1
|
Sánchez-Amaro A, Ball R, Rossano F. Gibbon strategies in a food competition task. Sci Rep 2021; 11:9312. [PMID: 33927301 PMCID: PMC8085081 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-88804-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Social primates face conflicts of interest with other partners when their individual and collective interests collide. Despite living in small, primarily bonded, groups compared to other social primates, gibbons are not exempt from these conflicts in their everyday lives. In the current task, we asked whether dyads of gibbons would solve a conflict of interest over food rewards. We presented dyads of gibbons with a situation in which they could decide whether to take an active role and pull a handle to release food rewards at a distance or take a passive role and avoid action. In this situation, the passive partner could take an advantageous position to obtain the rewards over the active partner. Gibbons participated in three conditions: a control condition with no food rewards, a test condition with indirect food rewards and a test condition with direct food rewards. In both test conditions, five rewards were released at a distance from the handle. In addition, the active individual could obtain one extra food reward from the handle in the direct food condition. We found that gibbons acted more often in the two conditions involving food rewards, and waited longer in the indirect compared to the direct food condition, thus suggesting that they understood the task contingencies. Surprisingly, we found that in a majority of dyads, individuals in the active role obtained most of the payoff compared to individuals in the passive role in both food conditions. Furthermore, in some occasions individuals in the active role did not approach the location where the food was released. These results suggest that while gibbons may strategize to maximize benefits in a competitive food task, they often allowed their partners to obtain better rewards. Our results highlight the importance of social tolerance and motivation as drivers promoting cooperation in these species.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Sánchez-Amaro
- grid.266100.30000 0001 2107 4242Department of Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, USA ,grid.419518.00000 0001 2159 1813Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Robert Ball
- grid.266100.30000 0001 2107 4242Department of Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, USA ,grid.212340.60000000122985718The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, USA
| | - Federico Rossano
- grid.266100.30000 0001 2107 4242Department of Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Yi Y, Kim Y, Hikmat A, Choe JC. Information transfer through food from parents to offspring in wild Javan gibbons. Sci Rep 2020; 10:714. [PMID: 31959761 PMCID: PMC6971262 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-57021-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2019] [Accepted: 12/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The adaptive functions of food transfer from parents to their offspring have been explained mainly by two mutually non-exclusive hypotheses: the nutritional and informational hypotheses. In this study, we examined the functions of food transfer in wild Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch) by testing these hypotheses from both infants’ and mothers’ perspectives. We observed 83 cases of food solicitations that resulted in 54 occasions of food transfers in three groups over a 19-month period in Gunung Halimun-Salak National Park, Indonesia. Infants initiated all solicitations directed at their mothers with one solicitation towards a father. Food solicitation rate decreased as infant age increased and ceased before weaning. As predicted by the informational hypothesis, infants solicited more food items difficult to obtain and preferred by their parents. On the contrary to the nutritional hypothesis, infants solicited low-quality items more often than high-quality items. Mothers did not change probability of food transfer according to the food characteristics or infant age. Hence, our results suggest that the primary function of food transfer from mother to infant Javan gibbons seems to be information transfer rather than nutritional aids, similarly to great apes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yoonjung Yi
- Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology, Interdisciplinary Program of EcoCreative, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, 03760, Republic of Korea
| | - Yena Kim
- Cognitive Psychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, 2333 AK, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Agus Hikmat
- Department of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecotourism, Faculty of Forestry, Bogor Agricultural University, Bogor, 16680, West Java, Indonesia
| | - Jae C Choe
- Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology, Department of Life Sciences and Division of EcoScience, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, 03760, Republic of Korea.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Wright BM, Stredulinsky EH, Ellis GM, Ford JK. Kin-directed food sharing promotes lifetime natal philopatry of both sexes in a population of fish-eating killer whales, Orcinus orca. Anim Behav 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.02.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
|
4
|
Burns BL, Judge DS. The varied path to adulthood: Plasticity in developmental timing in hylobatids. Am J Primatol 2015; 78:610-25. [DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2015] [Revised: 12/06/2015] [Accepted: 12/14/2015] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Belinda L. Burns
- School of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology M309; The University of Western Australia; Crawley WA Australia
| | - Debra S. Judge
- School of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology M309; The University of Western Australia; Crawley WA Australia
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
|
6
|
Tanaka M, Yamamoto S. Token transfer between mother and offspring chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): mother-offspring interaction in a competitive situation. Anim Cogn 2009; 12 Suppl 1:S19-26. [PMID: 19685088 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-009-0270-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2008] [Revised: 07/22/2009] [Accepted: 07/22/2009] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Chimpanzees can flexibly use tokens in cognitive tasks, but it is still unknown if they can share and/or compete over tokens as they do for food. This study aimed to evaluate the interactions spontaneously occurring between mother and offspring chimpanzees when tokens exchangeable for food were provided. Forty tokens were scattered on the floor in an experimental playroom. Three mother and offspring chimpanzee pairs were tested. Each token was exchangeable for a piece of food in a vending machine installed on the wall of the playroom. In the beginning of the study, both mother and offspring took tokens and exchanged them for pieces of food independently. Later, two offspring started to take more tokens than their mothers. At that time, the offspring whimpered or cried more often than during earlier sessions. This behavior compelled the mothers to abstain from taking tokens. The mothers sometimes shared their tokens with their offspring, or were tolerant of their offspring taking their tokens from their hand. For one pair, the offspring sometimes shared tokens with her mother when her mother begged for the tokens. These results suggest that chimpanzees' cognitive abilities enable them not only to use tokens, but also to compete for tokens, as they do for food. The results also suggest that token sharing between mother and offspring may be bidirectional and that transfer of tokens mainly occurs as a result of begging, although on some occasion offspring were able to obtain a token directly from his/her mother through tolerated scrounging.
