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      An automated barcode tracking system for behavioural studies in birds

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          Is Open Access

          Constructing, conducting and interpreting animal social network analysis

          Summary Animal social networks are descriptions of social structure which, aside from their intrinsic interest for understanding sociality, can have significant bearing across many fields of biology. Network analysis provides a flexible toolbox for testing a broad range of hypotheses, and for describing the social system of species or populations in a quantitative and comparable manner. However, it requires careful consideration of underlying assumptions, in particular differentiating real from observed networks and controlling for inherent biases that are common in social data. We provide a practical guide for using this framework to analyse animal social systems and test hypotheses. First, we discuss key considerations when defining nodes and edges, and when designing methods for collecting data. We discuss different approaches for inferring social networks from these data and displaying them. We then provide an overview of methods for quantifying properties of nodes and networks, as well as for testing hypotheses concerning network structure and network processes. Finally, we provide information about assessing the power and accuracy of an observed network. Alongside this manuscript, we provide appendices containing background information on common programming routines and worked examples of how to perform network analysis using the r programming language. We conclude by discussing some of the major current challenges in social network analysis and interesting future directions. In particular, we highlight the under‐exploited potential of experimental manipulations on social networks to address research questions.
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            idTracker: tracking individuals in a group by automatic identification of unmarked animals.

            Animals in groups touch each other, move in paths that cross, and interact in complex ways. Current video tracking methods sometimes switch identities of unmarked individuals during these interactions. These errors propagate and result in random assignments after a few minutes unless manually corrected. We present idTracker, a multitracking algorithm that extracts a characteristic fingerprint from each animal in a video recording of a group. It then uses these fingerprints to identify every individual throughout the video. Tracking by identification prevents propagation of errors, and the correct identities can be maintained indefinitely. idTracker distinguishes animals even when humans cannot, such as for size-matched siblings, and reidentifies animals after they temporarily disappear from view or across different videos. It is robust, easy to use and general. We tested it on fish (Danio rerio and Oryzias latipes), flies (Drosophila melanogaster), ants (Messor structor) and mice (Mus musculus).
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              Experimentally induced innovations lead to persistent culture via conformity in wild birds

              In human societies, cultural norms arise when behaviours are transmitted with high-fidelity social learning through social networks 1 . However a paucity of experimental studies has meant that there is no comparable understanding of the process by which socially transmitted behaviours may spread and persist in animal populations 2,3 . Here, we introduce alternative novel foraging techniques into replicated wild sub-populations of great tits (Parus major), and employ automated tracking to map the diffusion, establishment and long-term persistence of seeded behaviours. We further use social network analysis to examine social factors influencing diffusion dynamics. From just two trained birds in each sub-population, information spread rapidly through social network ties to reach an average of 75% of individuals, with 508 knowledgeable individuals performing 58,975 solutions. Sub-populations were heavily biased towards the technique originally introduced, resulting in established local arbitrary traditions that were stable over two generations, despite high population turnover. Finally, we demonstrate a strong effect of social conformity, with individuals disproportionately adopting the most frequent local variant when first learning, but then also continuing to favour social over personal information by matching their technique to the majority variant. Cultural conformity is thought to be a key factor in the evolution of complex culture in humans 4-7 . In providing the first experimental demonstration of conformity in a wild non-primate, and of cultural norms in foraging techniques in any wild animal, our results suggest a much wider evolutionary occurrence of such apparently complex cultural behaviour.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Methods in Ecology and Evolution
                Methods Ecol Evol
                Wiley
                2041210X
                April 16 2018
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Chair of Biodiversity and Collective Behaviour; Department of Biology; University of Konstanz; Konstanz Germany
                [2 ]Department of Collective Behaviour; Max Planck Institute for Ornithology; Konstanz Germany
                [3 ]Department of Migration and Immuno-Ecology; Max-Planck Institute of Ornithology; Radolfzell Germany
                Article
                10.1111/2041-210X.13005
                b83569ad-1721-4cb7-a7fa-b73256686063
                © 2018

                http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/tdm_license_1.1

                http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor

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