Social integration influences fitness in allied male dolphins

Gerber, Livia; Connor, Richard C.; Allen, S. J.; Horlacher, Kay; King, Stephanie L.; Sherwin, William B.; Willems, Erik P.; Wittwer, S.; Krützen, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2022.03.027

Cited by 29 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Furthermore, within higher-order alliances, transient relationships may bridge alliance levels, 60 and males may form temporary ''consortship'' partners with multiple different individuals from different first-order alliance groups, with individuals showing strong partner preferences and avoidances, suggesting that these high-order alliances may have complex internal structures. 61 The cumulative social bond strength a male has within his second-order alliance has been demonstrated to significantly correlate with his reproductive output, 62 showing that these affiliations, as well as the relative strength of different relationships, have direct fitness implications on the individual.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Episodic-like memory in common bottlenose dolphins

et al. 2022

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Episodic-like memory in common bottlenose dolphins

et al. 2022

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“…Here, we found that how well connected a male was in his second-order alliance predicted consortship rate and maximum consortship duration. We have previously shown that males who have stronger bonds within their second-order alliance secure more paternities ( 25 ). Here, we show that this is likely explained by the fact that socially integrated males within second-order alliances spend more time consorting females and can consort them for longer.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, some males have consistent first-order allies, while others will consort females with numerous males from within their second-order alliance in a given mating season ( 22 – 24 ). Although it is currently impossible to determine how matings are shared during consortships, males who have stronger and more homogenous social bonds within their second-order alliance obtain more paternities ( 25 ).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…These include alliance formation among nonrelatives, highly differentiated alliance relationships, strategic temporary and long-term shifts in allegiance (what Nishida ( 31 ) called “allegiance fickleness”), and the use of affiliative contact behavior to form and maintain alliance bonds ( 22 , 30 , 32 , 33 ). However, while previous studies have linked within alliance relationships with increased access to females and, subsequently, male paternity success ( 25 ), it remains unknown whether between-group alliances in dolphins, i.e., third-order alliances, also increase access to females. Here, we use comprehensive association and consortship data collected between 2001 and 2006 on 121 well-studied focal males (12 second-order alliances and five trios that remained from formerly larger second-order alliances) to extend our understanding of the strategic nature of dolphin multilevel alliances.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Strategic intergroup alliances increase access to a contested resource in male bottlenose dolphins

Connor

Krützen

Allen

et al. 2022

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Efforts to understand human social evolution rely largely on comparisons with nonhuman primates. However, a population of bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay, Western Australia, combines a chimpanzee-like fission-fusion grouping pattern, mating system, and life history with the only nonhuman example of strategic multilevel male alliances. Unrelated male dolphins form three alliance levels, or “orders”, in competition over females: both within-group alliances (i.e., first- and second-order) and between-group alliances (third-order), based on cooperation between two or more second-order alliances against other groups. Both sexes navigate an open society with a continuous mosaic of overlapping home ranges. Here, we use comprehensive association and consortship data to examine fine-scale alliance relationships among 121 adult males. This analysis reveals the largest nonhuman alliance network known, with highly differentiated relationships among individuals. Each male is connected, directly or indirectly, to every other male, including direct connections with adult males outside of their three-level alliance network. We further show that the duration with which males consort females is dependent upon being well connected with third-order allies, independently of the effect of their second-order alliance connections, i.e., alliances between groups increase access to a contested resource, thereby increasing reproductive success. Models of human social evolution traditionally link intergroup alliances to other divergent human traits, such as pair bonds, but our study reveals that intergroup male alliances can arise directly from a chimpanzee-like, promiscuous mating system without one-male units, pair bonds, or male parental care.

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“…2019; Ashby & Farine 2022). Further, the quality of relationships that individuals maintain can have consequences on their survival and that of their offspring (Alberts 2019; Gerber et al . 2022), while who they interact with can impact their ability to reproduce (Farine & Sheldon 2015; Fisher et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond the dyad: uncovering higher-order structure within cohesive animal groups

Musciotto

Papageorgiou

Battiston

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Revealing the consequences of social structure in animal societies is largely determined by our ability to accurately estimate functionally relevant patterns of social contact among individuals. To date, studies have predominantly built up social structure from dyadic connections. However, many associations or interactions can involve more than two individuals participating together, which current approaches cannot distinguish from independent sets of dyadic connections. Here we demonstrate the application of higher-order networks to detect the central roles of dominance and sex in structuring social groups of vulturine guineafowl (Acryllium vulturinum). Specifically, we find that while females and low-ranking group members engage in more dyadic interactions, males and more dominant group members are substantially more likely to be observed forming hyperlinks--edges that contain more than two individuals (e.g. a triad). These results demonstrate how higher-order networks can provide a deeper understanding of the multidimensionality in the difference of centrality among group members.

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Social integration influences fitness in allied male dolphins

Cited by 29 publications

References 69 publications

Episodic-like memory in common bottlenose dolphins

Episodic-like memory in common bottlenose dolphins

Strategic intergroup alliances increase access to a contested resource in male bottlenose dolphins

Beyond the dyad: uncovering higher-order structure within cohesive animal groups

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