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Animals that practice group-living often benefit from assistance in parasite removal, access to more mates, and conservation of energy in foraging. [50] Initially, the most obvious form of animal cooperation was kin selection , but more recent studies focus on non-kin cooperation, where benefits may seem less obvious.
Another advantage of living in a group is seen in many prey species in their ability to increase defenses against predatory animals. A way that a group may increase its defenses against predators is through the ‘many-eyes effect’. This effect states that larger groups of animals are better at detecting predators compared to smaller groups. [15]
Collective animal behaviour is a form of social behavior involving the coordinated behavior of large groups of similar animals as well as emergent properties of these groups. This can include the costs and benefits of group membership, the transfer of information, decision-making process, locomotion and synchronization of the group.
A group of female eider ducks and several ducklings In zoology , a crèche (from a French term for childcare ) is an animal behaviour where offspring are cared for as a group by multiple females. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Many species such as common eiders , [ 1 ] lions , [ 2 ] and penguins [ 3 ] form crèches and exhibit group behaviours.
A bear with a salmon. Interspecific interactions such as predation are a key aspect of community ecology.. In ecology, a community is a group or association of populations of two or more different species occupying the same geographical area at the same time, also known as a biocoenosis, biotic community, biological community, ecological community, or life assemblage.
It could be shown in many studies (especially for birds) that with increase in group size individual animals are less attentive, while the overall vigilance suffers little (many eyes effect). This means food intake and other activities related to fitness are optimized in terms of time allocation when animals stay in groups. [7]
For example, a group where altruism was universal would indeed outcompete a group where every creature acted in its own interest, so group selection might seem feasible; but a mixed group of altruists and non-altruists would be vulnerable to cheating by non-altruists within the group, so group selection would collapse. [44]
Environmental conditions govern whether offspring disperse from their natal group or remain as helpers. Food or territory availability can encourage individuals to disperse and establish new breeding territories, but unfavorable conditions promote offspring to remain at the natal territory and become helpers to obtain an inclusive fitness. [17]