Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Tests for cooperative behaviour between stallions.

Linklater1, Cameron

  • 1Ecology Group, Institute of Natural Resources, Massey University

Animal Behaviour
|December 23, 2000
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

On the Treatment of Dysentery.

Western journal of medicine and surgery·2024
Same author

On the Application of Gases as a Means of Destroying Contagion: A Paper Read before the Medical Society of the College of Physicians.

The Chicago medical journal·2023
Same author

Disseminated tuberculosis.

Edinburgh medical journal·2010
Same author

DISCUSSION ON ENURESIS.

Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine·2009
Same author

Are naturalistic weight-reducing efforts associated with weight gain and onset of obesity in adolescent girls?

The Western journal of medicine·2000
Same author

Laser flash photolysis of diphenylsulfonyldiazomethane: detection of the sulfene and a sulfene-pyridine ylide

Organic letters·2000
Same journal

Galápagos yellow warblers differ in behavioural plasticity in response to traffic noise depending on proximity to road.

Animal behaviour·2026
Same journal

Solo songs, duets and territory defence across seasons in female Galápagos yellow warblers, <i>Setophaga petechia aureola</i>.

Animal behaviour·2026
Same journal

Bayesian updating for self-assessment explains social dominance and winner-loser effects.

Animal behaviour·2026
Same journal

Is there evidence for the Bruce effect in white-faced capuchins?

Animal behaviour·2026
Same journal

Do greater spear-nosed bats have societies?

Animal behaviour·2026
Same journal

Temperament and cognitive flexibility across lemur species.

Animal behaviour·2026
See all related articles

Cooperative breeding in feral horses (Equus caballus) was investigated. Multistallion bands showed poorer reproductive success, rejecting mutualism and reciprocal altruism hypotheses.

Area of Science:

  • Ethology
  • Behavioral Ecology
  • Mammalian Social Systems

Background:

  • Feral horse populations exhibit both single-stallion and multistallion breeding groups.
  • Theories of mutualism and reciprocal altruism have been proposed to explain multistallion band dynamics.
  • Empirical evidence supporting these cooperative hypotheses is limited and contradictory.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To empirically test the predictions of mutualism and reciprocal altruism in feral horse breeding groups.
  • To compare stallion behavior and social structure in multistallion versus single-stallion bands.
  • To identify alternative hypotheses that better explain the functioning of multistallion bands.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative study of nine multistallion and 18 single-stallion bands in New Zealand.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Observation and quantification of agonistic and affiliative behaviors between stallions.
  • Analysis of factors influencing mare group size, stability, home range, and reproductive success.
  • Assessment of dominant stallion aggression and subordinate stallion 'helping' behavior.

    • Main Results:

    • Affiliative behaviors were less important than agonistic behaviors among stallions within bands.
    • Stallion number did not positively influence mare group size, stability, or reproductive success.
    • Dominant stallion aggression correlated positively with subordinate 'helping' but negatively with subordinate mating access.
    • Multistallion bands exhibited significantly lower reproductive success.

    Conclusions:

    • Cooperative breeding hypotheses (mutualism, reciprocal altruism) are not supported for feral horse multistallion bands.
    • Findings suggest mate parasitism or consort hypotheses may be more applicable.
    • Dominant stallions showed intolerance towards subordinates who provided more defense but restricted their mating opportunities.