Overt Fighting Research Articles

Greed and Grievance: Ex-Militants’ Perspectives on the Conflict in Solomon Islands 1998–2003 by Matthew G Allen

Reviewed by: Greed and Grievance: Ex-Militants’ Perspectives on the Conflict in Solomon Islands 1998–2003 by Matthew G Allen Gordon Leua Nanau Greed and Grievance: Ex-Militants’ Perspectives on the Conflict in Solomon Islands 1998–2003, by Matthew G Allen. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2013. isbn 978-0-8248-3854-6; 243 pages, maps, tables, illustrations, photographs, notes, appendixes. Cloth, us$55.00. Reading Greed and Grievance: ExMilitants’ Perspectives on the Conflict in Solomon Islands 1998–2003 by Matthew G Allen reminded me of several things. First, it reminded me of the civil uprising since 1998; the militant rule and activities then in towns and rural villages; the various attempts to attain peace, particularly through the Townsville Peace Agreement in 2000 that resulted in the cessation of overt fighting; and people’s reception of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (ramsi) in 2003. These observed behaviors and events persuaded me to learn more about the perceptions of ex-militants in the conflict. I also wondered what these ex-militants could relay to an expatriate scholar like Allen who is attempting to make sense of the country’s social uprising. More important, I was also eager to learn from the book how this complex Melanesian conflict is perceived under the auspices of greed and grievance. My very first impression was that the book is very well arranged, rendering the lines of arguments easy to follow. The book is divided into seven chapters with detailed assessments of historical developments and background information to assist readers who might have limited knowledge pertaining to the “tensions” specifically and to Solomon Islands more generally. The author skillfully weaves the overall and often contradictory accounts by members of the two former conflicting groups into a story of failed coexistence. According to his research, Guadalcanal ex-militants subscribed to the notion of Guadal-canal as the motherland that must be saved, while the Malaita ex-militants advocated for the security of other Solomon Islanders from the threat of Guadalcanal militants. The author capably knits these distinct and contrary positions into one national story under the title “Continuities and Symmetries.” The book captures very powerful personal stories by individuals who contributed physically during the conflict. The stories of events and emotions that led these individuals to [End Page 207] commit to a process of hate, atrocities, and pillage are well captured and described by the author. For instance, the account of how one Malaita militant decided to join the fight after witnessing the humiliating and inhumane treatment of a girl and her father is sensitively expressed in the book. Similarly, the book vividly illustrates the case of a Guadalcanal youth who was convinced that the only way to free his island from exploitation by others was to join the fight. These personal revelations demonstrate the fragility of people’s intentions to remain neutral and coexist when faced with immense insecurity. Allen has done an excellent job of uncovering and rediscovering historical evidence that may have been forgotten over time. The wealth of historical detail and information he provides is reinforced in the appendixes and notes. These aid the reader’s appreciation of the sorts of arguments disclosed by ex-militants, despite obvious levels of exaggeration in some of their accounts. The author spent productive time listening to youths on both sides of the conflict and has efficaciously retold their stories in the pages of this book. Such is the hallmark of a great researcher and scholar. Gaining the trust of ex-militants in order to gather and then convey their accounts to a regional and global audience is a remarkable skill, not easily replicated. The author must be commended for an approach that successfully balanced viewpoints from former members of opposing groups. It may also be useful to highlight certain “soft spots” in the book. First is the risk that ex-militants may have misconstrued or indeed deliberately misrepresented certain matters. These could be ideas or stories that were never heard of before and may have been orchestrated to impress the expatriate researcher. A case in point is the brief history provided by two Guadalcanal ex-militants as explicated in appendix 2. For instance...

