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Abstract
Most studies of lateralized behaviour have to date focused on active behaviour such as sensorial perception and locomotion and little is known about lateralized postures, such as lying, that can potentially magnify the effectiveness of lateralized perception and reaction. Moreover, the relative importance of factors such as sex, age and the stress associated with social status in laterality is now a subject of increasing interest. In this study, we assess the importance of sex, age and reproductive investment in females in lying laterality in the Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica). Using generalized additive models under an information-theoretic approach based on the Akaike information criterion, we analyzed lying laterality of 78 individually marked ibexes. Sex, age and nursing appeared as key factors associated, in interaction and non-linearly, with lying laterality. Beyond the benefits of studying laterality with non-linear models, our results highlight the fact that a combination of static factors such as sex, and dynamic factors such as age and stress associated with parental care, are associated with postural laterality.
We would like to thank the Consejería de Medio Ambiente de la Junta de Andalucía and in particular the Espacio Natural de Sierra Nevada (ENSN) for their logistic support. Special thanks are due to workers in the ENSN, above all to Francisco J. Cano-Manuel, Francisco Casado-Felipe, Antonio José Rodríguez-Dueñas, Antonio Rodríguez-Huete, Apolo Sánchez-Lao, José López-Pérez, Isidro Puga-González and Elias Martínez-Ortiz for their professional and personal involvement in the study. We are also grateful to Michael Lockwood and Agnès Sarasa for the revision of the English. Sylvain Losdat (University of Berne, Switzerland) and Cédric Girard-Buttoz (German Primate Centre, Germany) made valuable comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. ES was supported by the Juan de la Cierva programme (MICINN, Spain). The research activities of JEG, RCS and JMP are also partially supported by the Plan Andaluz de Investigación Desarrollo e Innovación de la Junta de Andalucía (RNM-118).
This work was conducted without specific financial support and complies with current Spanish law.
We would like to thank the Consejería de Medio Ambiente de la Junta de Andalucía and in particular the Espacio Natural de Sierra Nevada (ENSN) for their logistic support. Special thanks are due to workers in the ENSN, above all to Francisco J. Cano-Manuel, Francisco Casado-Felipe, Antonio José Rodríguez-Dueñas, Antonio Rodríguez-Huete, Apolo Sánchez-Lao, José López-Pérez, Isidro Puga-González and Elias Martínez-Ortiz for their professional and personal involvement in the study. We are also grateful to Michael Lockwood and Agnès Sarasa for the revision of the English. Sylvain Losdat (University of Berne, Switzerland) and Cédric Girard-Buttoz (German Primate Centre, Germany) made valuable comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. ES was supported by the Juan de la Cierva programme (MICINN, Spain). The research activities of JEG, RCS and JMP are also partially supported by the Plan Andaluz de Investigación Desarrollo e Innovación de la Junta de Andalucía (RNM-118).
This work was conducted without specific financial support and complies with current Spanish law.