3 research outputs found

    The role of social attraction and its link with boldness in the collective movements of three-spined sticklebacks.

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    Social animals must time and coordinate their behaviour to ensure the benefits of grouping, resulting in collective movements and the potential emergence of leaders and followers. However, individuals often differ consistently from one another in how they cope with their environment, a phenomenon known as animal personality, which may affect how individuals use coordination rules and requiring them to compromise. Here we tracked the movements of pairs of three-spined sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus, separated by a transparent partition that allowed them to observe and interact with one another in a context containing cover. Individuals differed consistently in their tendency to approach their partner's compartment during collective movements. The strength of this social attraction was positively correlated with the behavioural coordination between members of a pair but was negatively correlated with an individual's tendency to lead. Social attraction may form part of a broader behavioural syndrome as it was predicted by the boldness of an individual, measured in isolation prior to the observation of pairs, and by the boldness of the partner. We found that bolder fish, and those paired with bolder partners, tended to approach their partner's compartment less closely. These findings provide important insights into the mechanisms that govern the dynamics and functioning of social groups and the emergence and maintenance of consistent behavioural differences.This study was supported by a BBSRC scholarship to J.W.J. and a fellowship from the Humboldt-Universit€at zu Berlin Postdoc Fellowship under the Excellence of Initiative to S.N.This is the final published version. It first appeared at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000334721400414X#

    Sociability and its link with boldness in collective behaviour in sticklebacks

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    <p>This poster was presented at the ASAB Eastern meeting 2014 and won the price for best poster.</p> <p>By investigating sociability in a natural setting we show this personality trait is fundamentally linked to boldness and plays a crucial role in collective behaviour by affecting social cohesion, coordination and group leadership.</p
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