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Konečná M, Roubová V, Wallner B, Lhota S. The Effect of Maternal Status on Time Budget in Female Barbary Macaques (Macaca sylvanus). INT J PRIMATOL 2023. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-023-00360-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/05/2023]
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de Oliveira Terceiro FE, Willems EP, Araújo A, Burkart JM. Monkey see, monkey feel? Marmoset reactions towards conspecifics' arousal. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:211255. [PMID: 34729211 PMCID: PMC8548797 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2021] [Accepted: 09/29/2021] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Consolation has been observed in several species, including marmoset monkeys, but it is often unclear to what extent they are empathy-based. Marmosets perform well in at least two of three components of empathy-based consolation, namely understanding others and prosociality, but it is unknown to what extent they show matching with others. We, therefore, tested whether non-aroused individuals would become aroused themselves when encountering an aroused group member (indicated by piloerection of the tail). We found a robust contagion effect: group members were more likely to show piloerection themselves after having encountered an aroused versus relaxed conspecific. Moreover, group members offered consolation behaviours (affiliative approaches) towards the aroused fellow group members rather than the latter requesting it. Importantly, this pattern was shown by both aroused and non-aroused individuals, which suggests that they did not do this to reduce their own arousal but rather to console the individual in distress. We conclude that marmosets have all three components of empathy-based consolation. These results are in line with observations in another cooperative breeder, the prairie vole.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco Edvaldo de Oliveira Terceiro
- Department of Physiology and Behaviour, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, PO Box 1511, Campus Universitário, 59078-970 Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
- Department of Anthropology, Universität Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Erik P. Willems
- Department of Anthropology, Universität Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Arrilton Araújo
- Department of Physiology and Behaviour, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, PO Box 1511, Campus Universitário, 59078-970 Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
| | - Judith M. Burkart
- Department of Anthropology, Universität Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
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Stocker M, Loretto MC, Sterck EHM, Bugnyar T, Massen JJM. Cooperation with closely bonded individuals reduces cortisol levels in long-tailed macaques. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2020; 7:191056. [PMID: 32537186 PMCID: PMC7277283 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.191056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2019] [Accepted: 04/14/2020] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Many animal species cooperate with conspecifics in various social contexts. While ultimate causes of cooperation are being studied extensively, its proximate causes, particularly endocrine mechanisms, have received comparatively little attention. Here, we present a study investigating the link between the hormone cortisol, cooperation and social bonds in long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis). We tested 14 macaques in a dyadic cooperation task (loose-string paradigm), each with two partners of different social bond strength and measured their salivary cortisol before and after the task. We found no strong link between the macaques' cortisol level before the task and subsequent cooperative success. By contrast, we did find that the act of cooperating in itself led to a subsequent decrease in cortisol levels, but only when cooperating with closely bonded individuals. Two control conditions showed that this effect was not due to the mere presence of such an individual or the pulling task itself. Consequently, our study shows an intricate way in which the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is involved in cooperation. Future studies should reveal whether and how our findings are driven by the anxiolytic effect of oxytocin, which has been associated with social bonding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martina Stocker
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Animal Science Department, Biomedical Primate Research Centre, Rijswijk, The Netherlands
| | - Matthias-Claudio Loretto
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Elisabeth H. M. Sterck
- Animal Science Department, Biomedical Primate Research Centre, Rijswijk, The Netherlands
- Animal Ecology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Thomas Bugnyar
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Jorg J. M. Massen
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Animal Ecology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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Rincon AV, Ostner J, Heistermann M, Deschner T. Measuring urinary cortisol and testosterone levels in male Barbary macaques: A comparison of EIA and LC-MS. Gen Comp Endocrinol 2019; 281:117-125. [PMID: 31145893 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2019.05.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2018] [Revised: 04/04/2019] [Accepted: 05/26/2019] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
The development of methods to quantify hormones from non-invasively collected samples such as urine or feces has facilitated endocrinology research on wild-living animals. To ensure that hormone measurements are biologically meaningful, method validations are strongly recommended for each new species or sample matrix. Our aim was to validate three commonly used enzyme immunoassays (EIA), one for analysis of cortisol and two for analysis of testosterone, to assess adrenocortical and gonadal endocrine activity, respectively, from the urine of male Barbary macaques. We compared EIA and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) results to determine if the EIA measurements truly reflect levels of the target hormone and to determine if antibody cross-reactivities with other steroids were potentially confounding results. Furthermore, we conducted a biological validation of testosterone to ensure that both EIA and LC-MS were able to capture physiologically meaningful differences in hormone levels. We found that cortisol measured by EIA correlated strongly with cortisol measured by LC-MS in both adult and immature males, without the need for deconjugation of steroids in the urine. Both testosterone EIAs correlated strongly with LC-MS in adult males, but only if steroids in the urine were deconjugated by enzymatic hydrolysis prior to analysis. However, in immature males, EIA and LC-MS results did not correlate significantly. Further correlation analyses suggest this is likely due to cross-reactivity of the testosterone antibodies with other adrenal steroids such as cortisol, DHEA, and likely others, which are present at much higher concentrations relative to testosterone in immature males. Testosterone levels were significantly higher in adult compared to immature males as measured by LC-MS but not as measured by EIA. Taken together, our results suggest that the testosterone EIAs are suitable to assess gonadal activity in adult but not immature males, and only if a hydrolysis of the urine is conducted prior to analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan V Rincon
- Department of Behavioral Ecology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany; Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, Goettingen, Germany.
