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Graham KE, Badihi G, Safryghin A, Grund C, Hobaiter C. A socio-ecological perspective on the gestural communication of great ape species, individuals, and social units. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2022; 34:235-259. [PMID: 35529671 PMCID: PMC9067943 DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2021.1988722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Over the last 30 years, most research on non-human primate gestural communication has been produced by psychologists, which has shaped the questions asked and the methods used. These researchers have drawn on concepts from philosophy, linguistics, anthropology, and ethology, but despite these broad influences the field has neglected to situate gestures into the socio-ecological context in which the diverse species, individuals, and social-units exist. In this review, we present current knowledge about great ape gestural communication in terms of repertoires, meanings, and development. We fold this into a conversation about variation in other types of ape social behaviour to identify areas for future research on variation in gestural communication. Given the large variation in socio-ecological factors across species and social-units (and the individuals within these groups), we may expect to find different preferences for specific gesture types; different needs for communicating specific meanings; and different rates of encountering specific contexts. New tools, such as machine-learning based automated movement tracking, may allow us to uncover potential variation in the speed and form of gesture actions or parts of gesture actions. New multi-group multi-generational datasets provide the opportunity to apply analyses, such as Bayesian modelling, which allows us to examine these rich behavioural landscapes. Together, by expanding our questions and our methods, researchers may finally be able to study great ape gestures from the perspective of the apes themselves and explore what this gestural communication system reveals about apes’ thinking and experience of their world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirsty E. Graham
- School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Mary’s Quad, South St, St Andrews KY16 9JP, Scotland, UK
| | - Gal Badihi
- School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Mary’s Quad, South St, St Andrews KY16 9JP, Scotland, UK
| | - Alexandra Safryghin
- School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Mary’s Quad, South St, St Andrews KY16 9JP, Scotland, UK
| | - Charlotte Grund
- School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Mary’s Quad, South St, St Andrews KY16 9JP, Scotland, UK
| | - Catherine Hobaiter
- School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Mary’s Quad, South St, St Andrews KY16 9JP, Scotland, UK
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Abdollahzadeh B, Soleimanian Gharehchopogh F, Mirjalili S. Artificial gorilla troops optimizer: A new nature‐inspired metaheuristic algorithm for global optimization problems. INT J INTELL SYST 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/int.22535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 155] [Impact Index Per Article: 51.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Seyedali Mirjalili
- Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Optimisation Torrens University Australia Fortitude Valley Brisbane Queensland Australia
- YFL (Yonsei Frontier Lab) Yonsei University Seoul Korea
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Keerthipriya P, Nandini S, Vidya TNC. Effects of Male Age and Female Presence on Male Associations in a Large, Polygynous Mammal in Southern India: The Asian Elephant. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.616666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
We present a detailed study of male associations in the Asian elephant, using 6 years of data on identified, non-musth males. Adult males spent greater proportions of their time solitarily than in mixed-sex or in all-male groups. Old (over 30 years) males were sighted more frequently with their age-peers and less frequently with young (15–30 years) males than expected at random in all-male groups. Young males were not sighted more frequently with old males than with young males, and did not disproportionately initiate associations with old males. These results suggest that male associations, in the absence of females, may allow for old non-musth males to test strengths against age-peers. Social learning from older individuals did not seem to be important in male associations, unlike that observed in the African savannah elephant. We also found a constraint on the sizes of all-male groups, similar to that seen in female groups in our study population, and all-male groups were rarer and smaller than those in African savannah elephant. Although male associations were weak, most males had a significant top associate, with whom their association was the strongest, in female absence. In mixed-sex groups, male associations occurred at random, suggesting that males were tracking female groups independently. Differences in male social organization from that of the related African savannah elephant that occupies a similar niche possibly arise from differences in ecology.
