116 results on '"Bonaventura Majolo"'
Search Results
2. Cooperation and group similarity in children and young adults in the UK
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Bonaventura Majolo, Laëtitia Maréchal, Ferenc Igali, and Julie Van de Vyver
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culture ,development ,norms ,phenotype ,public goods game ,social categorisation ,Human evolution ,GN281-289 ,Evolution ,QH359-425 - Abstract
For cooperation to be beneficial, cooperators should be able to differentiate individuals who are willing to cooperate from free-riders. In the absence of kin or of familiar individuals, phenotypic similarity (e.g. in terms of language) can be used as a cue of how likely two or more individuals are to behave similarly (whether they will cooperate or free-ride). Thus, phenotypic similarity could affect cooperation. However, it is unclear whether humans respond to any type of phenotypic similarity or whether only salient phenotypic traits guide cooperation. We tested whether within-group, non-salient phenotypic similarity affects cooperation in 280, 3 to 10 year old children and in 76 young adults (mean 19.8 years old) in the UK. We experimentally manipulated the degree of phenotypic similarity in three computer-based experiments. We found no evidence of a preference for, or greater cooperation with, phenotypically similar individuals in children, even though children displayed ingroup preference. Conversely, young adults cooperated more with phenotypically similar than with phenotypically diverse individuals to themselves. Our results suggest that response to non-salient phenotypic similarity varies with age and that young adults may pay more attention to non-salient cues of diversity then children.
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- 2023
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3. Dominance style only partially predicts differences in neophobia and social tolerance over food in four macaque species
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Federica Amici, Anja Widdig, Andrew J. J. MacIntosh, Victor Beltrán Francés, Alba Castellano-Navarro, Alvaro Lopez Caicoya, Karimullah Karimullah, Risma Illa Maulany, Putu Oka Ngakan, Andi Siady Hamzah, and Bonaventura Majolo
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Abstract Primates live in complex social systems with social structures ranging from more to less despotic. In less despotic species, dominance might impose fewer constraints on social choices, tolerance is greater than in despotic species and subordinates may have little need to include novel food items in the diet (i.e. neophilia), as contest food competition is lower and resources more equally distributed across group members. Here, we used macaques as a model to assess whether different dominance styles predict differences in neophilia and social tolerance over food. We provided familiar and novel food to 4 groups of wild macaques (N = 131) with different dominance styles (Macaca fuscata, M. fascicularis, M. sylvanus, M. maura). Our study revealed inter- and intra-specific differences in individuals’ access to food, which only partially reflected the dominance styles of the study subjects. Contrary to our prediction, social tolerance over food was higher in more despotic species than in less despotic species. Individuals with a higher dominance rank and being better socially integrated (i.e. higher Eigenvector centrality) were more likely to retrieve food in all species, regardless of their dominance style. Partially in line with our predictions, less integrated individuals more likely overcame neophobia (as compared to more integrated ones), but only in species with more tolerance over food. Our study suggests that individual characteristics (e.g. social integration or personality) other than dominance rank may have a stronger effect on an individual’s access to resources.
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- 2020
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4. Intra-specific Variation in the Social Behavior of Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus)
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Federica Amici, Anja Widdig, Lorenzo von Fersen, Alvaro Lopez Caicoya, and Bonaventura Majolo
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intra-specific variation ,Barbary macaques ,neophobia ,social integration ,access to food ,social behavior ,Psychology ,BF1-990 - Abstract
Non-human primates show an impressive behavioral diversity, both across and within species. However, the factors explaining intra-specific behavioral variation across groups and individuals are yet understudied. Here, we aimed to assess how group size and living conditions (i.e., captive, semi-free-ranging, wild) are linked to behavioral variation in 5 groups of Barbary macaques (N=137 individuals). In each group, we collected observational data on the time individuals spent in social interactions and on the group dominance style, along with experimental data on social tolerance over food and neophobia. Our results showed that differences in group size predicted differences in the time spent in social interactions, with smaller groups spending a higher proportion of time in close spatial proximity, but a lower proportion of time grooming. Moreover, group size predicted variation in dominance style, with smaller groups being more despotic. Social tolerance was affected by both group size and living conditions, being higher in smaller groups and in groups living in less natural conditions. Finally, individual characteristics also explained variation in social tolerance and neophobia, with socially integrated individuals having higher access to food sources, and higher-ranking ones being more neophobic. Overall, our results support the view that intra-specific variation is a crucial aspect in primate social behavior and call for more comparative studies to better understand the sources of within-species variation.
