No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
Between-group attack and defence in an ecological setting: Insights from nonhuman animals
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 August 2019
Abstract
Attempts to understand the fundamental forces shaping conflict between attacking and defending groups can be hampered by a narrow focus on humans and reductionist, oversimplified modelling. Further progress depends on recognising the striking parallels in between-group conflict across the animal kingdom, harnessing the power of experimental tests in nonhuman species and modelling the eco-evolutionary feedbacks that drive attack and defence.
- Type
- Open Peer Commentary
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019
References
Arseneau-Robar, T. J. M., Müller, E., Taucher, A. L., van Schaik, C., Bshary, R. & Willems, E. P. (2018) Male monkeys use punishment and coercion to de-escalate costly intergroup fights. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 285:20172323.Google Scholar
Arseneau-Robar, T. J. M., Taucher, A. L., Müller, E., van Schaik, C., Bshary, R. & Willems, E. P. (2016) Female monkeys use both the carrot and the stick to promote male participation in intergroup fights. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 283:20161817.Google Scholar
Batchelor, T. P. & Briffa, M. (2011) Fight tactics in wood ants: individuals in smaller groups fight harder but die faster. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 278:3243–50.Google Scholar
Bruintjes, R., Lynton-Jenkins, J., Jones, J. W. & Radford, A. N. (2016) Out-group threat promotes within-group affiliation in a cooperative fish. The American Naturalist 187:274–82.Google Scholar
Christensen, C., Kern, J. M., Bennitt, E. & Radford, A. N. (2016) Rival group scent induces changes in dwarf mongoose immediate behavior and subsequent movement. Behavioral Ecology 27:1627–34.Google Scholar
Christensen, C. & Radford, A. N. (2018) Dear enemies or nasty neighbours? Causes and consequences of variation in the responses of group-living species to territorial intrusions. Behavioral Ecology 29:1004–13.Google Scholar
Crofoot, M. C., Gilby, I. C., Wikelski, M. C. & Kays, R. W. (2008) Interaction location outweighs the competitive advantage of numerical superiority in Cebus capucinus intergroup contests. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 105:577–81.Google Scholar
Enquist, M. & Leimar, O. (1983) Evolution of fighting behaviour: decision rules and assessment of relative strength. Journal of Theoretical Biology 102:387–410.Google Scholar
Furrer, R. D., Kyabulima, S., Willems, E. P., Cant, M. A. & Manser, M. B. (2011) Location and group size influence decisions in simulated intergroup encounters in banded mongooses. Behavioral Ecology 22:493–500.Google Scholar
Houston, A. I. & McNamara, J. M. (2005) John Maynard Smith and the importance of consistency in evolutionary game theory. Biology & Philosophy 20:933–50.Google Scholar
Johnstone, R. A. (2001) Eavesdropping and animal conflict. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 98:9177–80.Google Scholar
Kitchen, D. M. & Beehner, J. C. (2007) Factors affecting individual participation in group-level aggression among non-human primates. Behaviour 144(12):1551–81.Google Scholar
McNamara, J. M. (2013) Towards a richer evolutionary game theory. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 10:20130544.Google Scholar
McNamara, J. M. & Houston, A. I. (2005) If animals know their own fighting ability, the evolutionarily stable level of fighting is reduced. Journal of Theoretical Biology 232:1–6.Google Scholar
Radford, A. N. (2003) Territorial vocal rallying in the green woodhoopoe: influence of rival group size and composition. Animal Behaviour 66:1035–44.Google Scholar
Radford, A. N. (2005) Neighbour-stranger discrimination in the group-living green woodhoopoe. Animal Behaviour 70:1227–34.Google Scholar
Radford, A. N. (2011) Preparing for battle? Potential intergroup conflict promotes current intragroup affiliation. Biology Letters 7:26–29.Google Scholar
Radford, A. N. & du Plessis, M. A. (2004) Territorial vocal rallying in the green woodhoopoe: Factors affecting the contest length and outcome. Animal Behaviour 68:803–10.Google Scholar
Radford, A. N., Majolo, B. & Aureli, F. (2016) Within-group behavioural consequences of between-group conflict: A prospective review. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 283(1843):20161567.Google Scholar
Schindler, S. & Radford, A. N. (2018) Factors influencing within-group conflict over defence against conspecific outsiders seeking breeding positions. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 285:20181669.Google Scholar
Strong, M. J., Sherman, B. L. & Riehl, C. (2018) Home field advantage, not group size, predicts outcomes of intergroup conflicts in a social bird. Animal Behaviour 143:205–13.Google Scholar
Thompson, F. J., Marshall, H. H., Vitikainen, E. I. K. & Cant, M. A. (2017) Causes and consequencs of intergroup conflict in cooperative banded mongooses. Animal Behaviour 126:31–40.Google Scholar
Willems, E. P., Arseneau, T. J. M., Schleuning, X. & van Schaik, C. P. (2015) Communal range defence in primates as a public goods dilemma. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 370:20150003.Google Scholar
Wilson, M. L., Hauser, M. D. & Wrangham, R. W. (2001) Does participation in intergroup conflict depend on numerical assessment, range location, or rank for wild chimpanzees? Animal Behaviour 61:1203–16.Google Scholar
Wilson, M. L., Kahlenberg, S. M., Wells, M. & Wrangham, R. W. (2012) Ecological and social factors affect the occurrence and outcomes of intergroup encounters in chimpanzees. Animal Behaviour 83:277–91.Google Scholar
Target article
Revisiting the form and function of conflict: Neurobiological, psychological, and cultural mechanisms for attack and defense within and between groups
Related commentaries (28)
A note on the endogeneity of attacker and defender roles in asymmetric conflicts
Advantaged- and disadvantaged-group members have motivations similar to those of defenders and attackers, but their psychological characteristics are fundamentally different
Attack versus defense: A strategic rationale for role differentiation in conflict
Behavioural inhibition and valuation of gain/loss are neurally distinct from approach/withdrawal
Between-group attack and defence in an ecological setting: Insights from nonhuman animals
But how does it develop? Adopting a sociocultural lens to the development of intergroup bias among children
Collective action problems in offensive and defensive warfare
Do people always invest less in attack than defense? Possible qualifying factors
Emotions in attacker-defender conflicts
Functional sex differences and signal forms have coevolved with conflict
Identity leadership: Managing perceptions of conflict for collective action
Levels of analysis and problems of evidential support in the study of asymmetric conflict
Matching pennies games as asymmetric models of conflict
Moral rigidity as a proximate facilitator of group cohesion and combativeness
Reasons to strike first
Resolving attacker-defender conflicts through intergroup negotiation
Symmetric conflicts also allow for the investigation of attack and defense
The attack and defense games
The attack and defense mechanisms: Perspectives from behavioral economics and game theory
The evolutionarily mismatched nature of modern group makeup and the proposed application of such knowledge on promoting unity among members during times of intergroup conflict
The importance of raiding ecology and sex differences in offensive and defensive warfare
The multiple facets of psychopathy in attack and defense conflicts
The political complexity of attack and defense
Toward the need to discriminate types of attackers and defenders in intergroup conflicts
Towards the elucidation of evolution of out-group aggression
Unraveling the role of oxytocin in the motivational structure of conflict
Using political sanctions to discourage intergroup attacks: Social identity and authority legitimacy
Using the research on intergroup conflict in nonhuman animals to help inform patterns of human intergroup conflict
Author response
Asymmetric conflict: Structures, strategies, and settlement