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Wright E, Galbany J, McFarlin SC, Ndayishimiye E, Stoinski TS, Robbins MM. Male body size, dominance rank and strategic use of aggression in a group-living mammal. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.03.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Habumuremyi S, Deschner T, Fawcett KA, Robbins MM. Male-female interactions in multimale groups of mountain gorillas. Am J Primatol 2018; 80:e22910. [DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2015] [Revised: 06/29/2018] [Accepted: 07/09/2018] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sosthene Habumuremyi
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Leipzig Germany
- Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International; Atlanta Georgia
| | - Tobias Deschner
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Leipzig Germany
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Robbins MM, Robbins AM. Variation in the social organization of gorillas: Life history and socioecological perspectives. Evol Anthropol 2018; 27:218-233. [PMID: 30325554 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21721] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2018] [Revised: 07/18/2018] [Accepted: 08/06/2018] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
A focus of socioecological research is to understand how ecological, social, and life history factors influence the variability of social organization within and between species. The genus Gorilla exhibits variability in social organization with western gorilla groups being almost exclusively one-male, yet approximately 40% of mountain gorilla groups are multimale. We review five ultimate causes for the variability in social organization within and among gorilla populations: human disturbance, ecological constraints on group size, risk of infanticide, life history patterns, and population density. We find the most evidence for the ecological constraints and life history hypotheses, but an over-riding explanation remains elusive. The variability may hinge on variation in female dispersal patterns, as females seek a group of optimal size and with a good protector male. Our review illustrates the challenges of understanding why the social organization of closely related species may deviate from predictions based on socioecological and life history theory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martha M Robbins
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Andrew M Robbins
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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McRae R, Aronsen GP. Inventory and Assessment of theGorilla gorilla(Savage, 1847) Skeletal Collection Housed at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. BULLETIN OF THE PEABODY MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 2018. [DOI: 10.3374/014.059.0205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ryan McRae
- Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven CT 06520-8277 USA
| | - Gary P. Aronsen
- Biological Anthropology Laboratories, Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven CT 06520-8277 USA
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Confrontational assessment in the roving male promiscuity mating system of the Bornean orangutan. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-016-2252-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Edes AN, Wolfe BA, Crews DE. Rearing history and allostatic load in adult western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in human care. Zoo Biol 2016; 35:167-73. [DOI: 10.1002/zoo.21270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2015] [Revised: 01/28/2016] [Accepted: 02/01/2016] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Barbara A. Wolfe
- The Ohio State University; Columbus Ohio
- Morris Animal Foundation; Denver Colorado
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Rosenbaum S, Maldonado-Chaparro AA, Stoinski TS. Group structure predicts variation in proximity relationships between male-female and male-infant pairs of mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei). Primates 2015; 57:17-28. [PMID: 26386711 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-015-0490-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2015] [Accepted: 08/30/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Relationships between conspecifics are influenced by both ecological factors and the social organization they live in. Systematic variation of both--consistent with predictions derived from socioecology models--is well documented, but there is considerable variation within species and populations that is poorly understood. The mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei) is unusual because, despite possessing morphology associated with male contest competition (e.g., extreme sexual dimorphism), they are regularly observed in both single-male and multimale groups. Both male-female and male-infant bonds are strong because males provide protection against infanticide and/or predation. Risk of these threats varies with social structure, which may influence the strength of social relationships among group members (including females and offspring, if females with lower infant mortality risk are less protective of infants). Here, we investigate the relationship between group structure and the strength of proximity relationships between males and females, males and infants, and females and offspring. Data come from 10 social groups containing 1-7 adult males, monitored by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund's Karisoke Research Center in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. After controlling for group size and infant age, association strength was similar for male-female pairs across group types with both dominant and nondominant males, but male-infant relationships were strongest in single-male groups where paternity certainty was high and animals had fewer social partners to choose from. The male:female and male:infant ratios better predicted both male-female and male-infant associations than the absolute number of males, females, or infants did. The fewer the number of males per female or infant, the more both pair types associated. Dominant males in groups containing fewer males had higher eigenvector centrality (a measure of importance in a social network) than dominant males in groups with more males. Results indicate that nondominant males are an important influence on relationships between dominant males and females/infants despite their peripheral social positions, and that relationships between males and infants must be considered an important foundation of gorilla social structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Rosenbaum
- Department of Anthropology, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA. .,Institute for Mind and Biology, University of Chicago, 940 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA.
