Beyond the dyad: higher-order structure within cohesive animal groups can reveal novel patterns of subgroup dynamics
7 affiliations
- 1Department of Network and Data Science, Central European University, Vienna, Austria
- 2Dipartimento di Fisica e Chimica Emilio Segrè, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy
- 3Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- 4School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, U.K
- 5Department of Collective Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany
- 6Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- 7Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Abstract
Revealing the consequences of social structure in animal societies is largely determined by our ability to accurately estimate functionally relevant patterns of social contact among individuals. Of particular relevance are social contacts that drive and maintain the cohesion of moving animal groups. To date, studies have predominantly built up social structure from dyadic connections, which while effective in open societies—where groups are ephemeral—may not be sufficient to characterise the fine-grained structure within more cohesive animal groups. This is because associations or interactions can involve more than two individuals participating together, which current approaches cannot distinguish from independent sets of dyadic connections. Here we apply higher-order temporal network approaches to high-resolution GPS data from every group member in two cohesive groups of vulturine guineafowl ( Acryllium vulturinum ). By quantifying moment-by-moment association dynamics, we reveal clear sex-biased contributions to the group cohesion. Specifically, males form the cohesive core of the group as they participate in temporally consistent sub-groups and tend to occupy forward positions when in movement. Females instead remain peripheral and are more likely to leave sub-groups, while also occupying rear positions in moving sub-groups. These results reveal how the cohesion among males, which were previously found to be more likely to lead group movements, allows them to more often form a majority, confirming that self-organisation within the group can drive leadership patterns independently of dominance. Our study thus demonstrates that sub-group association dynamics derived from high-resolution GPS data can provide insights in how the fine-scale spatial and social organisation of cohesive groups, and their temporal dynamics, can explain key processes like leadership.
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BibTeX
@article{betti2026beyond,
title = {{Beyond the dyad: higher-order structure within cohesive animal groups can reveal novel patterns of subgroup dynamics}},
author = {Lorenzo Betti and Federico Musciotto and Danai Papageorgiou and Federico Battiston and Damien Roger Farine},
journal = {Animal Behaviour},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.anbehav.2026.123746},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2026.123746},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Beyond the dyad: higher-order structure within cohesive animal groups can reveal novel patterns of subgroup dynamics
AU - Lorenzo Betti
AU - Federico Musciotto
AU - Danai Papageorgiou
AU - Federico Battiston
AU - Damien Roger Farine
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/23
JO - Animal Behaviour
DO - 10.1016/j.anbehav.2026.123746
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2026.123746
AB - Revealing the consequences of social structure in animal societies is largely determined by our ability to accurately estimate functionally relevant patterns of social contact among individuals. Of particular relevance are social contacts that drive and maintain the cohesion of moving animal groups. To date, studies have predominantly built up social structure from dyadic connections, which while effective in open societies—where groups are ephemeral—may not be sufficient to characterise the fine-grained structure within more cohesive animal groups. This is because associations or interactions can involve more than two individuals participating together, which current approaches cannot distinguish from independent sets of dyadic connections. Here we apply higher-order temporal network approaches to high-resolution GPS data from every group member in two cohesive groups of vulturine guineafowl ( Acryllium vulturinum ). By quantifying moment-by-moment association dynamics, we reveal clear sex-biased contributions to the group cohesion. Specifically, males form the cohesive core of the group as they participate in temporally consistent sub-groups and tend to occupy forward positions when in movement. Females instead remain peripheral and are more likely to leave sub-groups, while also occupying rear positions in moving sub-groups. These results reveal how the cohesion among males, which were previously found to be more likely to lead group movements, allows them to more often form a majority, confirming that self-organisation within the group can drive leadership patterns independently of dominance. Our study thus demonstrates that sub-group association dynamics derived from high-resolution GPS data can provide insights in how the fine-scale spatial and social organisation of cohesive groups, and their temporal dynamics, can explain key processes like leadership.
SN - 0003-3472
SN - 1095-8282
ER -