Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Gregarious sexual segregation: the unusual social organization of the Malagasy narrow-striped mongoose (Mungotictis decemlineata)

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Sex-specific costs and benefits of sociality are rarely evaluated, even though the main fitness determinants differ between the sexes. The Carnivora include some of the few mammalian species in which the sexes differ in social organization, providing an opportunity to study male and female sociality separately. Anecdotal reports indicated that Malagasy narrow-striped mongooses (Mungotictis decemlineata) appear to have unusual and flexible association patterns. We therefore conducted a 3-year field study in Western Madagascar to delineate the social organization of this forest-dwelling species and to obtain insights into sex-specific determinants of sociality. We conducted systematic radio tracking on 40 adult individuals (20 males, 20 females) and collected additional data during regular censuses and behavioral observations. We found males and females to live in small, same-sex social units. Males formed stable associations of up to four adult individuals, except for the short annual mating season, when they roamed by themselves. Male home ranges exhibited high mutual overlap and encompassed those of up to four female social unit ranges. Female social units were on average composed of two adult females, one juvenile, and one infant offspring of the dominant female and occupied exclusive territories. Female units were stable year-round and their size was unrelated to home range size, but home range sizes were significantly larger during the dry season. Our analyses indicate that both male and female associations are likely stabilized by antipredator benefits, with females accruing additional benefits from joint resource defense. Males trade off the safety in associations for temporary reproductive opportunities. Thus, antipredator benefits appear to favor group living in both sexes, but sex-specific reproductive fitness limiting factors affect the stability of such units differently.

Significance statement

This study presents new detailed results on the sex-specific social organization of a previously unstudied endemic Malagasy carnivore, the narrow-striped mongoose. We relate our findings to important hypotheses of sociobiological theory. In particular, we evaluate the results in comparison to the closest related taxonomic group, the mongooses (Herpestidae), in which long-term studies have contributed substantially to the recent development of theories. Thus, this study on a representative of a largely unknown group of carnivores can contribute to revealing evolutionary transitions in carnivore sociality as well as insights into the mechanisms driving mammalian social evolution in general.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Albignac R (1976) L’écologie de Mungotictis decemlineata dans les fôrets décidués de l’ouest de Madagascar. Terre Vie 30:347–376

    Google Scholar 

  • Bekoff M, Daniels TJ, Gittleman JL (1984) Life history patterns and the comparative social ecology of carnivores. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 15:191–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Börger L, Franconi N, De Michele G, Gantz A, Meschi F, Manica A, Lovari S, Coulson T (2006) Effects of sampling regime on the mean and variance of home range size estimates. J Anim Ecol 75:1393–1405

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brooke ZM, Bielby J, Nambiar K, Carbone C (2014) Correlates of research effort in carnivores: body size, range size and diet matter. PLoS ONE 9:e93195

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bygott JD, Bertram BCR, Hanby JP (1979) Male lions in large coalitions gain reproductive advantages. Nature 282:839–841

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cant MA, Otali E, Mwanguhya F (2001) Eviction and dispersal in co-operatively breeding banded mongooses (Mungos mungo). J Zool 254:155–162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cant MA, Vitikainen E, Nichols HJ (2013) Demography and social evolution of banded mongooses. Adv Stud Behav 45:407–455

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caro TM, Collins DA (1987) Male cheetah social organization and territoriality. Ethology 74:52–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH (1989) Mammalian mating systems. Proc R Soc Lond B 236:339–372

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH (2002) Breeding together: kin selection and mutualism in cooperative vertebrates. Science 296:69–72

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH (2009a) Structure and function in mammalian societies. Philos T Roy Soc B 364:3229–3242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH (2009b) Cooperation between non-kin in animal societies. Nature 462:51–57

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH, Harvey PH (1977) Primate ecology and social organization. J Zool 183:1–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH, Janson C (2012) Primate socioecology at the crossroads: past, present, and future. Evol Anthropol 21:136–150

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH, Parker GA (1995) Sexual coercion in animal societies. Anim Behav 49:1345–1365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH, Brotherton PNM, Smith R, McIlrath GM, Kansky R, Gaynor D, O’Riain MJ, Skinner JD (1998) Infanticide and expulsion of females in a cooperative mammal. Proc R Soc Lond B 265:2291–2295

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH, Gaynor D, McIlrath GM, Maccoll ADC, Kansky R, Chadwick P, Manser M, Skinner JD, Brotherton PNM (1999a) Predation, group size and mortality in a cooperative mongoose, Suricata suricatta. J Anim Ecol 68:672–683

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH, Maccoll A, Chadwick P, Gaynor D, Kansky R, Skinner JD (1999b) Reproduction and survival of suricates (Suricata suricatta) in the southern Kalahari. Afr J Ecol 37:69–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH, O’Riain MJ, Brotherton PNM, Gaynor D, Kansky R, Griffin AS, Manser M (1999c) Selfish sentinels in cooperative mammals. Science 284:1640–1644

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH, Brotherton PNM, O’Riain MJ, Griffin AS, Gaynor D, Kansky R, Sharpe L, McIlrath GM (2001a) Contributions to cooperative rearing in meerkats. Anim Behav 61:705–710

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH, Brotherton PNM, Russell AF, O’Riain MJ, Gaynor D, Kansky R, Griffin A, Manser M, Sharpe L, McIlrath GM, Small T, Moss A, Monfort S (2001b) Cooperation, control, and concession in meerkat groups. Science 291:478–481

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH, Russell AF, Sharpe LL, Young AJ, Balmforth Z, McIlrath GM (2002) Evolution and development of sex differences in cooperative behavior in meerkats. Science 297:253–256

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Conradt L, Roper TJ (2000) Activity synchrony and social cohesion: a fission-fusion model. Proc R Soc Lond B 267:2213–2218

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Creel SR, Creel NM (1995) Communal hunting and pack size in African wild dogs, Lycaon pictus. Anim Behav 50:1325–1339

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Creel SR, Wildt DE, Monfort SL (1993) Aggression, reproduction, and androgens in wild dwarf mongooses: a test of the challenge hypothesis. Am Nat 141:816–825

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Crook JH (1964) The evolution of social organisation and visual communication in the weaver birds (Ploceinae). Behaviour Suppl 10:1–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Crook JH (1970) Social organization and the environment: aspects of contemporary social ethology. Anim Behav 18:197–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Solla SR, Bonduriansky R, Brooks RJ (1999) Eliminating autocorrelation reduces biological relevance of home range estimates. J Anim Ecol 68:221–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doncaster CP, Macdonald DW (1997) Activity patterns and interactions of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in Oxford city. J Zool 241:73–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ebensperger LA, Cofré H (2001) On the evolution of group-living in the New World cursorial hystricognath rodents. Behav Ecol 12:227–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garber PA, Porter LM, Spross J, Di Fiore A (2015) Tamarins: insights into monogamous and non-monogamous single female social and breeding systems. Am J Primatol 78:298–314

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gilchrist JS (2001) Reproduction and pup care in the communal breeding banded mongoose. University of Cambridge, PhD dissertation

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilchrist JS (2006) Reproductive success in a low skew, communal breeding mammal: the banded mongoose, Mungos mungo. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 60:854–863

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gittleman JL (1989) Carnivore behavior, ecology, and evolution. Cornell University Press, Ithaca

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Graw B, Manser MB (2007) The function of mobbing in cooperative meerkats. Anim Behav 74:507–517

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins CE, Racey PA (2008) Food habits of an endangered carnivore, Cryptoprocta ferox, in the dry deciduous forests of western Madagascar. J Mammal 89:64–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hays WST, Conant S (2003) Male social activity in the small Indian mongoose Herpestes javanicus. Acta Theriol 48:485–494

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hooge PN, Eichenlaub B (2000) Animal movement extension to Arcview, version 2.0. Alaska Science Center-Biological Science Office, U.S. Geological Survey, Anchorage, AK, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Jarman PJ (1974) The social organisation of antelope in relation to their ecology. Behaviour 48:215–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarman PJ (2000) Males in macropod society. In: Kappeler PM (ed) Primate males: causes and consequences of variation in group composition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 21–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson DDP, Kays R, Blackwell PG, Macdonald DW (2002) Does the resource dispersion hypothesis explain group living? Trends Ecol Evol 17:563–570

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kappeler PM, Fichtel C (2012) A 15-year perspective on the social organization and life history of sifaka in Kirindy Forest. In: Kappeler PM, Watts DP (eds) Long-term Field Studies of Primates. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 101–121

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kappeler PM, van Schaik CP (2002) Evolution of primate social systems. Int J Primatol 23:707–740

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kappeler PM, Barrett L, Blumstein DT, Clutton-Brock TH (2013) Constraints and flexibility in mammalian social behaviour: introduction and synthesis. Philos T Roy Soc B 368:20120337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kays RW, Gittleman JL (2001) The social organization of the kinkajou Potos flavus (Procyonidae). J Zool 253:491–504

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keehner JR, Wielgus RB, Maletzke BT, Swanson ME (2015) Effects of male targeted harvest regime on sexual segregation in mountain lion. Biol Conserv 192:42–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kenward RE (2001) A manual for wildlife radio tagging. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Kerth G, Wagner M, König B (2001) Roosting together, foraging apart: information transfer about food is unlikely to explain sociality in female Bechstein’s bats (Myotis bechsteinii). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 50:283–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig A, Scarry CJ, Wheeler BC, Borries C (2013) Variation in grouping patterns, mating systems and social structure: what socio-ecological models attempt to explain. Philos T Roy Soc B 368:20120348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lott DF (1991) Intraspecific variation in the social systems of wild vertebrates. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Lührs M-L, Dammhahn M (2010) An unusual case of cooperative hunting in a solitary carnivore. J Ethol 28:379–383

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lührs M-L, Kappeler PM (2013) Simultaneous GPS tracking reveals male associations in a solitary carnivore. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 67:1731–1743

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lührs M-L, Kappeler PM (2014) Polyandrous mating in treetops: how male competition and female choice interact to determine an unusual carnivore mating system. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 68:879–889

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lührs M-L, Dammhahn M, Kappeler PM (2013) Strength in numbers: males in a carnivore grow bigger when they associate and hunt cooperatively. Behav Ecol 24:21–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lukas D, Clutton-Brock TH (2013) The evolution of social monogamy in mammals. Science 341:526–530

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Macdonald DW (1983) The ecology of carnivore social behaviour. Nature 301:379–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maher CR, Burger JR (2011) Intraspecific variation in space use, group size, and mating systems of caviomorph rodents. J Mammal 92:54–64

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Manser MB (1999) Response of foraging group members to sentinel calls in suricates, Suricata suricatta. Proc R Soc Lond B 266:1013–1019

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marquard MJH, Jeglinski JWE, Razafimahatratra E, Ratovonamana YR, Ganzhorn JU (2011) Distribution, population size and morphometrics of the giant-striped mongoose Galidictis grandidieri Wozencraft 1986 in the sub-arid zone of south-western Madagascar. Mammalia 75:353–361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin P, Bateson P (1993) Measuring behaviour: an introductory guide, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mitani J, Palombit R, Kappeler P, Call J, Silk J (2012) The evolution of primate societies. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Moehlman PD (1989) Intraspecific variation in canid social systems. In: Gittleman JL (ed) Carnivore behavior, ecology, and evolution. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, pp 143–163

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Mohr CO (1947) Table of equivalent populations of North American small mammals. Am Midl Nat 37:223–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Packer C, Gilbert DA, Pusey AE, O’Brien SJ (1991) A molecular genetic analysis of kinship and cooperation in African lions. Nature 351:562–565

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Palomares F, Delibes M (1993) Social organization in the Egyptian mongoose: group size, spatial behavior and inter-individual contacts in adults. Anim Behav 45:917–925

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pereira ME, Kappeler PM (1997) Divergent systems of agonistic behaviour in lemurid primates. Behaviour 134:225–274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinheiro J, Bates D, DebRoy S, Sarkar D (2014) Linear and nonlinear mixed effects models. R package ver. 3.1-118, http://CRAN.R-project.org/package = nlme

