{
  "abstract": "Free-ranging dogs frequently rest near conspecifics, but the demographic factors structuring their resting associations remain poorly understood. We quantified dyadic resting associations in 26 free-ranging dog groups in West Bengal, India, observed between 2019 and 2023. Association strength was estimated from scan based resting co-occurrences using the Half-Weight Index. We tested whether dyadic association strength varied with dyad sex composition, dyad life stage composition, group size, and group sex ratio using a generalised additive model for location, scale and shape that accounted for group identity and repeated occurrence of individuals across dyads. Male-male dyads had lower association strengths than female-female dyads, whereas mixed-sex dyads did not differ from female-female dyads. Association strength decreased with increasing group size but increased as the male-to-female ratio within the group increased, while life-stage composition had no detectable effect. Individual level network metrics, including strength, reach, clustering coefficient, affinity, and eigenvector centrality, did not vary with sex or season. Mixed-sex pairs were also frequently represented among the strongest dyadic associations within groups. These findings indicate that resting associations in free-ranging dogs vary with dyad sex composition and group demography. Further opportunity-controlled analyses are required to determine whether the prominence of mixed-sex dyads reflects preferential association rather than group composition alone.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-kolkata"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "S. Biswas"
    },
    {
      "name": "K. Ghosh"
    },
    {
      "name": "K. Sarkar"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "A. Bhadra"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1cqjmbrkhfjzk.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.08.28.745223",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.28.745223v1.full",
  "id": "1cqjmbrkhfjzk",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.28.745223v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "animal behavior and cognition"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1311|Human-Animal Interaction Studies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7207653290",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.28.745223v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-08-28",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1cqjmbrkhfjzk.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:56Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.08.28.745223",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.28.745223v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:animal behavior and cognition",
      "subfield": "zoology-behaviour"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Who rests with whom? Sex composition and group demography shape resting associations in free-ranging dogs",
  "title_text": "Who rests with whom? Sex composition and group demography shape resting associations in free-ranging dogs",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:18:56Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1cqjmbrkhfjzk",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}