Briard Léa, Deneubourg Jean-Louis, Petit Odile
Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC, UMR 7178, F-67000 Strasbourg, France; Service d'Écologie Sociale, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
Service d'Écologie Sociale, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
Behav Processes. 2017 Sep;142:56-63. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2017.05.014. Epub 2017 May 23.
The role of leader in polygynous species has been solely attributed to the male for some time, but recent studies have shown decision making to be distributed within the group. However, the specific reproductive strategy and behavioural repertoire of males in polygynous species such as horses may mean that these individuals still have the potential to play a specific role during decision making. To investigate this subject, we thoroughly studied the behaviour of two domestic stallions during collective movements of their group. We found that they initiated rarely and sometimes failed to recruit the entire group. When departing as followers, they did not accelerate the joining process. Both stallions preferentially occupied the rear position and exhibited numerous monitoring behaviours. Herding behaviours were performed by only one stallion and mostly occurred outside movement context. Finally, we removed this herding stallion from its group to evaluate how the group dynamic changed. As a result, half of the collective movements were five times slower and mares were more dispersed in comparison when the stallion was in the group. Overall, our results suggest that, the two stallions maintained their role of group monitors from departure to arrival. Their influence on the movement dynamic was indirect and did not play a specific role in the process of decision making.
在一段时间里，多配偶物种中领导者的角色一直完全被归因于雄性，但最近的研究表明决策是在群体内部分布的。然而，像马这样的多配偶物种中雄性的特定繁殖策略和行为模式可能意味着这些个体在决策过程中仍有可能发挥特定作用。为了研究这个问题，我们深入研究了两匹家养种马在其群体集体行动期间的行为。我们发现它们很少发起行动，有时还无法召集整个群体。当作为跟随者离开时，它们不会加快加入进程。两匹种马都优先占据后方位置并表现出大量的监控行为。放牧行为仅由一匹种马进行，且大多发生在行动情境之外。最后，我们将这匹负责放牧的种马从其群体中移除，以评估群体动态如何变化。结果，与种马在群体中时相比，一半的集体行动速度慢了五倍，母马也更加分散。总体而言，我们的结果表明，这两匹种马从出发到抵达都维持着群体监控者的角色。它们对行动动态的影响是间接的，在决策过程中并未发挥特定作用。
