Predators attacking virtual prey reveal the costs and benefits of leadership.

ABSTRACT: A long-standing assumption in social behavior is that leadership incurs costs as well as benefits, and this tradeoff can result in diversified social roles in groups. The major cost of leadership in moving animal groups is assumed to be predation, with individuals leading from the front of groups being targeted more often by predators. Nevertheless, empirical evidence for this is limited, and experimental tests are entirely lacking. To avoid confounding effects associated with observational studies, we presented a simulation of virtual prey to real fish predators to directly assess the predation cost of leadership. Prey leading others are at greater risk than those in the middle of groups, confirming that any benefits of leading may be offset by predation costs. Importantly, however, follo

SUBMITTER: Ioannou CC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6500137 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature