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Fission-Fusion

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Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior

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Synonyms

Fission-fusion dynamics; Fusion-fission

Definition

Fission-fusion is a property of many animal groups that split in temporary aggregations or subgroups. First described in hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas; Kummer 1971), it has been found in an ever-larger number of species, including elephants, hyenas, dolphins, chimpanzees, and several other primates. Fission-fusion dynamics, as the term is currently used, consist of the temporal variation in the spatial cohesion between group members, who form subgroups that can also vary in size and composition over time, due to splitting and coming together with other subgroups. Because different species show a different extent of temporal variation in these three dimensions (spatial cohesion, subgroup size, and subgroup composition), they can be characterized by their degree of fission-fusion dynamics (Aureli et al. 2008). Resulting in part from the benefits of foraging in variable environments, these dynamics are an important part of...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CIIDIR Unidad Oaxaca, Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Oaxaca, Mexico

    Gabriel Ramos-Fernandez

  2. Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico, Mexico

    Gabriel Ramos-Fernandez

  3. Instituto de Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico

    Filippo Aureli

  4. Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK

    Filippo Aureli

Authors
  1. Gabriel Ramos-Fernandez
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  2. Filippo Aureli
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gabriel Ramos-Fernandez .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University , Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Jennifer Vonk

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University Department of Psychology, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Durham University, Durham, UK

    Zanna Clay

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Ramos-Fernandez, G., Aureli, F. (2018). Fission-Fusion. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1881-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1881-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

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