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Patterns of Affiliation and Agonism in a Ringtailed Lemur University of Missouri, St. Louis IRL @ UMSL Theses Graduate Works 9-30-2009 Patterns of affiliation and agonism in a ringtailed lemur, , society: Tests of the socioecological model and other hypotheses Gena Christine Sbeglia University of Missouri-St. Louis, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://irl.umsl.edu/thesis Recommended Citation Sbeglia, Gena Christine, "Patterns of affiliation and agonism in a ringtailed lemur, , society: Tests of the socioecological model and other hypotheses" (2009). Theses. 40. http://irl.umsl.edu/thesis/40 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Works at IRL @ UMSL. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of IRL @ UMSL. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Patterns of affiliation and agonism in a ringtailed lemur, Lemur catta, society: Tests of the socioecological model and other hypotheses Gena Sbeglia B.S., Biology, Binghamton University, 2006 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree of Master of Science in Biology Advisory Committee: Zuleyma Tang-Martinez Stanton Braude Robert W. Sussman George Taylor Sbeglia, Gena, 2009, UMSL, p. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS: Chapter 1: The organization of primate social groups…………….……3 Introduction.………………………………………………………………...3 Two Opposing Views……………………………………………………… 4 The Socioecological Model for Primate Sociality………………………….7 Hypotheses and Predictions of the Model…………………………. 7 Development and Theoretical Background of the Model………… 8 Hypothesis and Predictions of the Reconciliation Hypothesis…….. 10 Development and Theoretical Background of the “Reconciliation” Hypothesis………………………………………. 11 Support and Inconsistencies of the Model………………………….15 Support and Inconsistencies of the “Reconciliation” Hypothesis…..17 Current Status of the Socioecological Model……….……………... 20 Other Models of Primate Social Organization……………………………...24 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………. 27 Figures……………………………………………………………………... 28 Literature Cited…………………………………………………………….. 31 Chapter 2: Affect of food, proximity, kinship, and previous agonism on social behavior in ringtailed lemurs……………………….. 38 Introduction…………………………………………………………………38 Methodology………………………………………………………………..47 Study Site, Time Frame, Subjects…………………………………..47 Procedure…………………………………………………………... 49 Food Resource……………………………………………………... 51 Proximity…………………………………………………………... 52 Kinship……………………………………………………………...54 Previous Aggression……………………………………………….. 55 Results………………………………………………………………………59 Food Resources……………………………………………………..60 Proximity…………………………………………………………... 64 Kinship……………………………………………………………...70 Previous Agonism…………………………………………………..74 Discussion…………………………………………………………………..76 High Intensity Agonism…………………………………………….76 Low Intensity Agonism……………………………………………..80 All Agonism………………………………………………………...82 Affiliation………………………………………………………….. 84 Conclusion…………………………………………………………. 91 Tables……………………………………………………………………….93 Literature Cited…………………………………………………………….. 100 Chapter 3: The relationship between food resources and social organization………………………………………………………... 108 Introduction…………………………………………………………………108 Sbeglia, Gena, 2009, UMSL, p. 2 Methodology………………………………………………………………..113 Study Site, Time Frame, Subjects…………………………………..113-114 Procedure…………………………………………………………... 115 Measures of Resource Competition………………………………...118 Dominance Hierarchy Analysis……………………………………. 118 Results………………………………………………………………………123 Measures of Resource Competition………………………………...123 Overall Hierarchy………………………………………………….. 124 Hypothesis 1: Influence of Provisioned Feeding vs. Naturalistic Foraging on Social Organization…………….…………………….. 125 Hypothesis 2: Does Proximity or Food Provide a Better Explanation of the Overall Dominance Hierarchy?………………...126 Discussion…………………………………………………………………..129 Measures of Resource Competition………………………………...129 Hypothesis 1: Influence of Provisioned Feeding vs. Naturalistic Foraging on Social Organization…………….…………………….. 129 Hypothesis 2: Does Proximity or Food Provide a Better Explanation of the Overall Dominance Hierarchy?………………...131 Conclusion……………..…………………………………………... 134 Figures……………………………………………………………………... 138 Tables……………………………………………………………………….139 Literature Cited…………………………………………………………….. 154 Appendix I: Study species and methodology…………………………….161 Study Species……………………………………………………………….161 General Ecology…………………………………………………….161 Reproductive Ecology……………………………………………... 161 Social Behavior……………………………………………………..162 Communication……………………………………………………..164 Methodology………………………………………………………………..164 Study Site, Time Frame Subjects…………………………………...164-165 Procedure…………………………………………………………... 167 Analysis……………………………………………………………. 170 Tables……………………………………………………………………….179 Literature Cited…………………………………………………………….. 