A Self-Organising Model of Thermoregulatory Huddling

PLoS Computational Biology
Jonathan GlancyStuart P Wilson

Abstract

Endotherms such as rats and mice huddle together to keep warm. The huddle is considered to be an example of a self-organising system, because complex properties of the collective group behaviour are thought to emerge spontaneously through simple interactions between individuals. Groups of rodent pups display two such emergent properties. First, huddling undergoes a 'phase transition', such that pups start to aggregate rapidly as the temperature of the environment falls below a critical temperature. Second, the huddle maintains a constant 'pup flow', where cooler pups at the periphery continually displace warmer pups at the centre. We set out to test whether these complex group behaviours can emerge spontaneously from local interactions between individuals. We designed a model using a minimal set of assumptions about how individual pups interact, by simply turning towards heat sources, and show in computer simulations that the model reproduces the first emergent property--the phase transition. However, this minimal model tends to produce an unnatural behaviour where several smaller aggregates emerge rather than one large huddle. We found that an extension of the minimal model to include heat exchange between pups allows the grou...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jan 2, 2018·Royal Society Open Science·Stuart P Wilson
Dec 27, 2016·Royal Society Open Science·Jonathan GlancyStuart P Wilson
Jul 25, 2019·FASEB Journal : Official Publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology·Daniel S SindenGeoffrey S Pitt
Jun 3, 2021·Animals : an Open Access Journal From MDPI·Lindsey A RobbinsBrianna N Gaskill

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Software Mentioned

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