Seed Amanda M, Clayton Nicola S, Emery Nathan J
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom.
Curr Biol. 2007 Jan 23;17(2):152-8. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2006.11.025.
Conflict features in the lives of many animal species and induces social stress mediated by glucocorticoid hormones [1]. Postconflict affiliation, between former opponents (reconciliation) or between former opponents and a bystander (third-party affiliation), has been suggested as a behavioral mechanism for reducing such stress [2], but has been studied almost exclusively in primates [3]. As with many primates, several bird species live in social groups and form affiliative relationships [4]. Do these distantly related animals also use affiliative behavior to offset the costs of conflict? We studied postconflict affiliation in a captive group of rooks. Unlike polygamous primates, monogamous rooks did not reconcile with former opponents. However, we found clear evidence of third-party affiliation after conflicts. Both initiators and targets of aggression engaged in third-party affiliation with a social partner and employed a specific behavior, bill twining, during the postconflict period. Both former aggressors and uninvolved third parties initiated affiliative contacts. Despite the long history of evolutionary divergence, the pattern of third-party affiliation in rooks is strikingly similar to that observed in tolerant primate species. Furthermore, the absence of reconciliation in rooks makes sense in light of the species differences in social systems.
冲突存在于许多动物物种的生活中，并引发由糖皮质激素介导的社会压力[1]。冲突后前对手之间（和解）或前对手与旁观者之间（第三方联系）的亲和行为，被认为是减轻这种压力的一种行为机制[2]，但几乎只在灵长类动物中进行过研究[3]。与许多灵长类动物一样，几种鸟类生活在社会群体中并形成亲和关系[4]。这些亲缘关系较远的动物是否也利用亲和行为来抵消冲突的代价呢？我们对一群圈养的白嘴鸦的冲突后亲和行为进行了研究。与一夫多妻制的灵长类动物不同，实行一夫一妻制的白嘴鸦不会与前对手和解。然而，我们发现了冲突后第三方联系的明确证据。攻击的发起者和目标都会与一个社会伙伴进行第三方联系，并在冲突后时期采用一种特定行为——喙缠绕。前攻击者和未参与的第三方都会发起亲和接触。尽管进化分歧的历史悠久，但白嘴鸦的第三方联系模式与在宽容的灵长类物种中观察到的模式惊人地相似。此外，从社会系统的物种差异来看，白嘴鸦不存在和解现象是有道理的。
