Physiology modulates social flexibility and collective behaviour in equids and other large ungulates

Abstract

Though morphologically very similar, equids across the extant species occupy ecological niches that are surprisingly non-overlapping. Occupancy of these distinct niches appears related to subtle physiological and behavioural adaptations which, in turn, correspond to significant differences in the social behaviours and emergent social systems characterizing the different species. Although instances of intraspecific behavioural variation in equids demonstrate that the same body plan can support a range of social structures, each of these morphologically similar species generally shows robust fidelity to its evolved social system. The pattern suggests a subtle relationship between physiological phenotypes and behavioural flexibility. While environmental conditions can vary widely within relatively short temporal or spatial scales, physiological changes and changes to the behaviours that regulate physiological processes, are constrained to longer cycles of adaptation. Physiology is then the limiting variable in the interaction between ecological variation and behavioural and socio-structural flexibility. Behavioural and socio-structural flexibility, in turn, will generate important feedbacks that will govern physiological function, thus creating a coupled web of interactions that can lead to changes in individual and collective behaviour. Longitudinal studies of equid and other large-bodied ungulate populations under environmental stress, such as those discussed here, may offer the best opportunities for researchers to examine, in real time, the interplay between individual behavioural plasticity, socio-structural flexibility, and the physiological and genetic changes that together produce adaptive change.This article is part of the themed issue 'Physiological determinants of social behaviour in animals'.

The importance of individual‐to‐society feedbacks in animal ecology and evolution

“…Very simple processes can promote non‐random clustering among individuals. For example, individuals sharing physiological traits might move at the same speed or have similar nutritional demands and therefore have a higher propensity for spatial and social clustering (Gersick & Rubenstein, 2017). The divergent behavioural outcomes linked to the physiological phenotypes of individuals (re)shape their social environment.…”

The importance of individual-to-society feedbacks in animal ecology and evolution

“…Very simple processes can promote non-random clustering among individuals. For example, individuals sharing physiological traits might move at the same speed or have similar nutritional demands and therefore have a higher propensity for spatial and social clustering (Gersick & Rubenstein 2017). The divergent behavioural outcomes linked to the physiological phenotypes of individuals (re)shape their social environment.…”

Deformation of Personality as a Consequence of a Hybrid Warfare

“…Without going deep into the discussion about the correlation between the biological and the social in the formation of a personality, it is possible to scientifically state that any man possesses certain individual (psych-physiological) and psychological qualities which in their interaction with certain social factors can display either positive or negative social behavior from the point of view of a concrete society. Not only biologists, but also psychologists -for example, Carlson (2008), Gersick & Rubenstein (2017) -have convincingly revealed the dependence of the social behavior of people from the psycho-physiological processes that take place in a man"s organism as well as the mechanisms of influence of one and the same social factors on different types of psycho-physiological organization of people. History knows a lot of examples when identical social conditions brought some people to crimes and others to heroic deeds because every person has his own genetic organization, a unique individual way of reaction to the social impact of the environment.…”