PRACTICE doesn’t make perfect for duelling meerkats. Vigorous play fighting as a pup does not improve a meerkat’s chances in important adult battles, dispelling the most popular theory to explain youthful brawls.
As juveniles, many animals indulge in dangerous and energetically costly battles with litter-mates or other youngsters. Biologists have often assumed the rationale behind this play fighting is to develop the motor skills and coordination necessary for successful adult fights.
For meerkats the stakes are particularly high as only the dominant male-female pair in a colony gets to breed. The others are condemned to mere nest attendant duties.
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Lynda Sharpe at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, studied a population of wild meerkats in the southern Kalahari desert in South Africa from 1996 to 2002. She followed 18 pairs of same-sex litter-mates, recording the number, frequency and outcome of play fights and the individuals’ ultimate status within the group as an adult.
She found that young meerkats who played frequently were no more likely to win play fights, adult fights or become a member of the dominant pair. Furthermore, meerkats showed no sign of improvement with extra play sessions (Animal Behaviour, DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2004.07.013).
Sharpe believes that while play fighting may not produce highly trained combatants it could have an important role in brain development.
