Skip to main content

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

Author(s): Gersick, Andrew S.; Rubenstein, Daniel I.

Download
To refer to this page use: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/pr1km42
Full metadata record
DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorGersick, Andrew S.-
dc.contributor.authorRubenstein, Daniel I.-
dc.date.accessioned2019-01-02T21:40:28Z-
dc.date.available2019-01-02T21:40:28Z-
dc.date.issued2017-08-19en_US
dc.identifier.citationGersick, Andrew S, Rubenstein, Daniel I. (2017). Physiology modulates social flexibility and collective behaviour in equids and other large ungulates. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 372 (1727), 20160241 - 20160241. doi:10.1098/rstb.2016.0241en_US
dc.identifier.issn0962-8436-
dc.identifier.urihttp://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/pr1km42-
dc.description.abstractThough 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’.en_US
dc.format.extent20160241 - 20160241en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.relation.ispartofPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciencesen_US
dc.rightsFinal published version. This is an open access article.en_US
dc.titlePhysiology modulates social flexibility and collective behaviour in equids and other large ungulatesen_US
dc.typeJournal Articleen_US
dc.identifier.doidoi:10.1098/rstb.2016.0241-
dc.date.eissued2017-07-03en_US
dc.identifier.eissn1471-2970-
pu.type.symplectichttp://www.symplectic.co.uk/publications/atom-terms/1.0/journal-articleen_US

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
Physiology_modulates_social_flexibility_2017.pdf587.85 kBAdobe PDFView/Download


Items in OAR@Princeton are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.