Professional Documents
Culture Documents
DISADVANTAGES
OF GROUP
LIVING FOR
ANIMALS
Kevin Brewer
ISBN: 978-1-904542-32-2
This document is produced under two principles:
orsettpsychologicalservices@phonecoop.coop
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 2
CONTENTS
Page Number
1. INTRODUCTION 4
2. EVOLUTION 7
3. ADVANTAGES OF GROUPS 10
4. DISADVANTAGES OF GROUPS 25
5. REFERENCES 40
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 3
(Source: US Federal Government)
1. INTRODUCTION
Different species of animals live in different ways
varying from solitary to massive groups. Some groups are
ordered and structured, and others are aggregations with
no order (individuals at the same place at the same time;
eg: flocks of seed-eating birds). Some groups are
permanent and others are temporary (eg: just for
breeding).
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 4
SMALL GROUPS
Bonded pair.
Family group; eg red fox (Vulpes vulpes) mean 3, maximum 5.
Sibling group.
Harem - one male with females and offspring.
Matriline - dominant female, daughters and young.
LARGER GROUPS
Band.
Covey; eg quail.
Pack; eg: African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) mean 10, maximum 25).
Party.
Pride.
Pod; eg killer whale (Orca orca) mean 5, maximum 15.
Troop; eg baboons.
LARGEST GROUPS
Colony
Eusocial group eg ants
Super-colony
Super-organism - combined colonies
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 5
How the species comes to live - alone or in a group,
and the group size - depends upon the evolutionary
advantages and disadvantages of doing so (table 3). Put
at its simplest, evolution is about staying alive
(feeding and not being eaten) and mating (passing genes
into the next generation). Thus group living must be seen
in relation to these behaviours.
Advantages
Disadvantages
1. Increased competition.
2. Increased risk of infection.
3. Exploitation by other animals.
4. More obvious to predators.
5. Risk of inbreeding.
6. Risk to young; eg: misdirected parental care.
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 6
"fission-fusion" groups (Couzin 2006), depending upon
food availability or period in breeding cycle.
Advantages
Disadvantages
2. EVOLUTION
Evolution is the cornerstone of understanding non-
human behaviour. It is based around two central concepts,
proposed by Charles Darwin (1859, 1871): natural
selection and sexual selection.
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 7
CURRENT SITUATION FUTURE SITUATION
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 8
2.2. SEXUAL SELECTION
EXAMPLE - Male mates with ten females, who have one offspring
each in the breeding season
OFFSPRING STRATEGY
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 9
3. ADVANTAGES OF GROUPS
3.1. Safety from Predators
i) Increased vigilance
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 10
(Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service)
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 11
iv) Increased risk of injury for predators
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 12
Advantages
1. Deters predators.
Disadvantages
2. Use of energy.
3.2. Food
1. Conserve energy.
2. Capture larger or dangerous prey.
3. Use different skills.
4. Increase food intake when food scarce.
5. Protect kill from scavengers.
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 14
is a lot of energy expended when food is not gained.
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 15
11 kgs when in groups of five or six adults.
In times of abundance, there was no advantage -
average intake 10 kgs per day when alone compared to
eight when in group of four.
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 16
(Source: Unknown)
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 17
(Source: Bjorn Appel)
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 18
Advantages
7. Best for species with brief mating period, like one night a year
(scramble competition polygyny; Alcock 2005).
Disadvantages
2. Males have no guarantee that female will not mate with someone
else, unless they "mate guard" ("paternity certainty" hypothesis;
Ridley 1978).
4. If permanent group, males may help raise offspring that are not
genetically related because of female extra-pair copulation (EPC).
8. Evolutionary costs of group living for males; eg: larger body size
for competition; strategies to guarantee paternity.
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 19
Harem; eg: Northern elephant seal;
Multi-male/multi-female group containing both related
and unrelated individuals; eg: lions.
Advantages
1. Predator defence.
2. Communal suckling.
3. Acquisition of food easier.
Disadvantages
1. Attract predators.
2. Mix-up of litters.
3. Disease spreads quickly.
4. Infanticide possible.
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 21
most studied animal in terms of the social transmission
of information.
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 22
Kibale (Uganda), Mahale (2 separate projects) (Tanzania),
and Tai Forest (Ivory Coast).
