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Home / Equine Research Bank / PLoS One / Behavioural synchronization in a multilevel society of feral...
PloS one2021; 16(10); e0258944; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258944

Behavioural synchronization in a multilevel society of feral horses.

Abstract: Behavioural synchrony among individuals is essential for group-living organisms. The functioning of synchronization in a multilevel society, which is a nested assemblage of multiple social levels between many individuals, remains largely unknown. The aim of the present study was to build a model that explained the synchronization of activity in a multilevel society of feral horses. Multi-agent-based models were used based on four hypotheses: A) horses do not synchronize, B) horses synchronize with any individual in any unit, C) horses synchronize only within units, and D) horses synchronize across and within units, but internal synchronization is stronger. The empirical data obtained from drone observations best supported hypothesis D. This result suggests that animals in a multilevel society coordinate with other conspecifics not only within a unit but also at an inter-unit level. In this case, inter-individual distances are much longer than those in most previous models which only considered local interaction within a few body lengths.
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Publication Date: 2021-10-26 PubMed ID: 34699556PubMed Central: PMC8547633DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258944Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

This study builds a model to explain the behavioural synchronization, or coordinated activities, in a multilevel society of feral horses, based on observations and multi-agent-based models. It discovered that feral horses synchronize their activities not only within a single unit, but also across multiple units, though synchronization within a unit is stronger.

Objective of the Study

  • The goal of this study was to understand and model how animals in a multilevel society, particularly feral horses, coordinate their activities.
  • This involves investigating how synchronization, or the alignment of activity, in a multilevel society functions, an area that remains largely unexplored.

Methodology

  • The authors used multi-agent-based models to build a simulation.
  • This model was based on four hypotheses: (A) horses do not synchronize, (B) horses can synchronize with any individual in any unit, (C) horses only synchronize within units, and (D) horses can synchronize both within and between units, but internal synchronization is stronger.
  • Empirical data to test these hypotheses were gathered through drone observations of the feral horses.

Findings

  • The empirical data obtained best supported hypothesis D, that is, horses exhibit behavioural synchronization both within and between units, although synchronization is stronger within a unit.
  • The authors therefore suggest that animals in a multilevel society coordinate their activities among their conspecifics not only within smaller units, but also at an inter-unit (larger) level.
  • This contrasts with previous models which generally only considered local interaction within a few body lengths, as inter-individual distances in this case are found to be much longer.

Cite This Article

APA
Maeda T, Sueur C, Hirata S, Yamamoto S. (2021). Behavioural synchronization in a multilevel society of feral horses. PLoS One, 16(10), e0258944. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258944

Publication

PloS one
ISSN: 1932-6203
NlmUniqueID: 101285081
Country: United States
Language: English
Volume: 16
Issue: 10
Pages: e0258944
PII: e0258944

Researcher Affiliations

Maeda, Tamao
  • Wildlife Research Centre, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
Sueur, Cédric
  • Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, Strasbourg, France.
  • Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France.
Hirata, Satoshi
  • Wildlife Research Centre, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
Yamamoto, Shinya
  • Wildlife Research Centre, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
  • Institute for Advanced Study, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.

MeSH Terms

  • Animals
  • Animals, Wild
  • Behavior, Animal / physiology
  • Group Processes
  • Horses
  • Social Behavior

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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This article has been cited 12 times.
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