190 Appendix II: Graphs of affiliation and agonism patterns by individual, context, gender, and overall………………………………….196 Overall………………………………………………………………………196 By Individual………………………………………………………………. 198 By Context…………………………………………………………………. 200 By Gender…………………………………………………………..……… 201 Sbeglia, Gena, 2009, UMSL, p. 3 CHAPTER 1: THE ORGANIZATION OF PRIMATE SOCIAL GROUPS The diversity of primate social systems has been explained with models that focus on affiliation (cooperation) and aggression (competition) as the primary formative influences. I review these opposing perspectives and their relationship to the popular socioecological model of primate sociality. I then examine the underlying logic of the socioecological model, and review attempts to test the model's predictions across primate taxa. Conflicting reports of the relationship between competition (aggression) over food and social organization suggest that the socioecological model's attention to food-related aggression may have distracted us from considering the influences of inter-individual distance and kinship within groups. INTRODUCTION: The evolution of sociality is integrally tied to the costs it imposes and benefits it provides. Social living can only evolve when significant and consistent fitness benefits outweigh the costs of gregariousness (Alexander 1974). At present, group living is a widespread characteristic of diurnal non-human primates (hereafter “primates”). However, there exists a great diversity in primate social systems both between (van Schaik & van Hooff 1983, Strier 2000) and within species (Sterck 1999). Scientists have long attempted to establish the factors that determine this variation. In this pursuit, two extreme views have been developed. In the first, it is argued that social behavior patterns among group members developed from and are maintained by an “automatic mutual dependence among organisms” (Allee 1931: 391), a “basic social instinct” (Alexander 1974: 329), or a “cooperative urge” (Allee in Dugatkin 1997: 8). In the second and more recent view, it is argued that social behavior patterns among group members developed to counteract (de Waal & van Roosmalen 1979, Castles & Whiten 1998, Katsukake & Castles 2001, Aureli et al. 2002) and in accordance with (van Schaik 1989) the Sbeglia, Gena, 2009, UMSL, p. 4 aggressive and competitive nature of animals (Figure 1). In this literature review, I briefly discuss these two opposing views and then detail how they relate to the foundational assumptions of the socioecological model of primate sociality, which is frequently used to explain the variation in primate social systems. I also review the studies that support and do not support its predictions. In doing so, I aim to examine the strength of the relationship between the characteristics of social organization, and patterns of aggression over food. Social organization is the collective outcome of social interactions and relationships that result among group members. TWO OPPOSING VIEWS: In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, cooperation was discussed as a fundamental feature influencing social life (Allee 1931, Kropotkin 1972). Mutual support and cooperation among animals was thought to play a much larger role in the evolution and maintenance of life than mutual struggle and competition (Kropotkin 1972, Kessler in Kropotkin 1972). Allee (1938) offered the following findings as evidence of this view, “[1] planarian survived in ultraviolet light as a function of group size; [2] per capita growth rate in bacteria is a function of group size; …[3] amphibians regenerate their tails faster when living in groups; [4] time to fledging in colonial birds is reduced in large colonies; [5] in certain contexts, minnows and goldfish learn tasks faster when living in groups” (as quoted in Dugatkin 1997: 9). Therefore, it was generally accepted that social living and cooperativeness were universally beneficial to all concerned, a view that remained widespread throughout social biology until the 1960’s (Alexander 1974). Sbeglia, Gena, 2009, UMSL, p. 5 In stark contrast to Kropotkin’s views, Huxley viewed social living as a gladiator show where only the swiftest and smartest lived to fight another day (1888 in Dugatkin 1997). Lorenz (1966) argued that aggression, not cooperation, was a necessary tactic to ensure that the stronger of two individuals of the same species has better reproductive success, to maintain an optimal distribution of individuals, and to prevent overcrowding through forced dispersal. He further stated that aggression “is essential for [a species’] preservation” (Lorenz 1966: 23, 29, 47, 49) and that competition between near relations of the same species is indispensably responsible for driving evolution forward (Lorenz 1966).
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