DOCSLIB.ORG

Grooming, Coalitions, and Reciprocal Altruism in Primates

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Grooming, Coalitions, and Reciprocal Altruism in Primates JASs forum Ethics and Altruism Journal of Anthropological Sciences Vol. 85 (2007), pp. 235-236 Grooming, coalitions, and reciprocal altruism in primates Gabriele Schino Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Roma e-mail: [email protected] Th e study of primate altruistic behaviours Preliminary meta-analytical data also show can help to shed light on the evolution of that primates reciprocate amount of grooming human altruism. In particular, as it provides received, that is they groom their group mates information on patterns of altruism in species in relation to the grooming received, and that that may lack advanced cognitive abilities such the degree of grooming reciprocation is inversely as the capacity for empathy and score-keeping. related to the tendency to direct grooming up Grooming and agonistic coalitions represent the hierarchy (Schino & Aureli, in preparation). two traditional examples of primate reciprocal Knowledge of these general patterns altruism (Trivers, 1971). Seyfarth (1977) of grooming distribution among primates developed an infl uential theoretical model to is to be complemented with an improved explain the distribution of grooming among understanding of the proximate mechanisms female primates. Th is model assumed females underlying reciprocal exchanges. Recent data on compete for accessing and grooming high-ranking the temporal relations between grooming and group mates in order to exchange grooming for agonistic support in Japanese macaques (Schino later support during aggressive confrontations. et al., 2007) suggest reciprocal exchanges are not Despite its enormous infl uence on the based on a short-term temporal contingency, ethological literature, data supporting Seyfarth's but much more detailed data are needed on this model were until recently scantier than generally topic. As for the cognitive basis of reciprocation, assumed. In the last few years, meta-analytical at the moment, both emotion-based and techniques have been applied to published data cognition-based proximate mechanisms on primate grooming and agonistic coalitions, have been proposed (Brosnan & de Waal, and have shown that primate grooming does 2002), but their relative prevalence is unclear. satisfy most of the assumptions and predictions Th e data reviewed above highlight that of Seyfarth's model (Schino, 2001; 2007). nonhuman primates show a variety of altruistic Primates direct their grooming preferentially to behaviours whose evolution is likely to be based, higher-ranking animals and, as a results, high- beside kin selection, on the selective mechanism ranking animals receive overall more grooming initially identifi ed by Robert Trivers (1971), that than their lower-ranking group mates. Primates is, reciprocal altruism. Th ese altruistic behaviours also compete for accessing high-ranking group are deployed strategically among group members mates, as shown by the signifi cant relation in order to maximize received return benefi ts. between the groomer's rank and its ability to Th ese observations are relevant to the evolution distribute grooming in relation to the recipient's of our own species as they provide both rank. Th is preference for grooming high- evidence that altruistic behaviour predates the ranking group mates is explained, as originally evolution of human-like cognitive abilities, and assumed by Seyfarth's model, by the exchange support to the notion that the need to navigate that occur between grooming and rank-related a complex social environment favoured the benefi ts, for example agonistic coalitions. initial evolution of improved cognitive abilities. the JASs is published by the Istituto Italiano di Antropologia www.isita-org.com 236 JASs forum: Ethics, Altruism and Evolution References Schino G., Polizzi di Sorrentino E. & Tiddi B. 2007. Grooming and coalitions in Japanese Brosnan, S.F., de Waal. F.B.M. 2002. A proximate macaques (Macaca fuscata): partner choice perspective on reciprocal altruism. Human and the time frame of reciprocation. J. Comp. Nature, 13: 129-152. Psychol., 121: 181-188. Schino G. 2001. Grooming, competition and Seyfarth R.M. 1977. A model of social grooming social rank among female primates: a meta- among adult female monkeys. J. Th eor. Biol., analysis. Anim. Behav., 62: 265-271. 65: 671-698. Schino G. 2007. Grooming and agonistic Trivers R.L. 1971. Th e evolution of reciprocal support: a meta-analysis of primate reciprocal altruism. Q. Rev. Biol., 46: 35-57. altruism. Behav. Ecol., 18: 115–120..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Effects of Hierarchical Steepness on Grooming Patterns in Female Tibetan Macaques (Macaca Thibetana)
    fevo-09-631417 February 27, 2021 Time: 15:50 # 1 ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 04 March 2021 doi: 10.3389/fevo.2021.631417 Effects of Hierarchical Steepness on Grooming Patterns in Female Tibetan Macaques (Macaca thibetana) Dong-Po Xia1,2*†, Xi Wang2,3†, Paul A. Garber4,5, Bing-Hua Sun2,3, Lori K. Sheeran6, Lixing Sun7 and Jin-Hua Li2,3* 1 School of Life Sciences, Anhui University, Hefei, China, 2 International Collaborative Research Center for Huangshan Biodiversity and Tibetan Macaque Behavioral Ecology, Hefei, China, 3 School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei, China, 4 Department of Anthropology and Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States, 5 International Centre of Biodiversity and Primate Conservation, Dali University, Dali, China, 6 Department of Anthropology and Museum Studies, Central Washington Edited by: University, Ellensburg, WA, United States, 7 Department of Biological Sciences, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Lucja A. Fostowicz-Frelik, WA, United States Institute of Paleobiology (PAN), Poland Hierarchical steepness, defined as status asymmetries among conspecifics living in the Reviewed by: Małgorzata Arlet, same group, is not only used as a main characteristic of animal social relationships, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland but also represents the degree of discrepancy between supply and demand within Jundong Tian, Zhengzhou University, China the framework of biological market theory. During September and December 2011, *Correspondence: we studied hierarchical steepness by comparing variation in grooming patterns in two Dong-Po Xia groups of Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana), a primate species characterized by [email protected] a linear dominance hierarchy.
    [Show full text]
  • Evolution of Food Sharing Behavior and Social Grooming Networks in Desmodus Rotundus with Agent-Based Models
    IN PRESS, UC DAVIS McNAIR SCHOLARS JOURNAL 2019 Evolution of Food Sharing Behavior and Social Grooming Networks in Desmodus rotundus with Agent-Based Models Alery Tenorio† Faculty Mentor: Jeffrey Schank‡ College of Biological Sciences†, College of Letters and Science‡ The common vampire bat, Desmodus rotundus, is an example of a non-primate social animal that shares food. Females live in social groups of 8-12, with their offspring and perform social behaviors, such as food sharing and social grooming. Vampire bats share food with other females in their social group by regurgitating their bloodmeals to certain group members. Vampire bats groom certain group members. While social grooming has been studied, its contribution to fitness is unknown. This behavior often occurs before food sharing, possibly to identify cheats, who accept food sharing but do not share. Excluding mother-daughter interactions, social grooming and food sharing usually occurs within subgroups of social groups. These subgroups within social groups are highly associated group members of 2 to 4 and their offspring. While many studies focus on entire social groups or populations, this paper lays the groundwork for investigating whether social grooming is a mechanism for assessing whether bats will share blood meals. The proposed investigation will be conducted by producing agent-based models of vampire bat social groups. These models represent individuals that behave in essential ways like vampire bats and will allow us to characterize by emergent behavior and population-level impacts of behavior. Our goal is to determine whether blood-meal sharing can evolve given or understand of the physiology, behavior, and population structure of vampire bats.
    [Show full text]
  • Anatomy Was Groomed. During a Focal Animal Sample 1974). Combining the Three Sampling Procedures A
    3 Patterns and Functions of Grooming Behavior among the Common Indian Langur Monkey James J. McKenna For many primate species grooming is a predomin- These data suggest, particularly with respect to the ant and socially important behavior pattern diverse question of functions, that while grooming no doubt both in the form it can take and the social situations serves both social and hygienic functions, it does so in a within which it is initiated. While not the only behavior context apparently dictated -by social needs. It is con- that often cuts across different age and sex classes to cluded that social grooming among langur monkeys is promote cohesion, the tremendous amount of time highly integrated into almost all aspects of group life and energy invested by some species in this activity and, while not a reliable behavioral index to status suggests that as a bond-building mechanism social differentials between group members, it is important grooming has played an auxiliary if not complemen- in assessing role complexes. tary role in the evolution of primate sociality. Among primates social grooming is thought by in- Materials and Methods vestigators to provide useful information on many dif- The study group was housed in a dome-shaped ferent aspects of group life. Grooming data has been mesh enclosure approximately 35 feet high by 45 feet used to measure developmental processes in the in diameter. Starting from the enclosure floor six dif- mother-infant relationship (Hinde 1974, Kaufman ferent levels ofsitting bars and platforms, interspersed and Rosenblum 1969), to document the growing net- every three to five feet, allowed proper social and work of attachments and subgroup formations within spatial refuge.
