Audiences influence future status of quails following fights
between rivals
For animals, prevailing in a fight affects their likelihood
of winning future conflicts. The opposite is true of losing a fight. The sex
hormone testosterone is often believed to mediate this “winner effect”.
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen have
examined whether the presence of an audience influences the behaviour and the
testosterone changes of Japanese quails (Coturnix japonica) after a fight. The
evidence shows that both winners and losers exhibit raised testosterone levels
after a conflict without an audience. Furthermore, both winners and losers are
able to maintain their social status within their group. With an audience, on
the other hand, this remained true for winners, but was not the case for
losers: those who had lost had neither raised testosterone levels nor were they
able to maintain their dominant status within the group. Thus, informed
audiences determine the future social status of a male, while testosterone
plays a secondary role.