Effects of body size and prior residence on dominance hierarchies in female Asian particolored bats

Abstract

Abstract Social animals may cooperate to gain resources such as food and territory. However, unavoidable conflicts over limited resources frequently occur between group members. Social rank may effectively decrease conflicts within animal social groups, thereby reducing energy consumption and maintaining group stability. In this study, we tested the two factors most often proposed to influence winning a conflict: body size and prior residence. Our results showed that female Asian particolored bats (Vespertilio sinensis) formed near-linear dominance hierarchies. Forearm length was significantly positively correlated with dominance rank in three replicate experiments. In addition, prior residents had significantly higher dominance ranks than intruders of similar body size. These results suggested that both body size and prior residence might affect dominance ranks in female Asian particolored bats.