Intraspecific Behavior of Heather Voles (Phenacomys intermedius)

Very little is known about the social behavior of Heather Voles (Phenacomys intermedius), mainly because they are difficult to trap and maintain in captivity. We were able to maintain individuals in the laboratory and observe dyadic interactions among adult males and females, as well as related and unrelated juveniles, in a neutral arena. Overall, Heather Voles were very docile compared to other microtine species observed in captivity. There were no amicable behaviors observed, and the majority of encounters consisted of neutral egocentric actions. Males and females showed very similar levels of aggression in intrasexual encounters, although encounters between males contained more overt fighting behaviors. Male-female encounters contained the most aggressive behaviors (especially chasing), with a large proportion of those behaviors likely being the male attempting to copulate with the female, and the female resisting. No differences in aggressive behaviors were observed between related and unrelated juveniles.

Unusual repertoire of vocalizations in adult BTBR T+tf/J mice during three types of social encounters.

BTBR T+tf/J (BTBR) is an inbred mouse strain that displays social deficits and repetitive behaviors analogous to the first and third diagnostic symptoms of autism. We previously reported an unusual pattern of ultrasonic vocalizations in BTBR pups that may represent a behavioral homolog to the second diagnostic symptom of autism, impaired communication. This study investigated the social and vocal repertoire in adult BTBR mice, to evaluate the role of ultrasonic vocalizations in multiple social situations at the adult stage of development. Three different social contexts were considered: male-female, male-male (resident-intruder) and female-female interactions. Behavioral responses and ultrasonic vocalizations were recorded for BTBR and for the highly social control strain C57BL/6J (B6). No episodes of overt fighting or mating were observed during the short durations of the three different experimental encounters. BTBR displayed lower levels of vocalizations and social investigation in all three social contexts as compared with B6. In addition, the correlation analyses between social investigation and ultrasonic vocalization emission rate showed that in B6 mice, the two variables were positively correlated in all the three different social settings, whereas in BTBR mice, the positive correlation was significant only in the male-female interactions. These findings strongly support the value of simultaneously recording two aspects of the mouse social repertoire: social motivation and bioacoustic communication. Moreover, our findings in adults are consistent with previous results in pups, showing an unusual vocal repertoire in BTBR as compared with B6.

Self-sacrifice in 'desperado' contests between relatives

Intra-specific competition occurs in all animal species and can lead to escalated conflict. Overt fighting entails the risk of injury or death, and is usually avoided through the use of conventions or pre-fight assessments. However, overt fighting can be expected when value of the contest outweighs the value of the future, as contestants have little or nothing to lose. In these situations, respect for conventions and asymmetries between contestants can break down, and overt fighting becomes more likely (the desperado effect). Such conditions can arise in contests between queens over colony ownership in social insects, because the value of inheriting a colony of potentially thousands of helpers is huge and queens may have very limited alternative reproductive options. However, in social species the balance of possible outcomes may be influenced by inclusive fitness, as contestants are often relatives. Here we present a simple model based on social insects, which demonstrates that not fighting can be selectively advantageous when there is a risk posed by fighting to inclusive fitness, even when not fighting is likely to result in death. If contestants are related, a loser can still gain indirect fitness through the winner, whereas fighting introduces a risk that both queens will die and thereby obtain zero inclusive fitness. When relatedness is high and fighting poses a risk of all contestants dying, it can be advantageous to cede the contest and be killed, rather than risk everything by fighting.

Xiphophorus: Carving a Niche Towards a Broader Understanding of Aggression and Dominance

A review of some exciting new directions for Xiphophorus research in behavioral ecology and integrative animal behavior is presented. The primary objective of this review is to identify areas of research in this teleost genus that, if studied further, could yield insights into the manifold causes and consequences of dominance encounters that will have broad relevance in the behavioral biology community. First described is the phenomenon of social eavesdropping--the ability of animals to extract information from signaling interactions between others-as it applies to Xiphophorus systems, and how exploring the context--dependency of individual responses to watching fights will be of benefit. A brief discussion follows of the overwhelming tendency for research on Xiphophorus to focus on individual responses to visual cues available in their social environment, and to promote advancements towards a multimodal approach to understanding social dynamics. Lastly, historical studies on neuroendocrinology in this genus are reviewed, and recent advances in the molecular realm are highlighted that might serve as a springboard for integrative research addressing the behavioral impacts of direct (overt fighting) and indirect (eavesdropping) experiences in Xiphophorus.