    Google Scholar 

  • Prins HHT (1989) Condition changes and choice of social environment in African buffalo bulls. Behaviour 108:297–323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2014) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R foundation for statistical computing, Vienna, http://www.R-project.org/

    Google Scholar 

  • Rasa OAE (1977) The ethology and sociology of the dwarf mongoose (Helogale undulata rufula). Z Tierpsychol 43:337–406

    Google Scholar 

  • Rasa OAE (1987) The dwarf mongoose: a study of behavior and social structure in relation to ecology in a small, social carnivore. Adv Stud Behav 17:121–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasolofoniaina BN (2014) Régime et comportement alimentaire de Mungotictis decemlineata (Grandidier, 1867) pendant la saison sèche dans la forêt dense sèche caducifoliée de Kirindy C.N.F.E.R.E.F. Diploma thesis, Université d’Antananarivo

    Google Scholar 

  • Razafimanantsoa L (2003) In: Goodman SM, Benstead JP (eds) Mungotictis decemlineata, narrow-striped mongoose, Boky-boky. The Natural History of Madagascar Chicago University Press, Chicago, pp 1357–1360

    Google Scholar 

  • Rode KD, Farley SD, Robbins CT (2006) Sexual dimorphism, reproductive strategy, and human activities determine resource use by brown bears. Ecology 87:2636–2646

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rood JP (1983) Banded mongoose rescues pack member from eagle. Anim Behav 31:1261–1262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rood JP (1986) Ecology and social evolution in the mongooses. In: Rubenstein DI, Wrangham RW (eds) Ecological aspects of social evolution: birds and mammals. Princeton University Press, Princeton, pp 131–152

    Google Scholar 

  • Rood JP (1990) Group size, survival, reproduction, and routes to breeding in dwarf mongooses. Anim Behav 39:566–572

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruckstuhl KE, Kokko H (2002) Modelling sexual segregation in ungulates: effects of group size, activity budgets and synchrony. Anim Behav 64:909–914

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruckstuhl KE, Neuhaus P (2002) Sexual segregation in ungulates: a comparative test of three hypotheses. Biol Rev 77:77–96

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sallee KL (2004) Ecological Software Solutions LLC., Urnasch, Switzerland

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandell M (1989) The mating tactics and spacing patterns of solitary carnivores. In: Gittleman JL (ed) Carnivore behavior, ecology and evolution. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, pp 164–182

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider TC, Kappeler PM (2014) Social systems and life-history characteristics of mongooses. Biol Rev 89:173–198

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schoener TW (1981) An empirically based estimate of home range. Theor Popul Biol 20:281–325

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schradin C (2013) Intraspecific variation in social organization by genetic variation, developmental plasticity, social flexibility or entirely extrinsic factors. Philos T Roy Soc B 368:20120346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schradin C, Pillay N (2005) Intraspecific variation in the spatial and social organization of the African striped mouse. J Mammal 86:99–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schradin C, Lindholm AK, Johannesen JES, Schoepf I, Yuen C-H, König B, Pillay N (2012) Social flexibility and social evolution in mammals: a case study of the African striped mouse (Rhabdomys pumilio). Mol Ecol 21:541–553

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sehner S (2014) Characteristics of mating behavior and male–female dominance relationships of the narrow-striped mongoose Mungotictis decemlineata., BSc thesis, University of Göttingen

    Google Scholar 

  • Shultz S, Opie C, Atkinson QD (2011) Stepwise evolution of stable sociality in primates. Nature 479:219–222

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Silverman BW (1986) Density estimation for statistics and data analyses. Chapman and Hall, London

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Small RJ, DeMaster DP (1995) Survival of five species of captive marine mammals. Mar Mamm Sci 11:209–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sorg JP, Rohner U (1996) Climate and tree phenology of the dry deciduous forest of the Kirindy Forest. Primate Rep 46:57