| | - A A Maldonado-Chaparro
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - T S Stoinski
- The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, Atlanta, GA, USA
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Salmi R, Hammerschmidt K, Doran-Sheehy DM. Western Gorilla Vocal Repertoire and Contextual Use of Vocalizations. Ethology 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Roberta Salmi
- Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences; Stony Brook University; Stony Brook; NY; USA
| | - Kurt Hammerschmidt
- Cognitive Ethology Laboratory; German Primate Center; Göttingen; Germany
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Variation in the Social Systems of Extant Hominoids: Comparative Insight into the Social Behavior of Early Hominins. INT J PRIMATOL 2012. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-012-9617-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Watts DP. Post-conflict Social Events in Wild Mountain Gorillas (Mammalia, Hominoidea). I. Social Interactions between Opponents. Ethology 2010. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.1995.tb00321.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Nguyen N, Van Horn RC, Alberts SC, Altmann J. "Friendships" between new mothers and adult males: adaptive benefits and determinants in wild baboons ( Papio cynocephalus). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2009; 63:1331-1344. [PMID: 24146523 PMCID: PMC3800164 DOI: 10.1007/s00265-009-0786-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Close associations between adult males and lactating females and their dependent infants are not commonly described in non-monogamous mammals. However, such associations [sometimes called "friendships" (Smuts 1985)] are regularly observed in several primate species in which females mate with multiple males during the fertile period. The absence of mating exclusivity among "friends" suggests that males should invest little in infant care, raising questions about the adaptive significance of friendship bonds. Using data from genetic paternity analyses, patterns of behavior, and long-term demographic and reproductive records, we evaluated the extent to which friendships in four multi-male, multi-female yellow baboon (Papio cynocephalus) groups in Amboseli, Kenya represent joint parental care of offspring or male mating effort. We found evidence that mothers and infants benefited directly from friendships; friendships provided mother-infant dyads protection from harassment from other adult and immature females. In addition, nearly half of all male friends were the genetic fathers of offspring and had been observed mating with mothers during the days of most likely conception for those offspring. In contrast, nearly all friends who were not fathers were also not observed to consort with the mother during the days of most likely conception, suggesting that friendships between mothers and non-fathers did not result from paternity confusion. Finally, we found no evidence that prior friendship increased a male's chances of mating with a female in future reproductive cycles. Our results suggest that, for many male-female pairs at Amboseli, friendships represented a form of biparental care of offspring. Males in the remaining friendship dyads may be trading protection of infants in exchange for some resources or services not yet identified. Our study is the first to find evidence that female primates gain social benefits from their early associations with adult males.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nga Nguyen
- Department of Conservation & Science, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Cleveland, OH 44109, USA. Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA. Department of Anthropology, California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, CA 92834, USA
| | - Russell C. Van Horn
- Conservation & Research for Endangered Species, Zoological Society of San Diego, San Diego, CA 92112, USA
| | - Susan C. Alberts
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA. Institute for Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Jeanne Altmann
- Institute for Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya. Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. Department of Animal Physiology and Veterinary Medicine, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
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Leave or conceive: natal dispersal and philopatry of female mountain gorillas in the Virunga volcano region. Anim Behav 2009. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Robbins AM, Stoinski TS, Fawcett KA, Robbins MM. Socioecological influences on the dispersal of female mountain gorillas—evidence of a second folivore paradox. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2008. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-008-0679-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Abstract
