Global InformationAllelomimetic behavior information
Allelomimetic behavior or allomimetic behavior is a range of activities in which the performance of a behavior increases the probability of that behavior being performed by other nearby animals. Allelomimetic behavior is sometimes called contagious behavior and has strong components of social facilitation, imitation, and group coordination. It is usually considered to occur between members of the same species. An alternate definition is that allelomimetic behavior is a more intense or more frequent response or the initiation of an already known response, when others around the individual are engaged in the same behavior.[1] It is often referred to as synchronous behavior, mimetic behavior, imitative behavior, and social facilitation.
Allelomimetic behavior is displayed in all animals and can occur in any stage of life, but usually starts at a young age.[2] This behavior will continue throughout life, especially when an individual is living in a large group that emphasizes group cohesion.[3] Cohesion is seen as a prerequisite for group living, with synchronous activity being crucial for social cohesion.[3] However, animals in large cohesive groups face trade-offs when allelomimetic behavior is adopted. If the behavior is adopted then the risk of predation or capture decreases significantly but the inter-individual competition for immediate resources, such as food, mates, and space, will increase when cohesion is still stressed.[4] Many collective group decisions in animals are the result of allelomimetism and can be explained by allelomimetic behaviors. Some examples are the cockroaches choosing a single aggregation site, schooling behaviors in fishes, and pheromone-based path selection in ants that allows all the workers to go down the same path to a specific food source.[3] Allelomimetic behavior can also be seen as an animal welfare indicator. For example, if cattle do not have enough room to all lie down simultaneously then it indicates that there are not enough resources present and this can result in lameness of the animals that are forced to stand.[5] Allomimicry is affected by circadian rhythms and circadian cycles of activity within groups which can give the overall appearance of poor animal welfare, if allomimetic behavior were to be used as a welfare indicator then it must be measured several times throughout the course of a day.[3][5] Most mechanisms involved in performing allelomimetic behavior do not require circadian rhythms to function. Decisions at the individual level are, more often than not, enough to encourage allelomimetism.[3] Patterns of allelomimetic behavior can vary from species to species and can possibly explain other behaviors seen in the animal kingdom.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Miller, R.M. (July 1996). "Allelomimetic behavior". Journal of Equine Veterinary Science. 16 (7): 282–284. doi:10.1016/s0737-0806(96)80221-8. ISSN 0737-0806.
- ^ a b c d e Gautrais, Jacques; Michelena, Pablo; Sibbald, Angela; Bon, Richard; Deneubourg, Jean-Louis (November 2007). "Allelomimetic synchronization in Merino sheep". Animal Behaviour. 74 (5): 1443–1454. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.02.020. ISSN 0003-3472. S2CID 53151870.
- ^ Eklund, Beatrix; Jensen, Per (February 2011). "Domestication effects on behavioural synchronization and individual distances in chickens (Gallus gallus)". Behavioural Processes. 86 (2): 250–256. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2010.12.010. ISSN 0376-6357. PMID 21187131. S2CID 11216679.
- ^ a b Stoye, Sophie; Porter, Mason A.; Stamp Dawkins, Marian (November 2012). "Synchronized lying in cattle in relation to time of day". Livestock Science. 149 (1–2): 70–73. doi:10.1016/j.livsci.2012.06.028. ISSN 1871-1413.