Abstract
SOCIAL animals may have group ‘leaders’ which respond to external stimuli more rapidly than do other individuals, and thereby influence the behaviour of the whole group. Allee et al.1 described leaders in a flock of pekin ducks, but noted only the frequency with which specific individuals led the rest of the group. Apparently no one has investigated ordering among the ‘followers’, so that it is not known whether the rest of a group tends to follow the leader in a definable sequence.
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References
Allee, W. C., et al., Ecology, 28, 309 (1947).
Gilbert, B. K., thesis, Duke University (1964).
Shannon, C. E., The Mathematical Theory of Communication (University of Illinois Press, 1949).
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GILBERT, B., HAILMAN, J. Uncertainty of Leadership-rank in Fallow Deer. Nature 209, 1041–1042 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1038/2091041a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2091041a0
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