Behavioral variation has been documented both between and within populations in a variety of traits. Many of these behavioral traits are phenotypically plastic and are conditional on the early environment an animal experiences, yet despite this the role of the environment in generating variation...

Boldness is a key element of behavioral variation in animals. Many studies have shown variation between individuals in their propensity to take risks across a wide range of taxa, yet surprisingly few studies have investigated the importance of social context in influencing an animal's boldness....

The composition of an animal group can impact greatly on the survival and success of its individual members. Much recent work has concentrated on behavioral variation within animal populations along the bold/shy continuum. Here, we screened individual guppies, Poecilia reticulata, for boldness...

The antipredator benefits of grouping are relatively well understood; however, predation risk often differs for individuals that occupy different positions within a group. The selfish herd hypothesis describes how individuals can reduce risk of predation by moving to specific positions within the...

Animal groups are highly variable in their spatial structure, and individual fitness is strongly associated with the spatial position of an animal within a group. Predation risk and food gains are often higher at the group peripheries; thus, animals must trade-off predation costs and foraging...

Under the threat of predation, animals often group tightly together, with all group members benefiting from a reduction in predation risk through various mechanisms, including the dilution, encounter-dilution, and predator confusion effects. Additionally, the selfish herd hypothesis was first...

Socially monogamous species vary widely in the frequency of extrapair offspring, but this is usually discussed assuming that females are free to express mate choice. Using game-theory modeling, we investigate the evolution of male mate guarding, and the relationship between paternity and...

Predation is a major pressure that shapes animal sociality, but predation risk is not homogenous within groups. Animals located on the group edge typically face an increased threat of predation, although different patterns have been reported. We created a simulation model to determine how...

The antipredator benefits of grouping are relatively well understood; however, predation risk often differs for individuals that occupy different positions within a group. The selfish herd hypothesis describes how individuals can reduce risk of predation by moving to specific positions within the...