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephens PA, Russell AF, Young AJ JSW, Clutton-Brock TH (2005) Dispersal, eviction, and conflict in meerkats (Suricata suricatta): an evolutionarily stable strategy model. Am Nat 165:120–135

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Struhsaker TT (1969) Correlates of ecology and social organization among African cercopithecines. Folia Primatol 11:80–118

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Swihart RK, Slade NA (1985) Testing for independence of observations in animal movements. Ecology 66:1176–1184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thierry B (2013) Identifying constraints in the evolution of primate societies. Philos T Roy Soc B 368:20120342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trillmich F, Trillmich KGK (1984) The mating systems of pinnipeds and marine iguanas: convergent evolution of polygyny. Biol J Linn Soc 21:209–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Orsdol KG (1984) Foraging behaviour and hunting success of lions in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda. Afr J Ecol 22:79–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Schaik CP (1983) Why are diurnal primates living in groups? Behaviour 87:120–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Schaik CP (2000) Vulnerability to infanticide by males: patterns among mammals. In: van Schaik CP, Janson C (eds) Infanticide by males and its implications. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 61–71

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • van Schaik CP, Kappeler PM (1997) Infanticide risk and the evolution of male–female association in primates. Proc R Soc Lond B 264:1687–1694

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waser PM (1981) Sociality or territorial defense? The influence of resource renewal. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 8:231–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waser PM, Waser MS (1985) Ichneumia albicauda and the evolution of viverrid gregariousness. Z Tierpsychol 68:137–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waser PM, Keane B, Creel SR, Elliott LF, Minchella DJ (1994) Possible male coalitions in a solitary mongoose. Anim Behav 47:289–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wielgus RB, Bunnell FL (1995) Tests of hypotheses for sexual segregation in grizzly bears. J Wildlife Manage 59:552–560

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolf JBW, Kauermann G, Trillmich F (2005) Males in the shade: habitat use and sexual segregation in the Galápagos sea lion (Zalophus californianus wollebaeki). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 59:293–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Worton BJ (1989) Kernel methods for estimating the utilization distribution in home-range studies. Ecology 70:164–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoder AD, Burns MM, Zehr S, Delefosse T, Veron G, Goodman SM, Flynn JJ (2003) Single origin of Malagasy Carnivora from an African ancestor. Nature 421:734–737

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank the German Research Foundation (DFG) for funding (Ka 1082/23-1), Léonard Razafimanantsoa and Rodin Rasoloarison for administrative support and valuable suggestions, Rémy d’Ampataka, Mamy Razafindrasamba, Jean-Pierre Tolojanahary, Tianasoa Andrianjanahary, Nielsen Rabarijaona, Bako Rasolofoniana, Vivica Rieß von Scheurnschloss, and Marissa Weis-Richter for field assistance and help with data collection, the team of the DPZ field station in Kirindy, Tamara Becker for veterinary advice, Luca Pozzi for comments, Cornelia Kraus and Pierre Gras for analytical suggestions, and Sandro Sehner for assistance. We thank Carl Soulsbury and three anonymous reviewers for helpful comments to a previous version of this manuscript. We thank the Département de Biologie Animale de l’Université d’Antananarivo, the Commission Tripartite CAFF, and CNFEREF Morondava for authorization and support of this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociobiology/Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Tilman C. Schneider & Peter M. Kappeler

  2. Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Tilman C. Schneider & Peter M. Kappeler

Authors
  1. Tilman C. Schneider
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peter M. Kappeler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tilman C. Schneider.

Ethics declarations

Funding

This study was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG, KA 1082/23-1).

Conflict of interest

The authors TCS and PMK declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. Research protocols and capture procedures were approved by the Ministry for the Environment, Water and Forests of Madagascar, MINEEF.

This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

Communicated by C. Soulsbury

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1: Table 1

(PDF 19 kb)

ESM 2: Fig. 2

(PDF 108 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Schneider, T.C., Kappeler, P.M. Gregarious sexual segregation: the unusual social organization of the Malagasy narrow-striped mongoose (Mungotictis decemlineata). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 70, 913–926 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-016-2113-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-016-2113-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation