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Nature communications2023; 14(1); 5096; doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-40523-3

Fine-scale collective movements reveal present, past and future dynamics of a multilevel society in Przewalski’s horses.

Abstract: Studying animal societies needs detailed observation of many individuals, but technological advances offer new opportunities in this field. Here, we present a state-of-the-art drone observation of a multilevel herd of Przewalski's horses, consisting of harems (one-male, multifemale groups). We track, in high spatio-temporal resolution, the movements of 238 individually identified horses on drone videos, and combine movement analyses with demographic data from two decades of population monitoring. Analysis of collective movements reveals how the structure of the herd's social network is related to kinship and familiarity of individuals. The network centrality of harems is related to their age and how long the harem stallions have kept harems previously. Harems of genetically related stallions are closer to each other in the network, and female exchange is more frequent between closer harems. High movement similarity of females from different harems predicts becoming harem mates in the future. Our results show that only a few minutes of fine-scale movement tracking combined with high throughput data driven analysis can reveal the structure of a society, reconstruct past group dynamics and predict future ones.
© 2023. Springer Nature Limited.
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Publication Date: 2023-09-05 PubMed ID: 37669934PubMed Central: PMC10480438DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40523-3Google 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.

The research article discusses how advanced aerial drone technology was used to study the intricate social dynamics of Przewalski’s horse herds, demonstrating links between the herd structure and individual horses’ kinship, familiarity, and group history.

Study Methodology

  • The study was based on drone observations of a multilevel herd of Przewalski’s horses, specifically harems which are one-male, multiple-female groups.
  • Using the high-resolution footage, researchers were able to track the movements of 238 individually identified horses.
  • The team then combined this with demographic data gathered from two decades of population monitoring to analyse the social dynamics of the herd.

Findings

  • Analysis revealed that the herd’s social network structure was linked to the kinship and familiarity of individual horses.
  • The “network centrality” of each harem – its importance or influence within the herd’s social network – was dependent on its established age and the previous experience of the harem stallion, the sole male of the harem, in maintaining harems.
  • Harems with genetically related stallions were generally closer within the social network.
  • The exchange of females among harems was more frequent amongst adjacent harems.
  • The similarity in movement patterns among females from different harems appeared to predict the formation of future harems.

Implications

  • The findings demonstrate that by simply tracking movements over a relatively short period, it is possible to understand a lot about group dynamics both present and past, and even predict future dynamics.
  • The use of drones for this purpose illustrates the opportunities technology provides to the field of animal society studies, allowing researchers to carry out high-resolution, non-intrusive observations over large areas and numbers of individuals.

Cite This Article

APA
(2023). Fine-scale collective movements reveal present, past and future dynamics of a multilevel society in Przewalski’s horses. Nat Commun, 14(1), 5096. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40523-3

Publication

Nature communications
ISSN: 2041-1723
NlmUniqueID: 101528555
Country: England
Language: English
Volume: 14
Issue: 1
Pages: 5096
PII: 5096

Researcher Affiliations

MeSH Terms

  • Female
  • Male
  • Animals
  • Horses
  • Group Dynamics
  • Movement
  • Recognition, Psychology
  • Reproduction
  • Technology

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Citations

This article has been cited 6 times.
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