The ontogeny of social play in a feral troop of vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus): The function of early play

Autor: W. Hunte, L. A. Vermeer, J. A. Horrocks, P. Govindarajulu
Rok vydání: 1993
Předmět:
Zdroj: International Journal of Primatology. 14:701-719
ISSN: 1573-8604
0164-0291
DOI: 10.1007/bf02192187
Popis: We describe the ontogeny of social play over the first 30 weeks of age in a troop of feral vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus) in Barbados. Play time increased rapidly for the first 10 weeks but remained relatively constant thereafter. The form of play changed with infant age; bouts became more frequent but of shorter duration. Play time, bout frequency, and bout duration at a given age differed between infants; younger infants altered their play patterns to complement those of older infants. All infants played more within their own year class than with older juveniles; play time increased with decreasing age difference between the infant and the play partner. Infants terminated a higher proportion of their play bouts the greater the age difference between themselves and their play partners. Preferred play partners are therefore individuals of similar age that will be similar in size and have matched motivation to play and form of play. Neither play time nor proportion of bouts initiated or terminated was correlated with the social rank of the play partner, which suggests that play is not directed toward individuals that may be high-value alliance partners. Maternal intervention in play occurred primarily when infants were
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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