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Sociality Increases Juvenile Survival After A Catastrophic Event In The Feral Horse (Equus Caballus), Cassandra M.V. Nuñez, James S. Adelman, Daniel I. Rubenstein

Cassandra M.V. Nuñez

In several social species, adult associations have been linked to individual fitness. Less is known about offspring associations and the mechanisms by which they may influence fitness. We investigate the effects of sociality on juvenile survival in feral horses (Equus caballus). We use foal degree (number of associates) and foal weight (number of interactions) to assess sociality’s importance to foal survival of a catastrophic event, the gathering and removal of 40% of the horse population. We found that 1) foal degree was a better predictor of foal survival than was foal weight; 2) following the gather, foals with access to …