Hi
I'm learning about behavior, in the hypothesized case when i observe a male and a female but this female is not in heat, what kind of interaction can i observe in this pair?, there is exist a possibility for observe "agonistic interactions" instead of "sexual behavior"?
I've read "The Analysis of Social Organization in Animals" and there, Scott mentions a case in rats but there's no more information about it.
Thanks in advice!
Hola Miguel lo más importante para nosotros en el estudio de las interacciones sociales dentro de nuestro grupo de investigación son tres mecanismos complementarios: Efectividad social, responsividad social y reciprocidad. En la revista mexicana de análisis de la conducta (libre acceso) en el 2005, vol 30, publicamos un artículo basado en el mecanismo de reciprocidad de cónyuges violentos, podría ser de tu interés.
Hi Miguel,
I think it is important which species you are investigating. Depending on the species ecology you might observe both. E.g. if you have a species with a clear mating season and you investigate behaviour outside of that season you probably could call it agonistic behavior (e. g. competition over resources). However, if in our example the female is not in “heat” but the male still tries to mate with it I would call it sexual behaviour. Thus an important question is whether one of the antagonist are trying to get access to a mating partner (sexual behaviour) or to other resources not directly related to reproduction (agnostic behaviour). Anyway, I am not sure if this is a correct definition and I think it would be worthwhile to check for some animal behaviour books such as “Krebs and Davies” or “Alcock”.
Cheers
Jannis
Hola Dr Carlos, gracias por su respuesta.
No había escuchado esa revista pero ya estoy consultando el contenido. Voy a revisar el artículo.
¡Gracias!
Hi Jannis.
I'm working on with gobies (Elacatinus puncticulatus) so i was experiencing a few problems defining the type of interactions between them but after a few papers read and with your answer, everything is more clear.
Yesterday, I read an article where the authors explain courtship in GREY HERON and they describe that the general patron is a combination between "agonistic" and "sexual" behavior.
Moreover, in fishes, there are some postures that indicate if you can consider a behavior pattern as agonistic or courtship (e.g. fin display), additionally you can consider the OSR (ASR), environment (resources) as the primary factors affecting the type of interaction.
Thank you Jannis,
regards
Miguel
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