phylogeography of forest elephants in Central Africa has not been determined. We therefore examined the population structure of Central African forest elephants by genotyping 94 individuals from six localities at 21 microsatellite loci. Between forest elephants in western and eastern Congolian forests, there was only modest genetic differentiation, a pattern highly discordant with that of mtDNA. Nuclear genetic patterns are consistent with isolation by distance. Alternatively, male‐mediated gene flow may have reduced the previous regional differentiation in Central Africa suggested by mtDNA patterns, which likely reflect forest fragmentation during the Pleistocene. In species like elephants, male‐mediated gene flow erases the nuclear genetic signatures of past climate and habitat changes, but these continue to persist as patterns in mtDNA because females do not disperse. Conservation implications of these results are discussed.

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Male Social Dynamics

Cited by 39 publications

References 0 publications

Importance of old bulls: leaders and followers in collective movements of all-male groups in African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana)

Importance of old bulls: leaders and followers in collective movements of all-male groups in African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana)

Male African elephants discriminate and prefer vocalizations of unfamiliar females

Evolutionary and demographic processes shaping geographic patterns of genetic diversity in a keystone species, the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)

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