From Caves to the Savannah, the Mitogenome History of Modern Lions (Panthera leo) and Their Ancestors.

Lions (Panthera leo) play a crucial ecological role in shaping and maintaining fragile ecosystems within Africa. Conservation efforts should focus on genetic variability within wild populations when considering reintroduction attempts. We studied two groups of lions from two conservation sites located in Zambia and Zimbabwe to determine their genetic make-up, information that is usually unknown to the sites. In this study, we analysed 17 specimens for cytb and seven microsatellite markers to ascertain family relationships and genetic diversity previously obtained by observational studies. We then produced a standardised haplogroup phylogeny using all available entire mitogenomes, as well as calculating a revised molecular clock. The modern lion lineage diverged ~151 kya and was divided into two subspecies, both containing three distinct haplogroups. We confirm that Panthera leo persica is not a subspecies, but rather a haplogroup of the northern P.l. leo that exited Africa at least ~31 kya. The progenitor to all lions existed ~1.2 Mya, possibly in SE Africa, and later exited Africa and split into the two cave lion lineages ~175 kya. Species demography is correlated to major climactic events. We now have a detailed phylogeny of lion evolution and an idea of their conservation status given the threat of climate change.

An assessment of African lion Panthera leo sociality via social network analysis: prerelease monitoring for an ex situ reintroduction program.

The wild population of the African lion Panthera leo continues to decline, requiring alternate conservation programs to be considered. One such program is ex situ reintroduction. Prior to release, long-term monitoring and assessment of behavior is required to determine whether prides and coalitions behave naturally and are sufficiently adapted to a wild environment. Social network analysis (SNA) can be used to provide insight into how the pride as a whole and individuals within it, function. Our study was conducted upon 2 captive-origin prides who are part of an ex situ reintroduction program, and 1 wild pride of African lion. Social interactions were collected at all occurrence for each pride and categorized into greet, social grooming, play, and aggression. Betweenness centrality showed that offspring in each pride were central to the play network, whereas degree indicated that adults received (indegree) the greatest number of overall social interactions, and the adult males of each pride were least likely to initiate (outdegree) any interactions. Through the assessment of individual centrality and degree values, a social keystone adult female was identified for each pride. Social network results indicated that the 2 captive-origin prides had formed cohesive social units and possessed relationships and behaviors comparable with the wild pride for the studied behaviors. This study provided the first SNA comparison between captive-bred origin and a wild pride of lions, providing valuable information on individual and pride sociality, critical for determining the success of prides within an ex situ reintroduction program.

Behavioral correlates between daily activity and sociality in wild and captive origin African lions.

Study of behavioral correlations within and across populations has long been of interest to ethologists. An exploration of behavioral correlations between sociality and behavior of African lions (Panthera leo) was undertaken to examine if this approach is better able to reveal important aspects of lion behavior not easily discernible by looking at these behaviors separately. Resting behavior and received play interactions were correlated in 2 captive-origin prides and one wild pride, attributable to the involvement of cubs and sub-adults. Direct and exploratory movement was negatively correlated with groom centrality in 2 of the 3 prides, due to adults engaging in high levels of both of these activities. Exploration of these behavioral correlations highlighted the differences between age-groups in activity and sociality, facilitating the understanding of the complex behavior and interactions of lions. In addition, the finding of similar behavioral correlations between captive-origin and the wild prides provides confidence in the suitability if captive-origin candidates for ex-situ release. This is imperative to ensure the success of sub-groups and prides under an ex-situ reintroduction program.

A social network analysis of social cohesion in a constructed pride: implications for ex situ reintroduction of the African lion (Panthera leo).

Animal conservation practices include the grouping of captive related and unrelated individuals to form a social structure which is characteristic of that species in the wild. In response to the rapid decline of wild African lion (Panthera leo) populations, an array of conservational strategies have been adopted. Ex situ reintroduction of the African lion requires the construction of socially cohesive pride structures prior to wild release. This pilot study adopted a social network theory approach to quantitatively assess a captive pride's social structure and the relationships between individuals within them. Group composition (who is present in a group) and social interaction data (social licking, greeting, play) was observed and recorded to assess social cohesion within a released semi-wild pride. UCINET and SOCPROG software was utilised to represent and analyse these social networks. Results indicate that the pride is socially cohesive, does not exhibit random associations, and the role of socially influential keystone individuals is important for maintaining social bondedness within a lion pride. These results are potentially informative for the structure of lion prides, in captivity and in the wild, and could have implications for captive and wild-founder reintroductions.

'They seem to think "we're better than you"': framing football support as a matter of 'national identity' in Scotland and England.

Within social psychology, studies of the nation have typically been understood in terms of national identity. Criticisms have been made of the tendency to conflate 'being' a member of a national category with psychological attachment to the group and its members. Furthermore, ethnomethodologically informed approaches have argued that little has been said about when and how social actors frame matters as one of national identity. Taking the example of national football support, this study considers the circumstances under which football may be cast as a matter of national identity, and when such ascriptions are resisted. Interviews were conducted with participants born and resident in England and Scotland, whereas in Scotland national football support is treated as a matter of national identity for Scottish and English people, in England it is separated from a collective sense of English identity. Adopting a discursive analytic stance, this study examines the internal and external attribution of national stereotypes and considers their role in managing issues of social causality, justification of in-group behaviour, and the differentiation of national groups.

Imagine: towards an integrated and applied social psychology.

This commentary does not aim to engage with the epistemological and ontological technicalities of the discursive psychology maintained by epistemological constructionism and discursive psychology reliant on ontological constructionism approaches that form the basis of the two papers under discussion; other commentators, both in this issue and in the future, are likely to do that. Instead, this commentary aims to situate both papers within a broader frame of contemporary, primarily British social psychology, to ponder the circumstances that gave rise to them and their implications for social psychologists, discursive and non-discursive, alike. We have organized this commentary into two parts. The first part considers two simple questions. First, why does Corcoran critique DPEC for failing to do things that other discursive approaches provide for? And, second, why does Corcoran take DPEC research to task for having too little potential for or made too little contribution to improving the lives and subjectivities of people in general? These two questions are not unrelated, but for clarity's sake we will try to answer them separately. The second part of this commentary will consider the influence of discursive psychology on social psychology more generally.

'They're not racist ...' prejudice denial, mitigation and suppression in dialogue.

Social scientific work on the suppression, mitigation or denial of prejudiced attitudes has tended to focus on the strategic self-presentation and self-monitoring undertaken by individual social actors on their own behalf. In this paper, we argue that existing perspectives might usefully be extended to incorporate three additional considerations. First, that social actors may, on some occasions, act to defend not only themselves, but also others from charges of prejudice. Second, that over the course of any social encounter, interactants may take joint responsibility for policing conversation and for correcting and suppressing the articulation of prejudiced talk. Third, that a focus on the dialogic character of conversation affords an appreciation of the ways in which the status of any particular utterance, action or event as 'racist' or 'prejudiced' may constitute a social accomplishment. Finally, we note the logical corollary of these observations - that in everyday life, the occurrence of 'racist discourse' is likely to represent a collaborative accomplishment, the responsibility for which is shared jointly between the person of the speaker and those other co-present individuals who occasion, reinforce or simply fail to suppress it.