Hierarchies inferred from different agonistic behaviours are not always comparable

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Ecology
• Social Sciences
• Ethology

Background:

• Social hierarchies are crucial for predicting life-history patterns and resource access.
• A consistent relationship between specific behaviors and social rank is lacking across studies in behavioral ecology and social sciences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if social hierarchies inferred from different behaviors are consistent across individuals and groups.
• To assess the impact of interaction type (decided vs. undecided aggression, ritualized yielding) on hierarchy structure.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of published datasets from 42 groups across 25 diverse species.
• Comparison of social ranks inferred from different types of social interactions (aggression, yielding).

Main Results:

• Hierarchies inferred from ritualized yielding were comparable to those from decided aggression, but not undecided aggression.
• Hierarchies derived from decided interactions were steeper than those including undecided aggression.
• Aggression's context-dependency may reflect less stable relationships than ritualized yielding.

Conclusions:

• The choice of behaviors to infer social hierarchies significantly impacts results and comparability.
• Ritualized yielding and decided interactions are recommended for inferring social hierarchies, especially in comparative studies.
• Generalizations across species and taxa require careful consideration of behavioral idiosyncrasies.