Causes and consequences of intergroup conflict in cooperative banded mongooses

Thompson, Faye J.; Marshall, Harry H.; Vitikainen, Emma I. K.; Cant, Michael A.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.01.017

Cited by 70 publications

(122 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Banded mongooses occupy distinct territories which they aggressively defend (Thompson et al . ). Past studies have found that isotope values can vary with geographic location within a study area (Robertson et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In group‐living species, particularly species such as banded mongooses that forage as a group and are territorial (Thompson et al . ), it is more appropriate to consider individual niche relative to social group niche size rather than the broader population niche. We therefore calculated a relative individual niche index (RINI) by expressing each individual's ell95c as a proportion of the total area covered when all group members’ ell95c values were overlaid (Fig.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Intragroup competition predicts individual foraging specialisation in a group‐living mammal

et al. 2018

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Individual foraging specialisation has important ecological implications, but its causes in group‐living species are unclear. One of the major consequences of group living is increased intragroup competition for resources. Foraging theory predicts that with increased competition, individuals should add new prey items to their diet, widening their foraging niche (‘optimal foraging hypothesis’). However, classic competition theory suggests the opposite: that increased competition leads to niche partitioning and greater individual foraging specialisation (‘niche partitioning hypothesis’). We tested these opposing predictions in wild, group‐living banded mongooses (Mungos mungo), using stable isotope analysis of banded mongoose whiskers to quantify individual and group foraging niche. Individual foraging niche size declined with increasing group size, despite all groups having a similar overall niche size. Our findings support the prediction that competition promotes niche partitioning within social groups and suggest that individual foraging specialisation may play an important role in the formation of stable social groupings.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intragroup competition predicts individual foraging specialisation in a group‐living mammal

et al. 2018

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“…In the banded mongoose, pups born in communal litters compete for helpers postnatally, and the breeding success of dominant females declines with increasing female group size [15]. Probability of violent evictions where older females expel younger females also increases with group size [15,16], and the per capita reproductive success of the remaining females increases after eviction events [17], so the number of adult (over 1 year of age) females was used as a proxy of the intensity of reproductive competition. Ranked age (range 1-11, 1 = oldest female in the group) which describes vulnerability to eviction [9] was used as proxy of dominance status, by dividing it by the number of adult females in the group to get a relative rank score (range 0.09-1) that is comparable across different group sizes.…”

Section: (B) Predictors Of Abortionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spontaneous abortion as a response to reproductive conflict in the banded mongoose

et al. 2019

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When breeding females compete for limited resources, the intensity of this reproductive conflict can determine whether the fitness benefits of current reproductive effort exceed the potential costs to survival and future fertility. In group-living species, reproductive competition can occur through postnatal competition among the offspring of co-breeding females. Spontaneous abortion could be a response to such competition, allowing females to curtail reproductive expenditure on offspring that are unlikely to survive and to conserve resources for future breeding opportunities. We tested this hypothesis using long-term data on banded mongooses, Mungos mungo, in which multiple females within a group give birth synchronously to a communal litter that is cared for by other group members. As predicted, abortions were more likely during dry periods when food is scarce, and in breeding attempts with more intense reproductive competition. Within breeding events, younger, lighter females carrying smaller fetuses were more likely to abort, particularly those that were also of lower rank. Our results suggest that abortion may be a means by which disadvantaged females conserve resources for future breeding attempts in more benign conditions, and highlight that female reproductive competition may be resolved long before the production of offspring.

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“…Encounters between conspecific groups are common in group-living species (e.g., Kitchen and Beehner 2007;Mech 1988;Radford and Fawcett 2014;Thompson et al 2017). In recent years, there has been growing research on the causes and consequences of intergroup encounters (IGEs) in nonhuman primates (e.g., Cooper et al 2004;Kitchen et al 2004;Koch et al 2016;Majolo et al 2005;Markham et al 2012;Wilson et al 2001).…”

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Effect of Group Size and Individual Characteristics on Intergroup Encounters in Primates

et al. 2020

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Intergroup encounters are common in nonhuman primates and can vary from affiliative to aggressive. We extracted data from the literature to test five different hypotheses: 1) where there are group size differences between opposing groups, whether the larger group is more likely to win an intergroup encounter than the smaller group; 2) whether the likelihood of a group engaging in aggressive intergroup encounters increases with group size; and 3-5) whether dominant, older individuals, and/or males are more likely to participate aggressively in intergroup encounters than subordinate, younger individuals and/or females. Our data set comprised 52 studies on 31 primate species (3 lemur species, 5 New World monkeys, 19 Old World monkeys, and 4 apes). We found that the larger group is more likely to win an encounter against a smaller group than vice versa. We found no significant relationship between group size and propensity to be aggressive during intergroup encounters. We found weak/no support for the effect of age, dominance rank, and sex on the frequency of aggression displayed toward outgroup individuals during intergroup encounters. Species-and population-specific differences in inter-and intragroup competition and in the degree of the unequal distribution of resources across group members may explain why age, dominance rank, and sex are not strong predictors of aggression during intergroup encounters.

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Causes and consequences of intergroup conflict in cooperative banded mongooses

Cited by 70 publications

References 64 publications

Intragroup competition predicts individual foraging specialisation in a group‐living mammal

Intragroup competition predicts individual foraging specialisation in a group‐living mammal

Spontaneous abortion as a response to reproductive conflict in the banded mongoose

Effect of Group Size and Individual Characteristics on Intergroup Encounters in Primates

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