Abstract
We report the first record of mutual allogrooming in free-ranging wild northern red muntjac (Muntiacus vaginalis) from dense tropical forests of Similipal Tiger Reserve, Odisha, India. This observation is similar to reciprocal allogrooming behaviour between social partners, reported only in Impala (Aepyceros melampus) in free-ranging conditions. We video-recorded cooperative allogrooming between two female (one adult and another juvenile) northern red muntjacs. Behavioural quantification suggests that although both individuals exchanged equal numbers of grooming bouts, the adult female received a greater share of grooming time and episodes, respectively. The time spent on grooming as well as the number of tongue strokes delivered were found to be negatively correlated between the two individuals. The grooming pattern could possibly be attributed to kin selection and detailed work is required to understand this behaviour in this poorly-studied primitive deer. Our record indicates the possible existence of cooperative allogrooming in other ungulates of the Order Artiodactyla.
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Acknowledgements
We want to thank Odisha Forest Department for providing necessary permission (Letter no: 10451/4WL-630/2018) and logistic support during the fieldwork. Funding for this work has been provided by National Tiger Conservation Authority, Government of India through the Odisha Forest Department. We thank Dr. Manoj Nair from the Odisha Forest Department for all his academic and logistic support during this work. We also thank the Director, Dean, and Research Co-ordinator of the Wildlife Institute of India for providing us with facilities and infrastructure. We greatly acknowledge Dr. Michael Mooring and Dr. Neha Awasthi for providing their valuable inputs on the observation. A special thanks to Mr. Shrey Dandriyal for help in data organization and Mr. Budhram Naik and the frontline staff of Similipal Tiger Reserve for assistance in the field.
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Rathore, H.S., Pati, J., Pandav, B. et al. First record of mutual allogrooming in wild northern red muntjac Muntiacus Vaginalis. acta ethol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-024-00441-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-024-00441-z