Leadership also increases stress in animals

A study conducted at the University of Zurich has shown that when animals make decisions for their group, their hearts beat faster. This is particularly the case when members of the group do not agree on how to proceed or when individuals fail in their attempts to lead the group, Damien Farine, one of the researchers at the University of Zurich and author of the study, published on Tuesday in the journal Current Biology, told the Keystone-SDA news agency. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox To carry out their research, the team from the University of Zurich implanted heart rate monitors in a group of vulturine guinea fowl from East Africa. They specifically studied the direction in which the animals moved. The guinea fowl that wanted to change direction had a faster heart rate. Those that tried to initiate a change of direction but failed showed particularly high stress symptoms. Humans too "This species of bird is well suited to such a study because it is ...