Agonistic behavior in wild male Magellanic penguins: when and how do they interact?

Game-theory models predict that the frequency and type of agonistic interactions should vary with the value of the resource being contested. We describe bill duels and overt fighting in male Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) at a breeding colony and determine whether these behaviors change with the value of the nests over which they interact. Bill duels represent low levels of aggression while overt fighting high levels of aggression. Consistent with predictions, overt fighting was more common before egg laying when nests have the highest potential value while bill duels were more common at failed nests later in the season when nests are less valuable as they could not be used for reproduction until the next season. Contrary to expectations, overt fights were shorter and resulted in fewer cuts before egg laying than after egg laying. Large size asymmetries between opponents before egg laying may enable losers to quickly assess their opponents and leave before they are hurt. As predicted, the duration and damage occurring during overt fights were positively correlated with nest cover, which is correlated with higher reproductive success. We conclude that male Magellanic penguins have rules of engagement that in the most cases follow game-theory predictions on when and how to interact.

Intraspecific agonistic interactions in freely swimming mormyrid fish, Marcusenius macrolepidotus (South African form)

South African bulldogs (Marcusenius macrolepidotus, Mormyridae) generate brief (less than 1 ms) electric organ discharges (EODs), separated by much longer and highly variable inter-discharge intervals (IDIs). The diurnal and nocturnal overt behaviour and electrical activity were studied under various conditions: in isolated fish, in pairs of fish, and in a group of four fish that were kept in a “natural” large aquarium. EODs from up to four individuals were recorded simultaneously and identified. While resting during the day, isolated fish showed a broad inter-individual variability of IDI patterns, with distribution histogram modes ranging from 85.7 ms to 325.8 ms. When foraging during the day, IDI modes were shorter and less variable (36.3–48.3 ms). Behaviour patterns displayed during nocturnal agonistic encounters were retreating, parallel swimming, anti-parallel display, attack, and fleeing/chasing. High-discharge-rate (HD) displays were observed at several stages of these encounters, for example, during antiparallel display (a period of low overt motor activity), or following attacks. IDI durations as short as 11 ms occurred during HD displays, which followed low-rate inter-HD activity almost without transition. IDI distribution histogram modes when fish showed anti-parallel display were 15.4 ms and 24.8 ms, and 30.0 ms during nocturnal nonagonistic interactions. No overt fighting was observed once a dominance relationship was established. In a large aquarium, an approaching dominant male evoked a simultaneous discharge arrest in a group of three subdominant males.

Aggression between unacquainted pigs—sequential assessment and effects of familiarity and weight

Staged paired encounters between 74 pairs of 7–8 weeks old unacquainted piglets were studied. In 37 of the pairs, the pigs were pre-exposed to their opponents by keeping them for 24 h in small pens separated by wire net. The controls were kept in the same pen, separated by solid wooden walls. In 41 pairs, there was a median weight difference of 23%, and in 35 pairs the weight differed by less than 10%. The sequential assessment theory was applied to generate specific predictions about the effects of pre-exposure and of weight differences. The following results were in agreement with predictions from theory: contests were structured into a first nosing phase and a second biting phase. During the nosing phase, the rate of nose contacts was linearly dependent on the length of the phase, and during the biting phase, rate of biting was linearly dependent of length of phase. Prior to the point where one pig signalled that it gave up, there was no difference in emission rate of nosing or biting between the contestants, whereas the loser performed significantly less biting after giving up. The durations of the phases were independent of each other. The duration of the first phase was independent of weight asymmetry. Pre-exposed pairs had a reduced nosing phase, but not a reduced biting phase. However, not in agreement with predictions, weight asymmetry did not shorten contest length or biting phase and did not reduce the proportion of pairs escalating contests to overt fighting. It was also found that the variance of phase durations was smaller in pre-exposed pairs, indicating that the information obtained by the animals modified the sequence of the fights, which is not predicted by theory. In conclusion, the sequential assessment game provided explanations for a large part of the contest behaviour of pigs, but some findings were not in agreement with theory. Pre-exposure of unacquainted pigs may be a way for farmers to reduce the time of initial fighting between newly mixed pigs.

