[Babase] Re: inter-group agonism examples
Susan Alberts
alberts at duke.edu
Mon Apr 19 18:00:39 EDT 2010
Thanks Niki. I am copying this to the listserve for archiving.
I've given my comments below each of the records you pulled out.
1. REX A NAT on 9 Mar 2001. The agonism written in the notebook is
very clearly REX OS NAT. Rex was in Nyayo’s group. Nature is listed
as group 9 but was apparently in Proton’s group for quite some time
around this period and there is an “other groups” note in the Nyayo’s
notebook (not currently in babase) listing Nature present with
Proton’s on 3 Mar when Nyayo’s and Proton’s were close together. It
sounds like this is quite possibly a real agonistic interaction. Yet
there are no demog notes or other notes to indicate Nature’s presence
with Nyayo’s nor even Proton’s nearness on 9 Mar. If they were close
to each other on the 3rd though, odds are reasonable that they were on
the 9th. This one certainly could have happened, though we have no
particular evidence to show that he was or was not with/near Nyayo’s
at any point during that day.
SCA says: Count it as an error. Seems like we have to conclude it was
an error. We just don't have any basis on which to think this really
happened. One isolated agonism between two adult males not living in
the same group, with no other agonisms involving that individual or
others and no demog or other groups notes about it is just too slim
evidence.
2. REX A HIB on 25 Oct 2002. Again the written record does look
like REX OS HIB in Nyayo’s group. Rex was censused in Nyayo’s but
Hibiscus is supposed to be in Linda’s (and was censused there on the
23rd and 26th). Hibiscus had previously been in Nyayo’s group but
moved to Linda’s in the spring of 2002 and was never censused anywhere
but Linda’s from then until his death in 2008. There are no relevant
demog or other groups notes in either notebook. This one seems to me
like it is probably a recording error.
SCA: Agreed, error.
3. EBA A LIB on 21 April 2005. Again the written record matches
babase – EBA OS LIB (that’s the first one I found anyway – there are
three REX A LIB interactions + EBA A LIB and GAS A LIB on this date,
all in Nyayo’s). This was one of Liberty’s wandering months. He was
absent a lot from Viola’s and was censused in Nyayo’s on 27 April (and
was ranked in both groups that month). He then stayed with Nyayo’s
(for the most part anyway) until Nov 2006. Liberty is present in
Viola’s on the 19th and 22nd but was absent for three censuses before
the 19th and for all censuses after the 22nd so he could easily have
been in Nyayo’s for part of the 21st. These seem like they probably
are real agonisms and that Liberty either wasn’t noticed during the
census or wandered in after it. Liberty is already ranked in the
group that month, which makes it a relatively easy record to fix.
SCA: The multiple interactions with LIB that day and his wandering
nature at the time, and he was in the group that month, all point to
this being real.
4. AZI A ARS on 9 May 2006. ARS is normally in Nyayo’s but was
marked absent this day (and on the 15th) but was present on
surrounding days. The written record matches babase – AZI AS ARS.
Also on this date ARS OS NIN (another adult male to adult male), as
well as ARS OSing and DSing females and a younger male in three other
interactions (all seen by SNS, no ARS interactions seen by JKW). It
seems like he was either missed during the census or really was absent
and then rejoined the group. That seems more likely than Serah
misidentifying him repeatedly?
SCA: Again the multiple interactions with ARS and other group members
and his usual presence in the group suggest that these really happened
and they didn't make a demog note.
Agreed that the two female examples you pulled out probably did not
really happen.
Some thoughts/conclusions: 1. Interactions between two individuals
known to be living in two separate groups, with no demog or OG notes
to support it, should be considered as errors. 2. Interactions
involving males that are in group 9 on a given day should always be
considered as possible, and if multiple interactions with the male
occur, in both directions, then that increases the chance that they
really happened. These should probably be considered as real. 3. Two
of the four you picked out were likely to be real. If it's really this
high, then I can imagine that JA and LG would want to go through them
all. But I'd guess they're not that frequent. Maybe go through 10 more
of the male-male? What does JA think?
Susan
On Apr 19, 2010, at 4:59 PM, Niki Learn wrote:
> See attached! So far I have not found any with relevant notes
> though I’m sure there are some. Only the ones from about 2004
> onward would have them entered into babase.
> <Intergroup Agonisms.doc>
--------------------------------------------------------
Susan Alberts, Dept of Biology, Duke University, Box 90338, Durham NC
27708, 919-660-7272 (Ph), 919-660-7293 (Fax)
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