Dwarf mongooses don’t just wait for danger
Popular Science...
While warfare seems like a deeply human conflict, a tiny carnivore also makes its own strategic moves before battle.
The warriors in question are common dwarf mongooses (Helogale parvula), the smallest carnivore in Africa. They are native to parts of East to southern Central Africa, including Angola and Zambia and some provinces in South Africa. They live in communities of five to 30 individuals, and when different groups meet, potentially dangerous fights usually ensue.
According to a study recently published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, these mammals predict meeting rival groups and change how they communicate, move, and protect resources before it happens. The research demonstrates that these groups change their behavior in regions with the greatest chance of rival fights, even if there is no other group. Additionally, the greatest changes take place in the face of the highest predicted danger.
“We know that battles between groups can be very dangerous for participants. What we’ve shown now is that there are constant behavioural changes to mitigate these risks and enhance the likelihood of future contest success,” Andy Radford, senior author of the study who teaches behavioral ecology at the University of Bristol, said in a statement.
The team observing dwarf mongooses in South Africa noted that individuals keeping an eye out for incoming danger call out more if it’s a larger group that poses the possible threat. On the other hand, certain behaviors, like selecting where to snooze in the evening, shift most in the presence of well-matched neighbors with whom conflict can be most damaging.
“Not only are the mongooses keeping track of where their enemies might be, but they’re factoring in the relative size of different groups. They can then tailor their pre-emptive behaviour accordingly,” said Josh Arbon, lead author of the study and behavioral ecologist at the University of Cambridge. “This work provides insight into how smaller groups are able to survive, and even thrive, amongst more powerful enemies by strategically moving through space and communicating about potential dangers.”
Radford, Arbon, and colleagues used 10 years of observational and GPS data collected in South Africa for their research.
Ultimately, “conflict between groups is rife throughout the natural world,” said Amy Morris-Drake, a co-author of the study and biologist at the University of Bristol. “We have shown that animals are continuously making decisions in a landscape of conflict, not just when they actually encounter rivals.”
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