Sexual strategies in the newts Triturus Cristatus and Triturus Marmoratus

Courtship display characteristics are described and compared for the newts Triturus cristatus and T. marmoratus and patterns of male competitive behaviour are recognized. In interpreting the data, the operational sex ratio has to be taken into account, which was highly biased towards males in both species, more in T. marmoratus than in T. cristatus. When sexual active, males of cristatus had more encounters than males of marmoratus, whereas the latter spent more time residing mating places. The male’s display towards a female differed in time structure, variability and in behaviour characteristics. T. marmoratus display follows a fixed pattern; males succeeded better in restraining a female than males cristatus did. Courting males cristatus allowed other males to intrude. Malemale encounters were longer and playful in T. cristatus, more violent in T. marmoratus. Comparison with data from the literature indicates that courtship of T. marmoratus has more features in common with that of T. vittatus than it has with the courtship of T. cristatus. It is suggested that in the course of evolution T. marmoratus adopted a strategy of Sexual Defense by means of territoriality and overt fighting, whereas T. cristatus in contrast adopted a strategy of Sexual Interference by female mimicry. Male display components that played a major role during the adaptation of competitive strategy are identified as the “whip” behaviour in T. marmoratus and the “rocking” behaviour in T. cristatus.

Suckling and teat disputes by neonatal piglets

To study the development of cyclic suckling behaviour and to examine the role of overt fighting in competition during suckling, we observed piglets from 29 litters during the first hours after birth. First- and second-born piglets usually suckled for the first time on a posterior teat, but this tendency was not apparent for later born piglets. During the first 8 h after birth, a piglet suckled an average of seven different teats. During the first few hours after birth, suckling bouts were frequent in a litter and tended to involve few piglets. As the piglets aged, the number of suckling bouts per hour decreased and the proportion of piglets.of the litter present at each bout increased. There was a continuous and gradual change in the suckling behaviour towards a cyclical suckling pattern. Anterior teats were preferred, as indicated by more frequent suckling and fighting. However, teat disputes were less frequent on the first teat pair than on the second and third. Regardless of teat position, piglets with the teat in their mouth at the beginning of a dispute had a higher probability of winning. The frequency of teat disputes was not affected by litter size, but piglets who suckled from many teats were involved in many disputes. Piglets that won more teat disputes suckled more frequently and tended to suckle more on one preferred teat pair. Heavier pigs won more of their disputes, but did not suckle more frequently, did not suckle from more teats and did not direct a greater proportion of their suckling bouts on anterior teats. We suggest that newborn piglets fight to gain access to a functional teat for the brief milk ejection rather than to gain access to anterior or to more productive teats.

Dynamics of Freely Growing, Confined Populations of the Norwegian Lemming Lemmus lemmus

Two populations of lemmings in 6 m2 indoor pens, provided with surplus food, were characterized by increase, peak and decline phases. The founding females in both populations produced 16-18% of all litters. The sex ratio at birth was approximately 1:1 but as the populations increased there became an excess of females among the adults. Growth rates of animals older than 35 d were similar during the various phases of population development. The mean individual growth rate was considerably greater than in our stock colony and may reflect a selection for fast growers. For both sexes there was a tendency for a single individual to be heaviest, and these animals also appeared to be socially dominant. The population increase phase was characterized by high survival rates, good reproduction success, relatively low post-natal mortality and little overt agonistic behavior. During the peak phase there was relatively more overt agonistic behavior and fighting. In the peak and decline phases reproductive success was poor, and preand post-natal mortality was high. Animals which died before weaning showed lower growth rates already during their first few days of post-natal life. Biting, often followed by infection, appeared to be one of the main mortality factors for both young and adults. Pathological conditions such as fatty infiltration of the liver, ascites and internal hemorrhage were observed. Several of the observed physiological and behavioral changes occurred more frequently in the decline than in the increase phase indicating that these changes are not direct functions of population density per se.

