Sickness behaviour reduces network centrality in wild vampire bats

Simon P Ripperger; Sebastian Stockmaier; Gerald G Carter

As a pathogen spreads across a population, sickness behaviours -like lethargy, 38 increased sleep, and reduced movement -can slow pathogen spread, because less socially 39 connected individuals are often less likely to transmit a pathogen [1] [2] [3] . This sickness-induced 40 'social distancing' can be important for modelling pathogen transmission as a social network 41 changes over time (i.e. a dynamic social network [4] ). Tracking the effects of sickness behaviour 42 on a dynamic social network requires large datasets with temporal and spatial resolutions that 43 are high enough to be ecologically useful. Automated tracking of animal associations typically 44 occurs in the lab [1] or at specific field locations such as feeders or nest boxes [2] . Proximity 45 sensors by contrast can measure association times and durations, at high spatial and temporal 46 resolution, among free-ranging animals at any location [5] . Proximity tracking is therefore a 47 potentially powerful tool for understanding how individual sickness behaviour reshapes a social 48 network. 49