| | - Julia Ostner
- Department of Behavioral Ecology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany; Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, Goettingen, Germany; Research Group Social Evolution in Primates, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Michael Heistermann
- Endocrinology Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Tobias Deschner
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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Schrock AE, Leard C, Lutz MC, Meyer JS, Gazes RP. Aggression and social support predict long-term cortisol levels in captive tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus [Sapajus] apella). Am J Primatol 2019; 81:e23001. [PMID: 31180152 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2019] [Revised: 05/02/2019] [Accepted: 05/14/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Many nonhuman primates live in complex social groups in which they regularly encounter both social stressors such as aggression and social support such as that provided by long-term affiliative relationships. Repeated exposure to social stressors may result in chronically elevated cortisol levels that can have deleterious physical effects such as impaired immune function, cardiovascular disease, and reduced brain function. In contrast, affiliative social relationships may act as a buffer, dampening the release of cortisol in response to acute and chronic stressors. Understanding how social stressors and social support predict cortisol levels is therefore essential to understanding how social situations relate to health and welfare. We studied this relationship in 16 socially housed captive brown capuchin monkeys (Cebus [Sapajus] apella) by comparing long-term hair cortisol levels with behavioral measures of social stress (dominance rank, rank certainty, and amount of aggression received) and social support (amount of affiliation and centrality in the affiliative social network of the group). Dominance rank, rank certainty, amount of affiliation, and age were not significant predictors of long-term cortisol levels in this population. Instead, long-term cortisol levels were positively related to the amount of aggression received and negatively related to centrality in the affiliative social network of the group. This pattern may be attributed to the species' socially tolerant dominance system and to the availability of social support across the dominance hierarchy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allie E Schrock
- Program in Animal Behavior, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
| | - Corinne Leard
- Program in Animal Behavior, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
| | - Meredith C Lutz
- Program in Animal Behavior and Department of Mathematics, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.,Animal Behavior Graduate Group, University of California, Davis, California
| | - Jerrold S Meyer
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts
| | - Regina Paxton Gazes
- Department of Psychology and Program in Animal Behavior, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
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Schillaci MA, Lintlop J, Sumra M, Pizarro M, Jones-Engel L. Hair cortisol and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) from Gibraltar. RAPID COMMUNICATIONS IN MASS SPECTROMETRY : RCM 2019; 33:831-838. [PMID: 30741464 PMCID: PMC8055468 DOI: 10.1002/rcm.8413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2018] [Revised: 01/31/2019] [Accepted: 02/04/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE Prolonged exposure to the stress hormone cortisol can precipitate a catabolic state in animals resulting in a negative nitrogen balance and increased excreted nitrogen, possibly affecting stable nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios in animal tissues. Here we test the hypothesis that stress, as measured by hair cortisol, is a significant contributor to variation in δ15 N and δ13 C values in hair. The results of the present study have important implications for the use of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios measured in animal and human tissues to make inferences regarding feeding ecology and diet. METHODS Samples containing roughly 10-20 hairs (approx. 4-6 cm long) were collected from 49 free ranging macaque monkeys (Macaca sylvanus) in Gibraltar. Hair samples were analyzed for stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes by continuous-flow isotope-ratio mass spectrometry. Cortisol extracted from matched hair samples was measured using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Cortisol and stable isotope ratios were compared statistically using nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests, as well as Spearman correlation. RESULTS Correlation analysis revealed that although hair δ15 N and δ13 C values were significantly correlated with each other, neither was correlated with cortisol concentrations. Cortisol concentrations were not correlated with age-adjusted body mass index. Age category was correlated with δ13 C values but not with δ15 N values. CONCLUSIONS The results of our study suggest that the cumulative stress experienced by these macaques under typical social and environmental conditions is not a significant contributor to variation in δ15 N and δ13 C values, nor does it have a significant effect on relative body mass.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael A Schillaci
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Jessica Lintlop
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Monika Sumra
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Mark Pizarro
- Gibraltar Veterinary Clinic, Rosio Bay, Gibraltar, GX11 1|AA, Gibraltar
| | - Lisa Jones-Engel
- Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Box 353100, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA
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Beehner JC, Bergman TJ. The next step for stress research in primates: To identify relationships between glucocorticoid secretion and fitness. Horm Behav 2017; 91:68-83. [PMID: 28284709 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2017.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2016] [Revised: 03/01/2017] [Accepted: 03/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Glucocorticoids are hormones that mediate the energetic demands that accompany environmental challenges. It is therefore not surprising that these metabolic hormones have come to dominate endocrine research on the health and fitness of wild populations. Yet, several problems have been identified in the vertebrate research that also apply to the non-human primate research. First, glucocorticoids should not be used as a proxy for fitness (unless a link has previously been established between glucocorticoids and fitness for a particular population). Second, stress research in behavioral ecology has been overly focused on "chronic stress" despite little evidence that chronic stress hampers fitness in wild animals. Third, research effort has been disproportionately focused on the causes of glucocorticoid variation rather than the fitness consequences. With these problems in mind, we have three objectives for this review. We describe the conceptual framework behind the "stress concept", emphasizing that high glucocorticoids do not necessarily indicate a stress response, and that a stress response does not necessarily indicate an animal is in poor health. Then, we conduct a comprehensive review of all studies on "stress" in wild primates, including any study that examined environmental factors, the stress response, and/or fitness (or proxies for fitness). Remarkably, not a single primate study establishes a connection between all three. Finally, we provide several recommendations for future research in the field of primate behavioral endocrinology, primarily the need to move beyond identifying the factors that cause glucocorticoid secretion to additionally focus on the relationship between glucocorticoids and fitness. We believe that this is an important next step for research on stress physiology in primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacinta C Beehner
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States; Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States.
| | - Thore J Bergman
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States
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Sonnweber RS, Massen JJM, Fitch WT. Post-copulatory grooming: a conditional mating strategy? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-015-1987-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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