Effects of morphine withdrawal on food competition hierarchies and fighting behavior in rats.

The effects of chronic morphine administration and morphine withdrawal on competitive and fighting behaviors in rats were studied in a novel paradigm. Fixed-ratio 20 (FR-20) lever-pressing for food presentation was stabilized before placing pairs of rats, matched by response rate and body weight, in the behavioral testing chambers. Initially, overt fighting occurred, but in 60% of the pairs it dissipated within several sessions, accompanied by the development of stable dominant-submissive responding hierarchies. Invariably, the dominant rat in the initial fighting bouts became the dominant responding rat. Chronic morphine administration and subsequent withdrawal in one or both members of the pairs led to disruptions or reversals in the distribution of responding and to small increases in fighting. These effects were seen as early as 12 h after the second dose of morphine and, in some pairs, lasted at least 28 days after morphine was withdrawn. The results from experiments in which only one rat was made dependent show that both the withdrawn dominant rats and the withdrawn submissive rats contributed to the behavioral changes observed in the pairs during withdrawal. Differential food deprivation in pairs not exposed to morphine did not change the dominant-submissive hierarchies. Significant changes in the distribution of FR-20 responding in the paired condition were evident after FR-20 responding in the unpaired condition returned to control rates. It is therefore concluded that change in so-called appetite for food is not an important determinant of the hierarchical changes observed during protracted withdrawal.

Effects of grouping and fighting on the reproductive tracts of male white‐footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus)

SummaryAdult, male white‐footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) were subjected to a variety of social situations ranging from isolation during the 20 day experimental period to constant contact with both females and other adult males. Contacts included grouping (three or four males per cage) and exposure to fighters (once daily for 20 minutes). The following measurements were recorded: weights of the body, testes, epididymides, vesicular glands, vesicular gland tissue (wet and dry), seminal fluid of the vesicular gland, adrenal glands, and baculum; spermatozoan reserves of the testes and epididymides. Grouping significantly affected both the weight and spermatozoan reserves of the testes and epididymides, as well as both the tissue and seminal fluid weight of the vesicular glands. The results suggested a graded effect of all treatments on the reproductive tract. In order of magnitude of the associated response, from none to greatest, the treatments may be ranked as follows: pairing with females, isolating, handling, fighting, and grouping. All reproductive parameters measured showed this general ranking, suggesting that the response to the various treatments was similar and differed only quantitatively. The results further suggested decreased secretion of LH and testosterone, although measurements of testosterone did not substantiate this conclusion. The lack of significant effects of grouping on adrenal gland weights strengthened the argument that adrenal involvement is not a necessary adjunct to the suppression of the reproductive tract in grouped Peromyscus, but the adrenal may be involved if contacts between males result in overt fighting.

Attempts to influence fighting and threat behaviors in adult isolated female CFW mice in standard opponent aggression tests using injected and subcutaneously implanted androgens

Neither isolated or group-housed intact adult female CFW strain mice displayed overt fighting or threat behavior during standard opponent behavioral tests. Neither testosterone nor androstenedione administered as daily oil based IM injections over 24 days markedly influenced overt fighting in adult ovariectomized females. However, testosterone administered in the form of SC 25 mg implants significantly increased overt fighting and threat behavior in ovariectomized females compared to sham-implanted mice over the same time interval. It was concluded that the aggressiveness of female mice of this strain could be significantly increased by androgen administration in adult life without previous neonatal hormonal manipulation, an effect in which the method of hormone administration appeared to be of critical importance. Some possible reasons for this result which is in conflict with most of the literature are suggested.