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Wright CI, Majolo B, Schino G, Ventura R, Romero T. Social tension after grooming in wild Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata yakui) is sex specific and sensitive to social relationships. Am J Primatol 2024; 86:e23664. [PMID: 39034444 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2023] [Revised: 05/03/2024] [Accepted: 07/01/2024] [Indexed: 07/23/2024]
Abstract
Changes in the rate of self-directed behavior-a proxy for social tension-offer valuable insights into individuals' experiences of social interactions. Many studies have tested the tension-reduction hypothesis, whereby grooming is expected to reduce social tension in the grooming partners. However, it is still unclear whether responses to grooming are affected by social factors such as an individual's role or social relationship with their partner, and whether responses are similar for females and males. Focussing on same-sex grooming in Yakushima Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata yakui), we analyzed the effects of two social factors on the change in the rate of self-scratching after receiving grooming: sitting in contact with their partner outside of grooming contexts (as a measure of relationship strength) and rank distance. We collected 10-min postgrooming and matched-control focal samples on recipients of grooming. After controlling for postinhibitory rebound effects, grooming reduced scratching in females (suggesting that grooming was relaxing for the receiver), but not in males. In females, this reduction was associated with increased sitting in contact and increased rank distance: being groomed was more tension-reducing if the grooming partners spent time together outside of grooming contexts, or if their difference in rank was greater and therefore more conspicuous. The reduction effect was mediated by sitting in contact only when females had a higher-ranking-that is, more dominant and potentially aggressive-groomer. Our findings suggest that not all grooming interactions are perceived as equal, which has implications for its use as an index of relationship quality. To our knowledge, this represents the first study of postgrooming social tension in male Japanese macaques and our results highlight the need for caution when generalizing findings from only one sex to the species level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chloë India Wright
- Department of Life Sciences, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, College of Health and Science, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK
| | - Bonaventura Majolo
- School of Psychology, College of Health and Science, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK
| | - Gabriele Schino
- Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Rome, Italy
| | - Raffaella Ventura
- Division of Psychology and Forensic Sciences, University of Abertay Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, UK
| | - Teresa Romero
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK
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Xia DP, Garber PA, Sun L, Sun B, Wang X, Li JH. Social strategies used by dispersing males to integrate into a new group in Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana). Am J Primatol 2021; 83:e23306. [PMID: 34270109 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Revised: 07/05/2021] [Accepted: 07/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
In group-living mammals, an individual's fitness depends, in part, on the quality of social relationships it has with others. Among species of nonhuman primates in which one sex is philopatric, individuals of that sex often develop strong social bonds and alliances with closely related kin. Less is known regarding the social processes used by dispersing adults to form stable bonds with nonkin in their new group. From May to December 2009, April to August 2010, September to December 2011, and February to May 2012, we collected data on grooming interactions in wild Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana), a female philopatric species, at Mt. Huangshan, China. Our goal was to compare social interactions and bond formation between resident males, recent immigrant males, and resident females. Our results indicate that recent immigrant males formed stable partner relationships with a small number of resident females and groomed these females more frequently or for longer than they received grooming. In contrast, resident males switched female grooming partners more frequently, received more grooming than they gave, and formed relationships with a greater number of female partners. We argue that the ability of recent immigrant male Tibetan macaques to maintain strong and persistent social bonds with a small set of resident adult females is a primary factor that enables them to establish residence in a new multimale-multifemale group. The present study provides new and important insights into the integrated social strategies used by dispersing males and resident females to maintain group stability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dong-Po Xia
- School of Life Sciences, Anhui University, Hefei, China.,International Collaborative Research Center for Huangshan Biodiversity and Tibetan Macaque Behavioral Ecology, Hefei, China
| | - Paul A Garber
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, USA
| | - Lixing Sun
- Department of Biology, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Washington, USA
| | - Binghua Sun
- International Collaborative Research Center for Huangshan Biodiversity and Tibetan Macaque Behavioral Ecology, Hefei, China.,School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei, China
| | - Xi Wang
- International Collaborative Research Center for Huangshan Biodiversity and Tibetan Macaque Behavioral Ecology, Hefei, China.,School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei, China
| | - Jin-Hua Li
- International Collaborative Research Center for Huangshan Biodiversity and Tibetan Macaque Behavioral Ecology, Hefei, China.,School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei, China.,School of Life Sciences, Hefei Normal University, Hefei, China
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Jablonski NG. Social and affective touch in primates and its role in the evolution of social cohesion. Neuroscience 2020; 464:117-125. [PMID: 33246063 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.11.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2020] [Revised: 10/26/2020] [Accepted: 11/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Primates are long-lived, highly social mammals who maintain long-term social bonds and cohesive social groups through many affiliative mechanisms, foremost among them social touch. From birth through adulthood, social touch - primarily mutual grooming - creates and maintains relationships of trust and reliance, which are the basis for individual physical and emotional well-being and reproductive success. Because social touch helps to establish, maintain, and repair social alliances in primates, it contributes to the emotional stability of individuals and the cohesion of social groups. In these fundamental ways, thus, social touch supports the slow life histories of primates. The reinforcing neurochemistry of social touch insures that it is a pleasurable activity and this, in turn, makes it a behavioral commodity that can be traded between primates for desirable rewards such as protection against future aggression or opportunities to handle infants. Social touch is essential to normal primate development, and individuals deprived of social touch exhibit high levels of anxiety and lower fertility compared to those receiving regular social touch. Understanding the centrality of social touch to primate health and well-being throughout the lifespan provides the foundation for appreciating the importance of social touch in human life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nina G Jablonski
- Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
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HANZAWA M. First Record on “Rump-rump Contact” Behavior between Males in wild Japanese Macaques ( Macaca fuscata) on Yakushima Island. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2020. [DOI: 10.2354/psj.36.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Maho HANZAWA
- Laboratory of Human Evolution Studies, Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University
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Kawazoe T, Sosa S. Social networks predict immigration success in wild Japanese macaques. Primates 2018; 60:213-222. [DOI: 10.1007/s10329-018-0702-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2018] [Accepted: 11/15/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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Bouchet H, Koda H, Masataka N, Lemasson A. Vocal flexibility in nonhuman primates and the origins of human language. REVUE DE PRIMATOLOGIE 2016. [DOI: 10.4000/primatologie.2637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
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Coevolution of female ovulatory signals and male–male competition in primates. J Theor Biol 2016; 392:12-22. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2015.12.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2015] [Revised: 12/10/2015] [Accepted: 12/11/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Kawazoe T. Association patterns and affiliative relationships outside a troop in wild male Japanese macaques, Macaca fuscata, during the non-mating season. BEHAVIOUR 2016. [DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-00003325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
In many mammals, males disperse more than females. Although males in some male-dispersing species form all-male groups, little is known about the association patterns or social relationships among them. Studies on male–male social relationships have primarily focused on competition over fertile females, but affiliative relationships among males have attracted much interest recently. I suggested a novel method for the classification of males based on their behaviour by principal component analysis (PCA), and investigated association patterns, and affiliative relationships in male Japanese macaques, Macaca fuscata, during the non-mating season. I observed 12 wild male Japanese macaques for 809 h during the non-mating season. The number of other animals within visual range, the amount of time that males spent in the vicinity of other animals, and the frequency of grooming interactions were examined. I classified males into two distinctive clusters (Cluster 1 and 2) according to their association and interaction patterns. Cluster 1 males associated with females and participated in grooming with them. Cluster 2 males had less visual encounters with females and did not groom them. Cluster 2 males showed proximity to other Cluster 2 males in all possible dyads. Although Cluster 2 males showed less proximity to each other than Cluster 1 males did, they frequently exchanged grooming among themselves. Cluster 2 males groomed Cluster 1 males more frequently than they were groomed by them. These results suggested that Cluster 1 were troop males, and Cluster 2 were non-troop males. Cluster 2 males had less opportunity for social interaction than Cluster 1 (troop) males, and they may form all-male groups. Males in all-male groups engaged in more frequent grooming than troop males. In addition, they groomed troop males more frequently than they were groomed. These results suggest that males could be separated by their behaviour. Male–male affiliative relationships might be influenced by within-group potential competition and imbalanced grooming appears to cause troop males to tolerate non-troop males which might be immigrated in near future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatsuro Kawazoe
- Laboratory of Human Evolution Studies, Department of Zoology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Japan
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Evolution of ape and human mating systems. J Theor Biol 2012; 296:56-64. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2011.11.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2011] [Revised: 11/08/2011] [Accepted: 11/28/2011] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Berghänel A, Ostner J, Schröder U, Schülke O. Social bonds predict future cooperation in male Barbary macaques, Macaca sylvanus. Anim Behav 2011. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.02.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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Hayakawa S. Female Defensibility in a Small Troops of Japanese Macaques vis-à-vis Nontroop Males and Copulation on the Periphery of the Troop. INT J PRIMATOL 2007. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-006-9109-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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HORIUCHI SHIRO. Social relationships of male Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) in different habitats: a comparison between Yakushima island and Shimokita peninsula populations. ANTHROPOL SCI 2007. [DOI: 10.1537/ase.051227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- SHIRO HORIUCHI
- Division of Behavioral Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Letters, Tohoku University
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