Matriarchs as Repositories of Social Knowledge in African Elephants

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 292; no. 5516; pp. 491 - 494
• Main Authors: McComb, Karen, Moss, Cynthia, Durant, Sarah M., Baker, Lucy, Sayialel, Soila
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for the Advancement of Science 20.04.2001; American Association for the Advancement of Science; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: African elephant; Age; Aging; Animal behavior; Animal ethology; Animal kin recognition; Animal memory; Animal social behavior; Animals; Behavior, Animal; Biological and medical sciences; Biological Evolution; Calves; Conservation of Natural Resources; Discrimination (Psychology); Elephants; Elephants - physiology; Exploratory Behavior; Female; Females; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Impact craters; Kenya; Kin recognition in animals; Logistics; Loxodonta africana; Mammalia; Matrilineal kinship; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Reproduction; Reproductive success; Social Behavior; Social knowledge; Statistical variance; Success; Vertebrata; Vocalization, Animal; Wildlife studies; Kenya; United States; Africa; Proboscidea; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Social behavior; Endangered species; Aged animal; Loxodonta africana; Breeding success; Female; Animal conservation; Information transmission; Ungulata
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1057895

Despite widespread interest in the evolution of social intelligence, little is known about how wild animals acquire and store information about social companions or whether individuals possessing enhanced social knowledge derive biological fitness benefits. Using playback experiments on African elephants (Loxodonta africana), we demonstrated that the possession of enhanced discriminatory abilities by the oldest individual in a group can influence the social knowledge of the group as a whole. These superior abilities for social discrimination may result in higher per capita reproductive success for female groups led by older individuals. Our findings imply that the removal of older, more experienced individuals, which are often targets for hunters because of their large size, could have serious consequences for endangered populations of advanced social mammals such as elephants and whales.