Network-level consequences of outgroup threats in banded mongooses: Grooming and aggression between the sexes

Abstract

Animal groups are heterogeneous assemblages of individuals with differing fitness interests, which may lead to internal conflict over investment in group territorial defence. Differences between individuals may lead to different behavioural responses to intergroup conflict, particularly between the sexes. These potential impacts have been little studied. We used social network analysis to investigate the impact of simulated intergroup conflicts on social relationships in groups of wild banded mongooses Mungos mungo, in which intergroup fights are more costly for males than females. We predicted that social cohesion (specifically male-to-male and female-to-male grooming) would increase after conflict, and aggression would decrease, to minimize conflict between the sexes. Simulated intergroup conflicts were performed by exposing banded mongoose groups to scents, ‘war cry’ playbacks, and live intruders from a rival group. All grooming and aggression interactions between individuals were recorded, and grooming and aggression social networks were created for the 2 days preceding a simulated intergroup conflict (pre-conflict network) and the 2 days after (post-conflict network). We found no evidence of an increase in social cohesion after simulated conflicts, measured as grooming eigenvector centrality. Male-to-male, male-to-female and female-to-male grooming strength decreased after simulated intrusions compared to female-to-female grooming strength. However, male–female aggression decreased in intrusion trials compared to other interaction types, consistent with the hypothesis that intergroup encounters reduce the level of intragroup conflict between males and females. Males were more affected socially by intergroup encounters than females, which may be because they are investing in defence rather than internal relationships. Focusing on individual relationship changes, using social network analysis, can reveal changes in the directionality of behaviour in response to intergroup encounters, and highlight how individual responses to conflict may scale up to affect social networks and, potentially, group performance. This study highlights the importance of studying both group-level behaviours and individual relationships to more fully understand responses to intergroup encounters.