In groups of Gorilla g. beringei, male aggression towards females regularly takes the form of male display. This paper examines male display towards females in two Karisoke study groups (Group 5 and Group BM) in 1989, a period when none of the females were new immigrants. Results are based on 259 hr of focal observations and 121 hr of ad libitum observations on male behaviors towards females. The goal is to see if the data are compatible with four non-mutually exclusive hypotheses to explain male displays towards females: (1) demonstration of male fighting abilities to influence female long term residence decision; (2) decrease potential competitive inequities between females; (3) provision to females of an occasion to confirm their subordinance to a male; and (4) short term influence on mating. First, male-female proximity was tested against proportion of male displays, to rule out the possibility that males display towards females simply because they happen to be close by. There was no association between proximity and male display. Dominant males were responsible for a higher proportion of displays than subordinate males. This is consistent with the idea that males display to demonstrate their fighting abilities, or their qualities as protector, since dominant males are the ones offering long term protection against infanticide and predators. Females that were in a position to transfer did not receive a higher proportion of male display, however. Long term resident dominant females received a higher proportion of displays from the dominant males, which is consistent with the idea that males attempt to decrease potential competitive inequities between females. There was an association between female appeasement reactions and male displays, which suggests that males display to create occasions for the females to confirm their subordinance to them. Estrous females did not receive a higher proportion of male displays, and there was no association between male display and copulation, suggesting that male displays are not a form of courtship aggression aimed at influencing mating in the short term.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pascale Sicotte
- Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary, 2500, University Dr., N.W., Calgary AB, T2N 1N4, Canada.
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Abstract
Urinary steroid hormone levels were measured in wild male mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla beringei) to determine how levels of testosterone and cortisol corresponded with age and social rank. Urine samples were collected noninvasively from 18 males, ranging in age from 3-26 years, in three groups of wild mountain gorillas at the Karisoke Research Center, Rwanda, Africa, and samples were analyzed using radioimmunoassay procedures. Males were classified as being immature (< 7 years), maturing (10-13 years), or adult (+13 years of age). Immature males had significantly lower levels of testosterone and higher levels of cortisol than both maturing and adult males. No differences in testosterone or cortisol levels were found between maturing and adult males. Dominant males exhibited a trend toward significantly higher levels of testosterone than subordinate males, but no difference was found between cortisol levels of dominant and subordinate males. These results suggest that the increase in testosterone associated with puberty occurs prior to any outward sign of development of secondary sexual characteristics. Within-group male-male competition may affect testosterone levels, but the lack of difference in cortisol levels between dominant and subordinate males suggests that subordinate males are not socially stressed, at least as measured by cortisol.
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Affiliation(s)
- M M Robbins
- Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706, USA.
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Abstract
Frequent urine samples from three habituated free-ranging adult female mountain gorillas were collected during a four-week period in order to characterize, by analysis of urinary hormones, their ovarian cycle, and to diagnose pregnancy. A conceptive cycle and two cycles that did not result in full term pregnancy were monitored. Behavioral and physiological observations of mating and labial swellings were correlated to urinary hormone results. Mating occurred on days with elevated estrogens. Labial swelling was maximum near or at peak estrogen levels. Pregnancy was diagnosed at the field site by measurement of chorionic gonadotropin using commercially available human pregnancy detection kits. In one pregnancy, gestation length was 254 days. The pregnanediol glucuronide concentrations of the mountain gorilla did not change during the nonconceptive cycle. During the conceptive cycle, the concentrations did not increase until the approximate time of implantation. This finding suggests marked differences in steroid production or metabolism between the mountain gorilla and the captive lowland gorilla.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Czekala
- Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species, Zoological Society of San Diego, 92112-0551, USA
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A case study of mother-son transfer in mountain gorillas. Primates 2000; 41:93-101. [DOI: 10.1007/bf02557465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/1999] [Accepted: 08/27/1999] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Robbins MM, Czekala NM. A preliminary investigation of urinary testosterone and cortisol levels in wild male mountain gorillas. Am J Primatol 1997. [DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-2345(1997)43:1%3c51::aid-ajp4%3e3.0.co;2-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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