Competitive ability determines coalition participation and partner selection during maturation in wild male chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii ).

Autor: Enigk DK; Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA., Thompson ME; Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.; Kibale Chimpanzee Project, Fort Portal, Uganda., Machanda ZP; Kibale Chimpanzee Project, Fort Portal, Uganda.; Department of Anthropology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA., Wrangham RW; Kibale Chimpanzee Project, Fort Portal, Uganda.; Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA., Muller MN; Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.; Kibale Chimpanzee Project, Fort Portal, Uganda.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Behavioral ecology and sociobiology [Behav Ecol Sociobiol] 2020 Jul; Vol. 74 (7). Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Jun 22.
DOI: 10.1007/s00265-020-02872-7
Abstrakt: Social mammals often live in groups in which a dominance hierarchy is an important determinant of access to mates. In addition to competing individually, males may form coalitions of two or more to attack or intimidate rivals. Coalition formation could be particularly advantageous for adolescent males by helping them compensate for their physical and social immaturity. However, adolescents may struggle to attract effective coalition partners because of these inadequacies. Here, we examine the behavior of maturing male chimpanzees to test whether coalitions are more frequent among more or less powerful individuals. Our longitudinal study followed 18 males (ages 5 through 25 years) and utilized 1517 coalitions across 12 years of observation of the Kanyawara chimpanzee community in Kibale National Park, Uganda. We found that rates of coalition formation increased across maturation and that this increase was independent of a rise in the overall use of aggression. Juveniles formed coalitions almost exclusively with their mothers, while adolescents partnered primarily with peers and adult males. When adolescents and adult males formed coalitions with each other, the adolescents were more likely to join the adults than vice versa. Finally, adolescents engaged in joint behavior with adult males more often in non-aggressive vocal displays than in aggressive coalitions. Taken together, our results suggest that adolescent males are largely unable to attract the most powerful coalition partners and that they "make the best of a bad job" by joining adult males in less competitive situations, when the risk of receiving aggression from opponents is lower.
Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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