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Drummond-Clarke RC, Fryns C, Stewart FA, Piel AK. A case of intercommunity lethal aggression by chimpanzees in an open and dry landscape, Issa Valley, western Tanzania. Primates 2023; 64:599-608. [PMID: 37615802 PMCID: PMC10651548 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-023-01085-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2022] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023]
Abstract
Intercommunity (lethal) aggression is a familiar component of the behavioural repertoire of many forest-dwelling chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) communities. However, until now, the absence of intercommunity attacks - including killings - in communities that live in open, mosaic environments has supported hypotheses of reduced resource competition in drier habitats, and informed referential models of early hominin social dynamics in a similar habitat. In June 2020, we observed the first instance of intercommunity lethal aggression, a male-committed infanticide, by the Issa chimpanzee community, which live in a savannah-mosaic habitat in the Issa Valley, western Tanzania. The carcass was recovered by researchers after it was abandoned by the attackers. Here, we give a detailed account of the events leading up to and including the infanticide, and contextualise our observations with what has been described for other chimpanzee communities. Notably, in contrast to the majority of reported intercommunity infanticides, the infant male victim was castrated (and not cannibalised), making this the youngest reported castration. This observation of intercommunity aggression disproves its hypothesised absence in savannah-dwelling chimpanzees, which by extension, has implications for early hominin evolution. We suggest that the near absence of observations of intercommunity aggression in savannah chimpanzee communities is most likely due to the lack of long-term study communities, and in some cases geographic isolation. We hypothesise that food-rich areas within a habitat with otherwise widely distributed food sources may select for intense intercommunity aggression despite the low population density characteristic of savannah communities. Anecdotes such as this add to the comparative database available on intercommunity killings in chimpanzee society, improving our ability to draw inferences about their evolutionary significance.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Caroline Fryns
- Insitut de Biologie, Université de Neuchâtel, Rue Emile-Argand 11, 2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Fiona A Stewart
- Department of Human Origins, Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK
- School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
| | - Alex K Piel
- Department of Human Origins, Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK.
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Schick J, Fryns C, Wegdell F, Laporte M, Zuberbühler K, van Schaik CP, Townsend SW, Stoll S. The function and evolution of child-directed communication. PLoS Biol 2022; 20:e3001630. [PMID: 35522717 PMCID: PMC9116647 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Revised: 05/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans communicate with small children in unusual and highly conspicuous ways (child-directed communication (CDC)), which enhance social bonding and facilitate language acquisition. CDC-like inputs are also reported for some vocally learning animals, suggesting similar functions in facilitating communicative competence. However, adult great apes, our closest living relatives, rarely signal to their infants, implicating communication surrounding the infant as the main input for infant great apes and early humans. Given cross-cultural variation in the amount and structure of CDC, we suggest that child-surrounding communication (CSC) provides essential compensatory input when CDC is less prevalent-a paramount topic for future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johanna Schick
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Caroline Fryns
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Comparative Cognition, University of Neuchatel, Neuchatel, Switzerland
| | - Franziska Wegdell
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Marion Laporte
- Histoire naturelle de l’Homme préhistorique, UMR 7194, PaleoFED, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
- Institut des Sciences du Calcul et des Données, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | - Klaus Zuberbühler
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Comparative Cognition, University of Neuchatel, Neuchatel, Switzerland
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, United Kingdom
| | - Carel P. van Schaik
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Simon W. Townsend
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Warwick, United Kingdom
| | - Sabine Stoll
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Fröhlich M, Bartolotta N, Fryns C, Wagner C, Momon L, Jaffrezic M, Mitra Setia T, Schuppli C, van Noordwijk MA, van Schaik CP. Orangutans have larger gestural repertoires in captivity than in the wild-A case of weak innovation? iScience 2021; 24:103304. [PMID: 34820602 PMCID: PMC8601978 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2021] [Revised: 07/29/2021] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Whether nonhuman species can change their communicative repertoire in response to socio-ecological environments has critical implications for communicative innovativeness prior to the emergence of human language, with its unparalleled productivity. Here, we use a comparative sample of wild and zoo-housed orangutans of two species (Pongo abelii, Pongo pygmaeus) to assess the effect of the wild-captive contrast on repertoires of gestures and facial expressions. We find that repertoires on both the individual and population levels are larger in captive than in wild settings, regardless of species, age class, or sampling effort. In the more sociable Sumatran species, dominant use of signals toward single outcomes was also higher in captive settings. We thus conclude that orangutans exposed to more sociable and terrestrial conditions evince behavioral plasticity, in that they produce additional innate or innovated signals that are highly functionally specific. These findings suggest a latent capacity for innovativeness in these apes' communicative repertoires.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marlen Fröhlich
