Courtship displays are important in governing mate choice, ubiquitous throughout the
animal kingdom and often spectacular in appearance. As such, they have received a long …

Body size is a key determinant of male fighting ability and reproductive success in many
animal species, but relationships between these variables have only rarely been examined …

The steepness of dominance hierarchies provides information about the degree of
competition within animal social groups and is thus an important concept in socioecology …

It is believed that domestic dogs rarely form packs with age-graded hierarchical structures
similar to those found in wolves. Dog-wolf comparisons in captivity suggest that human …

Antipredator strategies and social factors may influence vigilance behaviour in herbivores.
Vigilance can differ between sex/age classes, but information is contradictory in the existing …

In social species, dominance relationships and access to food resources are often affected
by asymmetries in resource-holding potential (RHP) between competitors of different age …

In polygynous ungulates, male mortality is thought to be linked to high-energy expenditures
during the rut. However, Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) adult males show an unusually high …

Highlights•We studied a free-ranging fallow deer herd during the rut.•We investigated
intraindividual variability (IIV) in escalating to fighting.•Individuals differed in tendency to …

Male ungulates engage in intense competition for access to females during the breeding
season. Although fights are generally dyadic level encounters, they are on occasion …

Group-living species are often organized into social dominance hierarchies, where high-
ranking individuals have priority of access to resources, including estrous females. Traits …