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Bhattacharjee D, Guðjónsdóttir AR, Chova PE, Middelburg E, Jäckels J, de Groot NG, Wallner B, Massen JJ, Pflüger LS. Behavioral, physiological, and genetic drivers of coping in a non-human primate. iScience 2024; 27:108890. [PMID: 38318385 PMCID: PMC10838955 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.108890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Revised: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Animals experience stressful situations, from predation to social conflicts, but mostly deal with them successfully. This adaptive mechanism, coping, reduces the adverse effects of stressors, and its failure may result in reduced fitness. Substantial inter-individual variation in coping is observed, yet little is known about how behavioral, physiological and genetic drivers regulate coping holistically and contribute to such variations. We assessed behavioral coping styles (n=30), emotional arousal (n=12), and personalities (n=32) of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) and also investigated the association of coping with a valine/methionine polymorphism encoded by a critical human stress regulatory gene, catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) (n=26). Personality and the human equivalent COMT Val/Met polymorphism were associated with "nonaggression-based" and "aggression-based" coping styles. Compared to nonaggression-based, aggression-based copers maintained higher average facial temperatures, indicating potentially lower emotional arousal, as measured using infrared thermography. These findings demonstrate a complex interplay of various proximate mechanisms governing coping in a non-human primate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debottam Bhattacharjee
- Animal Behaviour and Cognition, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, the Netherlands
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, 31 To Yuen Street, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Centre for Animal Health and Welfare, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, 31 To Yuen Street, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Aníta Rut Guðjónsdóttir
- Animal Behaviour and Cognition, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Paula Escriche Chova
- Animal Behaviour and Cognition, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Esmee Middelburg
- Animal Behaviour and Cognition, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Jana Jäckels
- Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Natasja G. de Groot
- Department of Comparative Genetics & Refinement, Biomedical Primate Research Centre, 2288 GJ Rijswijk, the Netherlands
| | - Bernard Wallner
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria
- Austrian Research Center for Primatology, Ossiach 16, 9570 Ossiach, Austria
| | - Jorg J.M. Massen
- Animal Behaviour and Cognition, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, the Netherlands
- Austrian Research Center for Primatology, Ossiach 16, 9570 Ossiach, Austria
| | - Lena S. Pflüger
- Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria
- Austrian Research Center for Primatology, Ossiach 16, 9570 Ossiach, Austria
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Barrault C, Soldati A, Hobaiter C, Mugisha S, De Moor D, Zuberbühler K, Dezecache G. Thermal imaging reveals social monitoring during social feeding in wild chimpanzees. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210302. [PMID: 35934961 PMCID: PMC9358323 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding the affective lives of animals has been a long-standing challenge in science. Recent technological progress in infrared thermal imaging has enabled researchers to monitor animals' physiological states in real-time when exposed to ecologically relevant situations, such as feeding in the company of others. During social feeding, an individual's physiological states are likely to vary with the nature of the resource and perceptions of competition. Previous findings in chimpanzees have indicated that events perceived as competitive cause decreases in nasal temperatures, whereas the opposite was observed for cooperative interactions. Here, we tested how food resources and audience structure impacted on how social feeding events were perceived by wild chimpanzees. Overall, we found that nasal temperatures were lower when meat was consumed as compared to figs, consistent with the idea that social feeding on more contested resources is perceived as more dangerous and stressful. Nasal temperatures were significant affected by interactions between food type and audience composition, in particular the number of males, their dominance status, and their social bond status relative to the subject, while no effects for the presence of females were observed. Our findings suggest that male chimpanzees closely monitor and assess their social environment during competitive situations, and that infrared imaging provides an important complement to access psychological processes beyond observable social behaviours. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Cognition, communication and social bonds in primates’.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire Barrault
- Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.,Budongo Conservation Field Station, Masindi, Uganda
| | - Adrian Soldati
- Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.,Budongo Conservation Field Station, Masindi, Uganda.,School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Catherine Hobaiter
- Budongo Conservation Field Station, Masindi, Uganda.,School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | | | - Delphine De Moor
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Klaus Zuberbühler
- Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.,Budongo Conservation Field Station, Masindi, Uganda.,School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Guillaume Dezecache
- Budongo Conservation Field Station, Masindi, Uganda.,Université Clermont Auvergne, LAPSCO CNRS, Clermont-Ferrand, France
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Thermal imaging reveals audience-dependent effects during cooperation and competition in wild chimpanzees. Sci Rep 2022; 12:2972. [PMID: 35194084 PMCID: PMC8863809 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-07003-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Accessing animal minds has remained a challenge since the beginnings of modern science. Here, we used a little-tried method, functional infrared thermal imaging, with wild chimpanzees during common social interactions. After removing confounds, we found that chimpanzees involved in competitive events had lower nose skin temperatures whereas those involved in cooperative events had higher temperatures, the latter more so in high- than low-ranking males. Temperatures associated with grooming were akin to those of cooperative events, except when males interacted with a non-reciprocating alpha male. In addition, we found multiple audience effects. Notably, the alpha male's presence reduced positive effects associated with cooperation, whereas female presence buffered negative effects associated with competition. Copulation was perceived as competitive, especially during furtive mating when other males were absent. Overall, patterns suggest that chimpanzees categorise ordinary social events as cooperative or competitive and that these perceptions are moderated by specific audiences.
