This brave little carnivore fights off rival groups. Now researchers have discovered something surprising about their defenses
When you are a a little A creature in the animal kingdom, you have to be constantly on the lookout for danger. But researchers have discovered that one animal dramatically changes its behavior when it thinks fights might happen in the future – and how costly are those fights? Battles may be.
New research from the University of Bristol shows how Dwarf mongoose (Little hellogaly) Responding to the possibilities of future confrontations with competing groups. Animals change their behavior when they are in an area where they are likely to engage in combat with a rival group, even when the rival group is nowhere to be seen.
The dwarf mongoose is the smallest carnivore in Africa, with an average adult weight of 270 grams. They live in groups of 5-30 individuals primarily in dry areas Pastures And the brush is very RegionalEach group tends to exploit an area ranging between 30-60 hectares.
These areas can overlap, which can lead to fighting between groups – and the larger group usually wins.
The new study published in Nature ecology and evolutionshows that the mongoose tracks the whereabouts of its rivals, but also takes into account the relative size of the enemy group. The researchers found that danger-seeking ferret group members called more when the potential threat was from a larger group.
They also discovered that the greatest changes in behaviors occur when the perceived threat is greater.
Researchers combined ten years of observation and GPS data to analyze how dwarf mongooses modify their behavior to help them mitigate risks posed by competitors.
They have mapped 12 populations of wild dwarf mongooses South Africa I saw that if the neighboring group was larger, the smaller dwarf mongoose group would spend less time in the neighboring group’s territory. They also observed that groups were less likely to sleep on a neighboring group’s territory if the neighboring group was a good fit for them – and thus any encounter was likely to be more costly.
“Not only do mongooses keep track of where their enemies might be, but they take into account the relative size of different groups,” explains study lead author Josh Arbon.
“They can then design their protective behavior accordingly.”
Andy Radford, one of the senior authors and a professor at the University of Bristol, added: “We know that fights between groups can be very dangerous for participants. What we have now shown is that there are ongoing behavioral changes to mitigate these risks and enhance the likelihood of future competition success.”
Top photo: Dwarf mongoose (Helogale parvula) playing fight. Credit: James Warwick/The Image Bank/Getty Images
