Animals Have Dynamic Social Networks: How a New Analysis Reveals Social Behaviors

First Posted: Oct 25, 2015 09:51 PM EDT

Humans aren't the only ones with a type of Facebook. It turns out that animals have social networks, as well. Scientists have taken a closer look at these dynamic networks in the animal kingdom by conducted a dynamic social-network analysis.

Two closely related species are the endangered Grevy's zebra of Africa, which is the largest surviving wild equid, and the onager, which is a wild ass of Asia. These two animals' communities even look similar, using a traditionally static social-network analysis. They form what are known as fission/fusion communities, where individuals meet and spend time with others in different groups at different times.

With that said, the zebras are few in number, limited in range, and menaced by large predators such as lions. They often lack access to water, as well. In contrast, onagers are relatively abundant and widespread with no major predators and reliable access to water.

In order to better understand the daily interactions within these two communities, the researchers drove through the animals' territory and recorded the size, duration and membership of different groups. Then, they used new software to contextualize the observed interactions.

"We're looking for the latent community structure-loyalties, changes in affiliation, visiting with other groups-and the social cost of change," said Tanya Berger-Wolf, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The dynamic communities that resulted from that computational analysis were actually strikingly different."

The zebras lived in large, stable groups with loyalty rewarded and visiting with other groups discouraged. In contrast, onagers formed smaller, less cohesive groups with individuals able to change circles with little social cost.

The findings reveal a bit more about the social dynamics in these species. In fact, it shows how dynamic modeling can change the way we look at animals, and may help with conservation.

The findings are published in the journal PLOS One.

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TagsAnimals, Animal Behavior, Animal, Animal Trackers, Social Networking, Mammals, Zebras, Zebra