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Ross SR, Lake BR, Fultz A, Hopper LM. An evaluation of thermal imaging as a welfare monitoring tool for captive chimpanzees. Primates 2021; 62:919-927. [PMID: 34476667 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-021-00943-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2021] [Accepted: 08/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Among the growing list of novel tools with which to assess animal welfare is the use of thermal (infrared) imaging. The technology has already been utilized to identify emotional arousal in several nonhuman primate species, though most of these approaches have necessitated the use of relatively controlled settings. Here, we were interested to determine the feasibility of such techniques in a sanctuary setting in which chimpanzees were unrestrained and able to move freely around their enclosures. Furthermore, we sought to evaluate how such thermal images could be paired with corresponding long-term behavioral data and contribute to a multifactorial welfare monitoring system. Over a 6-month period, we simultaneously collected both behavioral and thermographic data on 29 chimpanzees living in four social groups. While we took a thermal image with every behavioral data point, we found that only a small proportion (6.38%) of the thermal images we captured were of sufficient quality to analyze. Most of these usable thermal images (55%) corresponded with a behavioral observation scored as "inactive," and thus other, less frequent behaviors are not so well represented in our final data set. From our data set, we were able to determine that nasal temperatures were relatively lower when chimpanzees were categorized in active behaviors compared to inactive behaviors, providing some validity measures to our approach. While there are other potential applications for thermal imaging in the behavioral management of chimpanzees, managers should consider the practical limitations of developing long-term welfare monitoring programs that rely on thermographic data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen R Ross
- Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL, USA.
| | - Benjamin R Lake
- Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL, USA
- Chimp Haven, Keithville, LA, USA
| | | | - Lydia M Hopper
- Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL, USA
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Negrey JD, Sandel AA, Langergraber KE. Dominance rank and the presence of sexually receptive females predict feces-measured body temperature in male chimpanzees. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2020; 74:5. [PMID: 34079157 PMCID: PMC8168630 DOI: 10.1007/s00265-019-2788-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2019] [Revised: 12/08/2019] [Accepted: 12/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Quantifying the costs of mating is key for understanding life-history trade-offs. As a reflection of metabolic rate, body temperature is one metric for assaying these costs. However, conventional methods for measuring body temperature are invasive and unsuitable for the study of free-living populations of endangered species, including great apes. A promising proxy for body temperature is fecal temperature, the internal temperature of fecal deposits shortly following defecation. We validated this method with humans, finding that maximum fecal temperature is a reliable proxy for rectal temperature. We then applied this method to wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. We collected and analyzed 101 fecal temperature measurements from 43 adult chimpanzees (male: N = 28; female: N = 15). Chimpanzee fecal temperature ranged from 33.4 to 38.9 °C, with a mean of 35.8 °C. Although fecal temperature was not predicted by sex, age, or ambient temperature, male fecal temperature was 1.1 °C higher on days when sexually receptive females were present and was positively correlated with male dominance rank. Post hoc analyses showed that overall copulation rates, but not aggression rates, were positively correlated with fecal temperature, suggesting that sexual physiology and behavior best explain mating-related temperature variation. Together, these results indicate fecal temperature is a reliable proxy for core body temperature in large-bodied mammals, captures metabolic costs associated with male mating behavior, and represents a valuable noninvasive tool for biological field research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob D. Negrey
- Department of Anthropology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Department of Pathobiological Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Aaron A. Sandel
- Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78705, USA
| | - Kevin E. Langergraber
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change and Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, 900 S. Cady Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
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