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<p>Collective movement dynamics in wild mammals remain less understood than in established model systems such as fish and insects, particularly within the subfamily <i>Antilopinae</i>. Here, we investigated the local interaction rules underlying collective movement in the Tibetan antelope (<i>Pantholops hodgsonii</i>), an endemic high-altitude ungulate inhabiting the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China. Using drone-based aerial videography, trajectory reconstruction, and mechanistic interaction modelling, we quantified neighbour-dependent movement coordination across multiple group sizes. Antelopes exhibited strong alignment along the anteroposterior axis of herd motion and responded rapidly (&lt; 1&#xa0;s) to directional changes of their nearest neighbours. Turning angular speed increased markedly when neighbouring individuals were located outside the focal individual’s binocular visual field, suggesting visually mediated orientation adjustments during collective motion. Interaction patterns were strongly group-size dependent: as group size increased, polarization declined, spatial interaction ranges broadened, and temporal delays in directional coordination became longer, indicating a shift from tighter local alignment toward more spatially distributed coordination dynamics. Our study demonstrates that Tibetan antelopes exhibit rapid visually mediated movement adjustments governed by scale-dependent local interaction rules. These findings extend the generality of self-organized collective movement principles to high-altitude wild ungulate systems and provide mechanistic insight into neighbour-dependent coordination dynamics in free-ranging mammals.</p>

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Inferring the rules of social interaction in moving Tibetan antelopes

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月18日

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  • Qin Zhu,
  • Sile Guo,
  • Tianya Lei,
  • Yigui Zhang,
  • Jian Guan,
  • Shiping Mao,
  • Kunjun Xie,
  • Le Yang,
  • Zhongqiu Li

摘要

Collective movement dynamics in wild mammals remain less understood than in established model systems such as fish and insects, particularly within the subfamily Antilopinae. Here, we investigated the local interaction rules underlying collective movement in the Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii), an endemic high-altitude ungulate inhabiting the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China. Using drone-based aerial videography, trajectory reconstruction, and mechanistic interaction modelling, we quantified neighbour-dependent movement coordination across multiple group sizes. Antelopes exhibited strong alignment along the anteroposterior axis of herd motion and responded rapidly (< 1 s) to directional changes of their nearest neighbours. Turning angular speed increased markedly when neighbouring individuals were located outside the focal individual’s binocular visual field, suggesting visually mediated orientation adjustments during collective motion. Interaction patterns were strongly group-size dependent: as group size increased, polarization declined, spatial interaction ranges broadened, and temporal delays in directional coordination became longer, indicating a shift from tighter local alignment toward more spatially distributed coordination dynamics. Our study demonstrates that Tibetan antelopes exhibit rapid visually mediated movement adjustments governed by scale-dependent local interaction rules. These findings extend the generality of self-organized collective movement principles to high-altitude wild ungulate systems and provide mechanistic insight into neighbour-dependent coordination dynamics in free-ranging mammals.