    [Show full text]
  • How Mammals Stay Healthy in Nature: the Evolution of Behaviours to Avoid Rstb.Royalsocietypublishing.Org Parasites and Pathogens
    How mammals stay healthy in nature: the evolution of behaviours to avoid rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org parasites and pathogens Benjamin L. Hart and Lynette A. Hart Review School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA BLH, 0000-0003-2342-6058; LAH, 0000-0002-7133-6535 Cite this article: Hart BL, Hart LA. 2018 How mammals stay healthy in nature: the evolution Mammals live and thrive in environments presenting ongoing threats from of behaviours to avoid parasites and parasites in the form of biting flies, ticks and intestinal worms and from pathogens as wound contaminants and agents of infectious disease. Several pathogens. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 373: strategies have evolved that enable animals to deal with parasites and patho- 20170205. gens, including eliminating away from the sleeping–resting areas, use of an http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0205 array of grooming techniques, use of saliva in licking, and consuming med- icinal plant-based compounds. These strategies all are species-specific and Accepted: 2 April 2018 reflect the particular environment that the animal inhabits. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Evolution of pathogen and parasite avoidance behaviours’. One contribution of 14 to a Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Evolution of pathogen and parasite avoidance behaviours’. 1. Introduction Subject Areas: From biting flies and ticks, to intestinal worms, to wound contaminants and to behaviour, health and disease and infectious diseases, animals living in nature are in an environment that presents epidemiology, evolution an ongoing threat to health and even survival from the standpoint of parasites and pathogens.
    [Show full text]
  • Population-Specific Social Dynamics in Chimpanzees COLLOQUIUM
    PAPER Population-specific social dynamics in chimpanzees COLLOQUIUM Edwin J. C. van Leeuwena,b,1, Katherine A. Croninc,d, and Daniel B. M. Haune,f,g aSchool of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, KY16 9JP St Andrews, Scotland; bMax Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, 6500 AH Nijmegen, The Netherlands; cLester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL 60614; dCommittee on Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637; eLeipzig Research Centre for Early Child Development, Faculty of Education, Leipzig University, 04109 Leipzig, Germany; fDepartment for Early Child Development and Culture, Faculty of Education, Leipzig University, 04109 Leipzig, Germany; and gMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany Edited by Douglas L. Medin, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, and approved February 27, 2018 (received for review January 2, 2018) Understanding intraspecific variation in sociality is essential for as a pressing question in the study of psychological and behavioral characterizing the flexibility and evolution of social systems, yet its diversity: Beyond isolated accounts of tradition formation in non- study in nonhuman animals is rare. Here, we investigated whether human animals, is there any indication that nonhuman animals chimpanzees exhibit population-level differences in sociality that exhibit intraspecific population-level variation in their everyday so- cannot be easily explained by differences in genetics or ecology. We cial interactions that might be instigated by cultural processes? compared social proximity and grooming tendencies across four One seminal case demonstrating the plausibility of learned, semiwild populations of chimpanzees living in the same ecological population-level differences in sociality was reported by Sapolsky Papio anubis environment over three consecutive years, using both linear mixed and Share (31) in their study of olive baboons ( ).
    [Show full text]
  • UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Causes And
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Causes and Consequences of Parasitism in the California Fiddler Crab, Uca Crenulata A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology by Adrienne Brooke Mora December 2013 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Marlene Zuk, Chairperson Dr. Daphne Fairbairn Dr. Bradley Mullens Copyright by Adrienne Brooke Mora 2013 The Dissertation of Adrienne Brooke Mora is approved: _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Committee Chairperson University of California, Riverside ! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe a large debt of gratitude to the many people who contributed to the completion of this dissertation. First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Marlene Zuk. Marlene, you always encouraged me to push myself and taught me to develop my own voice and mind. You were also a strong advocate for my research, and with your support I was inspired to reach beyond my comfort zone and take on new challenges that greatly contributed to my intellectual and personal growth. I would also like to thank Dr. Daphne Fairbairn for her help and guidance throughout my graduate career. Daphne, you gave me great insights into the life of an academic, and helped me learn to think critically and set high standards for myself. When my working space was jeopardized, you jumped in and offered your lab space to me. I am forever grateful to you for your support during this time, as I would not have been able to complete my experiments were it not for you. I consider both you and Marlene to be great role models.