The differences in behaviours between the sites were
classed as culture where it appeared that the behaviour
had been learnt by chimpanzees at that particular site.
For example, eight behaviour patterns were seen as unique
to Tai Forest chimpanzees and three to chimpanzees at
Gombe. Table 12 gives some examples of behaviours.
"Each local chimpanzee community has a unique array
of specific traditions, representing a 'package' that can
be described as its local culture.." (Whiten 2005 p53).
BEHAVIOUR EXAMPLES
Fishing for insects Put stick into termite mound and pull out
with insects on, wipe stick with hand and
place insects in mouth, or put stick
directly into mouth
i) Specialisation
ii) Thermoregulation
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 23
(Source: US Antartic Program Photo Library)
v) Weight gain
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 24
4. DISADVANTAGES OF GROUPS
4.1. Increased Competition
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 25
(Source: Oliver Deme)
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 27
high; ie: the value of the resource is great. Thus the
stags are willing to risk injury in fighting because of
the limited availability of female each year. Mating
opportunities are so few that this makes the benefits of
winning so much greater. This can be seen in that the
peak time for fights, injuries and conceptions is mid-
October on Rhum (Clutton-Brock et al 1982) (table 15).
a) Roaring contest
b) Parallel walking
c) Fighting
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 28
Post-copulation competition among males
- Guarding
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 30
predator, and thus the parasite moves on. For example, a
parasite may reduce the host's ability to move and thus
make them more vulnerable to capture.
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 31
(Source: US Department of Agriculture)
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 32
Eusocial insects may, in fact, benefit from improved
immunity from disease by group living. Traniello et al
(2002) found a "social transfer" of infection resistance
to fungus in dampwood termites (Zootermopsis
angusticolis). The immunity of non-immunized termites
improved in the presence of immunized nestmates, through,
for example, grooming behaviour.
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 33
(Source: User: Cacophony)
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 34
(Source: Ltshears)
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 35
Observation at the Okavango lion project suggests that
the females have little bond to the males. Kat (2000)
reported the case of attempted deception by "Vouvray"
(lioness). She had found a carcass killed by a leopard,
and tried to call her cubs from the pride to eat. But two
adult males followed, so "Vouvray" took the cubs to the
water-hole away from the carcass. The males followed. She
then tried to sneak off with her cubs to the food, but it
failed and the males found the food.
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 36
Dispersion of the offspring at puberty is one
mechanism that animals can use to avoid incest. For
example, adolescent lions are driven out of their birth
pride and wander looking for other prides.
While the "Westermarck hypothesis" (Westermarck
1891) originally suggested that biology turns off sexual
arousal to close genetic relatives.
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 37
In the experiments performed, mothers could
discriminate the odours of their own pups (familiar own -
FO) from non-genetic related pups (familiar alien, FA,
and unfamiliar alien, UFA), but they could not
distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar non-genetic
related pups at two weeks old. However, with pups at six
weeks old, the mothers could not distinguish between the
odours of their own pups and co-nesting genetic unrelated
pups, but they could tell the difference between FA and
UFA. Importantly, degu pups are weaned by six weeks old,
so recognition of own offspring is not so crucial.
However, there is still a risk of social grooming or
uttering alarm calls to non-genetic related animals.
There is a risk of misdirected care against the
probability that the familiar alien young are distant
genetic relatives. Thus indirect fitness benefits to
nursing alien young.
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 38
(Source: User: Cfp)
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 39
5. REFERENCES
Alcock, J (2005) Animal Behaviour: An Evolutionary Approach
(8th ed) Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates
Clutton-Brock, T.H & Albon, S.D (1979) The roaring of red deer
and the evolution of honest advertisement Behaviour 69, 145-170
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 40
Creel, S (1997) Cooperative hunting and group size: Assumptions
and currencies Animal Behaviour 54, 1319-1324
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 41
Gittelman, J.L (1985) Functions of communal care. in Greenwood,
P.J et al (eds) Evolution Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Kirchner, W.H & Towne, W.F (1994) The sensory basis of the
honeybee's language Scientific American June, 52-59
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 42
Science 27/9, 690-693
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 43
Westermarck, E (1891) History of Human Marriage London:
Macmillan
Advantages and disadvantages of group living for animals; Kevin Brewer; 2008 44