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A herd is a large group of animals. The term is usually applied to mammals, particularly ungulates. Other terms are used for similar phenomena in other types of animal. For example, a large group of birds is usually called a flock (this may also refer to certain mammals as well) and a large group of carnivores is usually called a pack. In addition, special collective nouns may be used for particular taxa: for example a flock of geese, if not in flight, is sometimes called a gaggle. However, in theoretical discussions in behavioural ecology, the generic term "herd" is used for all these kinds of assemblage. A herd may also refer to one that tends and cares for such groups (i.e. shepherds tend to sheep, and goatherds tend to goats, etc.). Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Wiktionary (from wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 150 languages. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (3615x2380, 2559 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Wildebeest Herd ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (3615x2380, 2559 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Wildebeest Herd ...
Species Connochaetes gnou Connochaetes taurinus The wildebeest (plural, wildebeest or wildebeests), also called the gnu (pronounced or ), is an antelope of the genus Connochaetes. ...
from http://arglist. ...
from http://arglist. ...
Binomial name Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) The Canada Goose (Branta canadensis), colloquially Canadian Goose in North America, belongs to the Branta genus of geese, which contains species with largely black plumage, distinguishing them from the grey Anser species. ...
Herd may refer to: Bachelor herd, gatherings of juvenile male animals who are still sexually immature David Herd, disambiguation Fred Herd, Scottish professional golfer from St Andrews Herd, large group of animals Herd behavior, situations in which a group of individuals react coherently without there being any co-ordination between...
Families 17, See classification The diverse order Carnivora (IPA: or IPA: ; from Latin carÅ (stem carn-) flesh, + vorÄre to devour) includes over 260 placental mammals. ...
A gaggle of Canada geese A gaggle is a term that is sometimes used to describe a flock of geese that isnt in flight. ...
When an association of animals (or, by extension, people) is described as a "herd", the implication is that the group tends to act together (for example, all moving in the same direction at a given time), but that this does not occur as a result of planning or co-ordination. Rather, each individual is choosing behaviour that corresponds to that of the majority of other members, possibly through imitation or possibly because all are responding to the same external circumstances. A herd can be contrasted with a co-ordinated group where individuals have distinct roles. Many human groupings, such as an army detachments or sports teams, show such co-ordination and differentiation of roles, but so do some animal groupings such as those of eusocial insects, which are co-ordinated through pheromones and other forms of animal communication. Conversely, some human groupings may behave more like herds. Eusociality is the phenomenon of reproductive specialisation found in some species of animal, whereby a specialised caste carries out reproduction in a colony of non-reproductive animals. ...
Fanning honeybee exposes Nasonov gland (white-at tip of abdomen) releasing pheromone to entice swarm into an empty hive A pheromone is any chemical or set of chemicals produced by a living organism that transmits a message to other members of the same species. ...
Animal communication is any behaviour on the part of one animal that has an effect on the current or future behaviour of another animal. ...
Why do animals herd?
The question of why animals group together is one of the most fundamental in sociobiology and behavioural ecology. As noted above, the term "herd" is most commonly used of grazing animals such as ungulates, and in these cases it is believed that the strongest selective pressure leading to herding rather than a solitary existence is protection against predators. There is clearly a tradeoff involved, since on the one hand a predator may hesitate to attack a large group of animals, while on the other a large group offers an easily detected target. It is generally believed that the most important protective factor is risk dilution - even if a predator attacks the herd, the risk for any individual that it will be the victim is greatly reduced. In the case of predators, it is often unclear whether the term "herd" is appropriate, since there may be some degree of co-ordination or role differentiation in group hunting. Predator groups are commonly smaller than grazing groups, since although a pack may be more effective at pulling down prey than a single animal, the prey then has to be shared between all members, so that the weaker animals will often be better off hunting smaller prey on their own. Sociobiology is a synthesis of scientific disciplines that explains behaviour in all species by considering the evolutionary advantages of social behaviours. ...
Behavioral ecology (US spelling) or behavioural ecology (UK spelling) is the study of the ecological and evolutionary basis for animal behavior, and the roles of behavior in enabling animals to adapt to their ecological niches. ...
The structure of herds A herd is by definition relatively unstructured. However, there may be one or a few animals which tend to be imitated by the rest of the members of the herd more than others. An animal taking this role is called a "control animal", since its behaviour will predict that of the herd as a whole. It cannot be assumed, however, that the control animal is deliberately taking a leadership role. Control animals are not necessarily, or even usually, those that are socially dominant in conflict situations. Image File history File links Formation_flight. ...
Image File history File links Formation_flight. ...
A dominance hierarchy is an organizational form by which individuals within a community control the distribution of resources (goods and services) within the community. ...
Domestic herds Domestic animal herds are assembled by humans for practicality in raising them and controlling them. Their behaviour may be quite different from that of wild herds of the same or related species, since both their composition (in terms of the distribution of age and sex within the herd) and their history (in terms of when and how the individuals joined the herd) are likely to be very different.
Human parallels The term herd is also applied metaphorically to human beings in social psychology, with the concept of herd behaviour. However both the term and concepts that underlie its use are controversial. The term is often used carelessly and applied to a range of situations that have little in common either with each other or with the behaviour of animals in herds. It will be clear from the discussion above that the correct usage would be for situations where apparently organised behaviour results from a group of unco-ordinated people acting in imitation of one another. The scope of social psychological research. ...
Herd behaviour is the term used to describe situations in which the individuals of any particular group react coherently. ...
The term has acquired a semi-technical usage in behavioral finance to describe the largest group of market investors or market speculators who tend to 'move with the market,' or 'follow the general market trend.' This is at least a plausible example of genuine herding, though according to some researchers it results from rational decisions through processes such as information cascade and rational expectations. Other researchers, however, ascribe it to non-rational process such as mimicry, fear and greed contagion. "Contrarians" or contrarian investors are those who deliberately choose to invest or speculate counter to the "herd". Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel winner Daniel Kahneman, was an important figure in the development of behavioral finance and economics and continues to write extensively in the field. ...
The word investor may refer to: A person who makes investments Investor AB, a Swedish investment company institutional investor corporate investor This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ...
Speculation is the buying, holding, and selling of stocks, commodities, futures, currencies, collectibles, real estate, or any valuable thing to profit from fluctuations in its price as opposed to buying it for use or for income - dividends, rent etc. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Informational Cascade. ...
Rational expectations is a theory in economics originally proposed by John F. Muth (1961) and later developed by Robert E. Lucas Jr. ...
A mimic is any species that has evolved to appear similar to another successful species in order to dupe predators into avoiding the mimic, or dupe prey into approaching the mimic. ...
The term contagion may refer to: Disease Virus Pandemic The Star Trek:The Next Generation episode Contagion The transmission of financial crises across countries (e. ...
In finance, a contrarian takes the view that widespread pessimism tends to lead to market rallies and that widespread optimism tends to lead to market slumps. ...
The word investor may refer to: A person who makes investments Investor AB, a Swedish investment company institutional investor corporate investor This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ...
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