Collapse
|
7
|
|
8
|
Brown GR, Almond RE, Bergen YV. Begging, Stealing, and Offering: Food Transfer in Nonhuman Primates. ADVANCES IN THE STUDY OF BEHAVIOR 2004. [DOI: 10.1016/s0065-3454(04)34007-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
|
9
|
Ruiz-Miranda CR, Kleiman DG, Dietz JM, Moraes E, Grativol AD, Baker AJ, Beck BB. Food transfers in wild and reintroduced golden lion tamarins, Leontopithecus rosalia. Am J Primatol 2000; 48:305-20. [PMID: 10402039 DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-2345(1999)48:4<305::aid-ajp6>3.0.co;2-v] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
We collected data from wild and reintroduced golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia) to describe the behavior of donor and recipient during food transfers, evaluate the effect of supplemental feeding on food transfer behavior, and examine various hypotheses concerning the function of food transfers in primates. Behavioral observations were conducted on 12 groups of tamarins with young (N = 30) between the ages of 1 week and 1 year old. Results show that food transfers involve various behaviors, from steals by recipients to offers by donors; transfers mostly derive from adults and are directed at immature weaned young (between 3 and 9 months old); and that most items transferred were prey or fruits that require skill to process. Eleven percent of food transfers were preceded by an adult vocalization specific to that context, whereas 86% were preceded by conspicuous infant vocalizations and begging behavior. The most common vocalizations were loud and atonal (rasps) and broad banded frequency modulated (trills). Infants born to reintroduced parents vocalized less, whereas reintroduced adults vocalized more before transferring food than their wild counterparts. Reintroduced adults and young received more food transfers (4.4 per hr) than did wild-born adults and young (2.2 per hr). Our findings suggest that food transfer in golden lion tamarins is best understood as provisioning of young that have not fully developed foraging skills to ensure they get the necessary resources for growth and survival.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- C R Ruiz-Miranda
- Department of Zoological Research, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
10
|
Price EC, Feistner ATC. Food sharing in lion tamarins: Tests of three hypotheses. Am J Primatol 1993; 31:211-221. [PMID: 31936996 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.1350310306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/1992] [Revised: 04/05/1993] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Infant marmosets and tamarins (Callitrichidae) frequently receive food from older group members. Three possible functions of food sharing in lion tamarins were examined experimentally. The first hypothesis, that food sharing ensures that infants receive sufficient food even if it is difficult for them to acquire it themselves, was tested by varying the ease with which infants could reach a food source. When access to food was restricted, infants fed themselves less, received more food from others, and had a higher success rate in begging attempts. The second hypothesis, that food sharing helps teach infants an appropriate diet, was tested by presenting fruits that were novel to infants. Although infants fed themselves less under these conditions, adults were less likely to share novel foods than familiar foods. The final experiment compared food sharing when food was abundant with behavior when food items were presented singly. Infants fed themselves less and received more food from others when food items were rare. These results suggest that food sharing in lion tamarins helps to ensure that infants receive adequate amounts of food which is difficult to locate or acquire, but that it is not involved in teaching infants which foods they should eat. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Collapse
|
11
|
Geissmann T. Reassessment of age of sexual maturity in gibbons (hylobates spp.). Am J Primatol 1991; 23:11-22. [DOI: 10.1002/ajp.1350230103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/1990] [Revised: 08/14/1990] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
|
12
|
Group harmony in gibbons: Comparison between white-handed gibbon (Hylobates lar) and siamang (H. syndactylus). Primates 1990. [DOI: 10.1007/bf02382532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
|
13
|
|