Synchrony of estrous swelling in captive group-living chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

1985 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janette Wallis
1980 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara D. Edwards ◽  
Charles T. Snowdon

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Palagi ◽  
Ivan Norscia

However despotic a social group may be, managing conflicts of interest is crucial to preserve group living benefits, mainly based on cooperation. In fact, in despotic groups post-conflict management via reconciliation (the first post-conflict reunion between former opponents) can occur, even if at variable levels. In the despotic Lemur catta reconciliation was reported in one out of four captive groups. We used this species as a model to understand what variables influence the occurrence of the reconciliation in despotic groups. We analyzed 2339 PC-MC collected on eight groups (five in the Berenty forest, Madagascar; three hosted at the Pistoia Zoo, Italy). Since Lemur catta is characterized by rigid female dominance but show female-female coalitionary support, we expected to find reconciliation in the wild, other than in captivity. Consistently, we found the phenomenon to be present in one captive group and two wild groups, thus providing the first evidence of the presence of reconciliation in wild Lemur catta. Being this species a seasonal breeder (with mating occurring once a year), we expected that the season more than other variables (wild/captivity setting, rank, or individual features) would influence reconciliation levels. Via GLMM we found that the season was indeed the only variable significantly explaining reconciliation rates, lowest during mating and highest during the pregnancy period. We posit that reconciliation can be present in despotic species but not when the advantages of intra-group cooperation are annihilated by competition, as it occurs in seasonal breeders when reproduction is at stake. By comparing our results with literature, we conclude that in despotic social groups in which coalitions are observed, the right question is not if but when reconciliation can be present.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gal Badihi ◽  
Kelsey Bodden ◽  
Klaus Zuberbühler ◽  
Liran Samuni ◽  
Catherine Hobaiter

ABSTRACTIndividuals of social species face a trade-off between the competitive costs and social benefits of group living. Species show a range of social strategies to deal with this trade-off, for example atomistic fission-fusion dynamics in which temporary social groups of varying size and membership form and re-form; or molecular fission-fusion dynamics which contain stable sets of multilevel nested subgroups. Chimpanzees are considered an archetypical atomistic fission-fusion species, using dynamic changes in day-to-day association to moderate the costs of within-group competition. It has been argued that humans’ highly flexible social organisation allows us to live in extremely large groups. Using four years of association data from two neighbouring communities of East African chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii), we describe new levels of flexibility in chimpanzee social organisation and confirm the presence of subgrouping in a second, large community of chimpanzees. We show that males from the larger Waibira community (N males 24-31) exhibited additional levels of semi-stable subgrouping, while males from the smaller Sonso community (N males 10-13) did not. Subgroup membership showed stability across some years, but flexibility across others. Our data support the hypothesis that chimpanzees can incorporate strategies other than fission-fusion to overcome costs of social living, and that their social organisation may be closer to that of modern humans than previously described.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTSocial living offers benefits and costs; groups can more easily locate and defend resources, but experience increased individual competition. Many species, or individuals, flexibly adjust their social organization when faced with different competitive pressures. It is argued that humans are unique among primates in combining multigroup social organisation with fission-fusion dynamics flexibly within and across groups, and that doing so allows us to live in extremely large groups. Using four-years of association data we show new levels of flexibility in chimpanzee social organization. Males from a typically-sized community employed atomistic fission-fusion dynamics, but males in an unusually large community incorporated additional semi-stable levels of subgrouping. Our data support the hypothesis that chimpanzee males combine social organization strategies, and that doing so may allow them, like humans, to mitigate individual costs at larger community sizes.


Author(s):  
Loïc Pougnault ◽  
Alban Lemasson ◽  
Baptiste Mulot ◽  
Florence Levréro

1968 ◽  
Vol 169 (1015) ◽  
pp. 177-201 ◽  

Although the influence of early social environment on man’s adult personality is now well recognized, little is known about the precise nature of the effects. One reason for this is the ethical impossibility of applying certain experimental techniques to human subjects. The question thus arises, can subhuman primates be used instead? Although they are much used in physiological research, and much is know nabout their learning abilities (e.g. Schrier, Harlow & Stollnitz 1965), only recently have they come to be used to study ‘personality’ development (Harlow & Harlow 1965). There are three main objections to their use: (i) It is argued that man’s superior intellectual capacities indicate that his behavioural development is different in kind from that of monkeys, and that the social factors which influence it have a unique nature. This, however, is a matter for empirical investigation. While it is certainly true in many ways, neither the similarities nor the differences between the psychological development of man and monkeys can be assessed until more is known about both. (ii) The social structures of subhuman species, and hence the social environment of the growing young, differ both among themselves and from those found in human societies. Cross-species generalizations thus demand extreme caution.


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