    [Show full text]
  • Grooming As an Agonistic Behavior in Garnett’S Small-Eared Bushbaby (Otolemur Garnettii)
    The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Master's Theses Spring 5-2017 Grooming as an Agonistic Behavior in Garnett’s Small-Eared Bushbaby (Otolemur garnettii) Jennie L. Christopher University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses Part of the Animal Studies Commons, Comparative Psychology Commons, Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons, and the Social Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Christopher, Jennie L., "Grooming as an Agonistic Behavior in Garnett’s Small-Eared Bushbaby (Otolemur garnettii)" (2017). Master's Theses. 289. https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/289 This Masters Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. GROOMING AS AN AGONISTIC BEHAVIOR IN GARNETT’S SMALL-EARED BUSHBABY (OTOLEMUR GARNETTII) by Jennie L. Christopher A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate School and the Department of Psychology at The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science Approved: ________________________________________________ Dr. Heidi Lyn, Committee Chair Assistant Professor, Psychology ________________________________________________ Dr. Alen Hajnal, Committee Member Associate Professor, Psychology ________________________________________________ Dr. Richard Mohn,
    [Show full text]
  • Pan Troglodytes)
    University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 12-2005 Exploring Behavior and Social Relationships of a Captive Group of Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) Crystal E. Anderson University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Anderson, Crystal E., "Exploring Behavior and Social Relationships of a Captive Group of Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2005. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/579 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Crystal E. Anderson entitled "Exploring Behavior and Social Relationships of a Captive Group of Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in Psychology. Richard Saudargas, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Gordon Burghardt, Debora Baldwin Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Crystal Elizabeth Anderson entitled "Exploring Behavior and Social Relationships ofa Captive Group ofChimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)." I have examined the final paper copy ofthis thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the degree ofMaster ofArts, with a major in Psychology.
    [Show full text]
  • Females, Food, Family, and Friendship
    Evolutionary Anthropology 85 NEWS Females, Food, Family, and Friendship or much of the last twenty ances, female philopatry, well-differ- student in the late 1970s, I was ad- years, females have occupied entiated female relationships, and vised by a well-respected primatolo- Fcenter stage in theoretical and male dispersal. On the other hand, gist not to study the sources of varia- empirical analyses of primate social when within-group contest competi- tion in reproductive success among organization. Richard Wrangham1 tion is weak and between-group con- female bonnet macaques because I was one of the first to give females top test competition is strong, we expect wouldn’t find any. But I did, and so billing, when he suggested that social- to see egalitarian dominance relation- have many primatologists since ity has evolved in primates because it ships among females, group-level co- then.10–13 enhances females’ access to resources. alitions against other groups, female If female reproductive success var- Female nutritional needs drive the philopatry, and poorly differentiated ies, then we can ask how the form and plot because female fitness is largely female relationships.4 features of females’ social relation- determined by their access to re- Socioecological models shine the ships contribute to variability in their sources, while male fitness is mainly spotlight on females, and primatolo- fitness.14 Widespread (but not univer- affected by their access to receptive gists have spent much of the last sal) evidence that female dominance females. This means that females dis- twenty years collecting data on female rank influences reproductive perfor- tribute themselves in space according life histories, feeding behavior, and mance provides the first clue that so- to how their food is distributed, and social relationships.
