[OANNES Foro] Strong Competition Does Not Always Predict Play Asymmetry: The Case of South American Sea Lions (Otaria flavescens)

[Mario Cabrejos]

Ethology

·         First published: 21 February 2017 

·         DOI: 10.1111/eth.12594 


 


Strong Competition Does Not Always Predict Play Asymmetry: The Case of South
American Sea Lions (Otaria flavescens)


·         Clara Llamazares-Martín, Chiara Scopa, Federico Guillén-Salazar,
Elisabetta Palagi


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Abstract


Although play fighting has been studied for over a century in both human and
non-human animals, quantitative data on marine mammals are still scarce.
Here, we investigated play fighting in South American sea lions (Otaria
flavescens), one of the most sexually dimorphic species with an extreme
polygynous mating system, high levels of both intra- and inter-sexual
competition. All these features make South American sea lions a good model
species to test some predictions on play fighting. Our results indicate play
is restricted to juveniles, being inhibited among adults, and as to be
expected in a species that shows a high degree of sexual dimorphism, it is
mainly expressed in males. Even though playful interactions were punctuated
by competitive behaviors, animals played in a highly symmetric way and were
able to adjust their competitive playful interactions in a flexible manner
and so reduce the risk of escalation to a minimum level. They were highly
selective in their choice of playmates by limiting the number of players per
session and playing more with age-matched companions and friends. All these
factors taken together are probably at the basis of the low risk of
escalation recorded during the study. This result is predictive of a high
ability and motivation of these animals to engage in play behaviour which
can have a possible role not only in the acquisition of dominance status,
but also in establishing and maintaining social relationships, an unexpected
role in a so highly competitive species.

 



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