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Natasha Bartolotta
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Caroline Fryns
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Colin Wagner
- Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie, University of Strasbourg, 67037 Strasbourg, France
| | - Laurene Momon
- Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie, University of Strasbourg, 67037 Strasbourg, France
| | - Marvin Jaffrezic
- Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie, University of Strasbourg, 67037 Strasbourg, France
| | - Tatang Mitra Setia
- Fakultas Biologi, Universitas Nasional, 12520 Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia
| | - Caroline Schuppli
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
- Development and Evolution of Cognition Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78467 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Maria A. van Noordwijk
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
- Comparative Socioecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78467 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Carel P. van Schaik
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland
- Comparative Socioecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78467 Konstanz, Germany
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Fröhlich M, Bartolotta N, Fryns C, Wagner C, Momon L, Jaffrezic M, Mitra Setia T, van Noordwijk MA, van Schaik CP. Multicomponent and multisensory communicative acts in orang-utans may serve different functions. Commun Biol 2021; 4:917. [PMID: 34316012 PMCID: PMC8316500 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02429-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2020] [Accepted: 07/07/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
From early infancy, human face-to-face communication is multimodal, comprising a plethora of interlinked communicative and sensory modalities. Although there is also growing evidence for this in nonhuman primates, previous research rarely disentangled production from perception of signals. Consequently, the functions of integrating articulators (i.e. production organs involved in multicomponent acts) and sensory channels (i.e. modalities involved in multisensory acts) remain poorly understood. Here, we studied close-range social interactions within and beyond mother-infant pairs of Bornean and Sumatran orang-utans living in wild and captive settings, to examine use of and responses to multicomponent and multisensory communication. From the perspective of production, results showed that multicomponent acts were used more than the respective unicomponent acts when the presumed goal did not match the dominant outcome for a specific communicative act, and were more common among non-mother-infant dyads and Sumatran orang-utans. From the perception perspective, we found that multisensory acts were more effective than the respective unisensory acts, and were used more in wild compared to captive populations. We argue that multisensory acts primarily facilitate effectiveness, whereas multicomponent acts become relevant when interaction outcomes are less predictable. These different functions underscore the importance of distinguishing between production and perception in studies of communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marlen Fröhlich
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
| | | | - Caroline Fryns
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Colin Wagner
- DEPE-IPHC - Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Laurene Momon
- DEPE-IPHC - Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Marvin Jaffrezic
- DEPE-IPHC - Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | | | | | - Carel P van Schaik
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Fröhlich M, Kunz J, Fryns C, Falkner S, Rukmana E, Schuppli M, Knief U, Utami Atmoko SS, Schuppli C, van Noordwijk MA. Social interactions and interaction partners in infant orang-utans of two wild populations. Anim Behav 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Riley JL, Guidou C, Fryns C, Mourier J, Leu ST, Noble DWA, Byrne RW, Whiting MJ. Isolation rearing does not constrain social plasticity in a family-living lizard. Behav Ecol 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/ary007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Julia L Riley
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Côme Guidou
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Caroline Fryns
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Johann Mourier
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Labex CORAIL, PSL Université Paris, EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, USR 3278 CRIOBE, Perpignan, France
| | - Stephan T Leu
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Daniel W A Noble
- School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Richard W Byrne
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom
| | - Martin J Whiting
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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