    [Show full text]
  • Coping with Acute Crowding by Cebus Apella
    International Journal of Primatology, Vol. 27, No. 5, October 2006 (C 2006) DOI: 10.1007/s10764-006-9070-z Coping with Acute Crowding by Cebus apella Megan L. van Wolkenten,1,2,3 Jason M. Davis,1 May Lee Gong,1 and Frans B. M. de Waal1,2 Received September 29, 2005; accepted November 16, 2005 Published Online October 18, 2006 Traditionally, scientists believed that crowded housing conditions increased aggression in animals. Recent research on captive primates fails to support a linear relationship between population density and aggressive behavior. Our study is the first to investigate the effects of acute crowding on a New World primate. We observed brown capuchins (Cebus apella) under 2 different spatial conditions: a control that offered the full indoor space in the enclosure and a short-term experimental condition that restricted the capuchins to ap- proximately half the amount of space of the control condition. We compared rates of self-grooming, aggression, contact sitting, social grooming, and play between both conditions. We conducted a mixed factorial ANOVA at the individual level while taking subject sex and age class into account. Intense aggression, play, and social grooming decreased significantly in crowded conditions, suggesting that capuchins avoid social encounters if spatially confined. Their strategy for coping with acute crowding via a decrease in all forms of social behavior is intermediate between chimpanzee and macaque strategies in similar experiments. The only behavior to increase under crowding was a nonsocial, self-directed behavior with the potential of reducing arousal: self-grooming. KEY WORDS: aggression; Cebus apella; coping model; crowding; husbandry.
    [Show full text]
  • The Effects of Parasites on Human Behaviour: an Evolutionary Perspective
    ISSN 2029-8587 PROBLEMS OF PSYCHOLOGY IN THE 21st CENTURY Volume 5, 2013 46 THE EFFECTS OF PARASITES ON HUMAN BEHAVIOUR: AN EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE Pavol Prokop Trnava University, Trnava, Slovakia; Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia E-mail: [email protected] Peter Fedor Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia E-mail: [email protected] Abstract Parasites and predators possess serious threats to humans throughout our evolutionary history. Although the impact of predators in modern world is lower than previously, parasites still infl uence morbidity and mortality of contemporary humans. From the evolutionary perspective, selective pressures caused by parasites should favour individuals that successfully avoid objects/subjects which transmit parasitic diseases and/or those who are successful in combats with them. There is growing evidence for the existence of evolved anti-parasite behaviours in animals, beginning with invertebrates and ending with primates. Avoidance of infected individu- als, grooming and self-medication are most common behavioural strategies that are believed to reduce the transmission of parasites. Here we review recent evidence suggesting that several behavioural and emotional traits in humans evolved as a response to selective pressure caused by parasites. Disgust sensitivity and patho- gen threat may be a mechanism that generates both a cross-cultural variation in preferences for certain facial traits, as well as drivers of religious diversity, political stability of countries, parenting cognitive abilities and prevalence of extraversion and openness to new ideas. Finally, we declare areas for a future research based on questions guided by the evolutionary perspective. Key words: evolution, human, parasites, psychology. Introduction Archaeological evidence had revealed that organisms in the world change over time.
    [Show full text]
  • Co-Evolution of Neocortex Size, Group Size and Language in Humans
    Co-evolution of neocortex size, group size and language in humans http://www.bbsonline.org/documents/a/00/00/05/65/bbs000005... Below is the unedited preprint (not a quotable final draft) of: Dunbar, R. I. M. (1993). Coevolution of neocortical size, group size and language in humans. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 16 (4): 681-735. The final published draft of the target article, commentaries and Author's Response are currently available only in paper. € For information about subscribing or purchasing offprints of the published version, with commentaries and author's response, write to: [email protected] (North America) or [email protected] (All other countries). € CO-EVOLUTION OF NEOCORTEX SIZE, GROUP SIZE AND LANGUAGE IN HUMANS R.I.M. Dunbar Human Evolutionary Biology Research Group Department of Anthropology University College London London WC1E 6BT Keywords Neocortical size, group size, humans, language, Macchiavellian Intelligence Abstract Group size is a function of relative neocortical volume in nonhuman primates. Extrapolation from this regression equation yields a predicted group size for modern humans very similar to that of certain hunter-gatherer and traditional horticulturalist societies. Groups of similar size are also found in other large-scale forms of contemporary and historical society. Among primates, the cohesion of groups is maintained by social grooming; the time devoted to social grooming is linearly related to group size among the Old World monkeys and apes. To maintain the stability of the large groups characteristic of humans by grooming alone would place intolerable demands on time budgets. It is suggested that (1) the evolution of large groups in the human lineage depended on the development of a more efficient method for time-sharing the processes of social bonding and that (2) language uniquely fulfills this requirement.
    [Show full text]