Triadic Relationships Among Hyenas
Source: https://www.futurity.org/hyenas-social-networks-922882/
This article discusses the behavior of the social networks of hyenas, connecting our findings from class to the natural world. Hyena relationships function similarly to how we grow our friendship network on Facebook, for instance. Although hyenas typically stay in large stable clans comprised of often at least a hundred, they prefer to bond only with friends and friends of friends. Hyenas, being able to discern who is connected to their maternal and paternal kin, also seem to be selective in who they form relationships with. Males and females also differ in their “rules” for forming relationships. Although males tend to stick to stable rules, females’ preferences change over time. For example, they may care about social rank at some point, but then later consider other factors such as environmental or genetic. Since females are dominant over males in the social structure of hyenas, they also have a lot of flexibility in their preferences.
This relates to the triadic closure property and the network exchange theory that we went over in class. The triadic closure property states that if two instances share a strong tie with a specific instance, these two instances will also share some sort of tie, which is a pattern observed in hyenas’ social interactions according to this article. Hyenas form clusters of friendships comprised of a network of mutual friends. The network exchange theory covered in class relates power and certain nodes’ influence in networks. This article mentions that female hyenas have the most power since they have the most connections. This allows them to be more flexible in their bonding preferences. On the other hand, when male hyenas tend to disperse, they are introduced to new networks, making them often have a low social rank since they don’t have as many connections. Overall, studying hyenas have helped scientists gain an understanding of how other species may form relationships and cooperate as well.