Keeping Birds of a Feather Together

Abstract

Vertebrate species display extreme variation in grouping behaviours, ranging from solitary living to the aggregation of thousands of animals. Comparisons of territorial and gregarious species reveal differences in the distributions of several neuropeptide receptor types, primarily within the lateral septum, and the presence of neuropeptide neurones that encode social valence (positive-negative). Experiments show that these neural elements potently influence decisions about group size. © 2011 The Author. Journal of Neuroendocrinology © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.