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- 2021
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5. Dominance style is a key predictor of vocal use and evolution across nonhuman primates
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Eithne Kavanagh, Sally E. Street, Felix O. Angwela, Thore J. Bergman, Maryjka B. Blaszczyk, Laura M. Bolt, Margarita Briseño-Jaramillo, Michelle Brown, Chloe Chen-Kraus, Zanna Clay, Camille Coye, Melissa Emery Thompson, Alejandro Estrada, Claudia Fichtel, Barbara Fruth, Marco Gamba, Cristina Giacoma, Kirsty E. Graham, Samantha Green, Cyril C. Grueter, Shreejata Gupta, Morgan L. Gustison, Lindsey Hagberg, Daniela Hedwig, Katharine M. Jack, Peter M. Kappeler, Gillian King-Bailey, Barbora Kuběnová, Alban Lemasson, David MacGregor Inglis, Zarin Machanda, Andrew MacIntosh, Bonaventura Majolo, Sophie Marshall, Stephanie Mercier, Jérôme Micheletta, Martin Muller, Hugh Notman, Karim Ouattara, Julia Ostner, Mary S. M. Pavelka, Louise R. Peckre, Megan Petersdorf, Fredy Quintero, Gabriel Ramos-Fernández, Martha M. Robbins, Roberta Salmi, Isaac Schamberg, Valérie A. M. Schoof, Oliver Schülke, Stuart Semple, Joan B. Silk, J. Roberto Sosa-Lopéz, Valeria Torti, Daria Valente, Raffaella Ventura, Erica van de Waal, Anna H. Weyher, Claudia Wilke, Richard Wrangham, Christopher Young, Anna Zanoli, Klaus Zuberbühler, Adriano R. Lameira, and Katie Slocombe
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communication ,sociality ,social behaviour ,dominance style ,vocal ,Science - Abstract
Animal communication has long been thought to be subject to pressures and constraints associated with social relationships. However, our understanding of how the nature and quality of social relationships relates to the use and evolution of communication is limited by a lack of directly comparable methods across multiple levels of analysis. Here, we analysed observational data from 111 wild groups belonging to 26 non-human primate species, to test how vocal communication relates to dominance style (the strictness with which a dominance hierarchy is enforced, ranging from ‘despotic’ to ‘tolerant’). At the individual-level, we found that dominant individuals who were more tolerant vocalized at a higher rate than their despotic counterparts. This indicates that tolerance within a relationship may place pressure on the dominant partner to communicate more during social interactions. At the species-level, however, despotic species exhibited a larger repertoire of hierarchy-related vocalizations than their tolerant counterparts. Findings suggest primate signals are used and evolve in tandem with the nature of interactions that characterize individuals' social relationships.
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- 2021
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6. Genetic Diversity of Barbary Macaques (Macaca sylvanus) and Its Implications in Conservation Management of the Species
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Francelly Martínez Sosa, Mohamed E. Benrabah, Bonaventura Majolo, and Malgorzata Pilot
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conservation genetics ,genetic diversity ,phylogeography ,Barbary macaques ,population fragmentation ,mtDNA ,Plant ecology ,QK900-989 ,Animal biochemistry ,QP501-801 ,Biology (General) ,QH301-705.5 - Abstract
Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) are critically endangered primates. They are unique within their genus as the only African macaque. By the late Miocene, their habitat extended across Northern Africa and into Southern Europe. Aside from an introduced population in Gibraltar, their current distribution is reduced to disjointed forests in Algeria and Morocco. Our knowledge of the phylogeographic history and intra-specific diversity of this highly endangered species is also fragmented. In this study, we aimed to improve our understanding of the phylogeographic history and genetic diversity of the Barbary macaque by expanding the genetic data available on the Algerian populations. Moreover, we investigated captive populations of Barbary macaques for comparison to wild populations. The mtDNA hypervariable control region I was sequenced using DNA extracts from faecal and hair samples from wild and captive populations. The newly produced data (n = 157), from both Algerian and Moroccan populations, were combined with previously published data (n = 212) and used to characterize genetic variability and reconstruct phylogenetic relationships among wild and captive populations. We found that Algerian populations exhibit an increased genetic diversity relative to Moroccan populations. Phylogenetic relationships suggest that the Moroccan populations diversified after being isolated from the Algerian populations. Captive populations were found to be not fully representative of the genetic diversity exhibited in the species, but rather only of Moroccan populations. The findings in this study suggest that the fragmented Algerian populations should be managed in order to increase gene flow between them by increasing habitat connectivity where it is feasible to do so.
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- 2022
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7. Social thermoregulation as a potential mechanism linking sociality and fitness: Barbary macaques with more social partners form larger huddles
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Liz A. D. Campbell, Patrick J. Tkaczynski, Julia Lehmann, Mohamed Mouna, and Bonaventura Majolo
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Abstract Individuals with more or stronger social bonds experience enhanced survival and reproduction in various species, though the mechanisms mediating these effects are unclear. Social thermoregulation is a common behaviour across many species which reduces cold stress exposure, body heat loss, and homeostatic energy costs, allowing greater energetic investment in growth, reproduction, and survival, with larger aggregations providing greater benefits. If more social individuals form larger thermoregulation aggregations due to having more potential partners, this would provide a direct link between sociality and fitness. We conducted the first test of this hypothesis by studying social relationships and winter sleeping huddles in wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus), wherein individuals with more social partners experience greater probability of winter survival. Precipitation and low temperature increased huddle sizes, supporting previous research that huddle size influences thermoregulation and energetics. Huddling relationships were predicted by social (grooming) relationships. Individuals with more social partners therefore formed larger huddles, suggesting reduced energy expenditure and exposure to environmental stressors than less social individuals, potentially explaining how sociality affects survival in this population. This is the first evidence that social thermoregulation may be a direct proximate mechanism by which increased sociality enhances fitness, which may be widely applicable across taxa.
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- 2018
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8. Correction to: ‘Behavioural thermoregulation via microhabitat selection of winter sleeping areas in an endangered primate: implications for habitat conservation’
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Liz A. D. Campbell, Patrick J. Tkaczynski, Mohamed Mouna, Abderrahim Derrou, Lahcen Oukannou, Bonaventura Majolo, and Els van Lavieren
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Science - Published
- 2019
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9. Behavioural thermoregulation via microhabitat selection of winter sleeping areas in an endangered primate: implications for habitat conservation
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Liz A. D. Campbell, Patrick J. Tkaczynski, Mohamed Mouna, Abderrahim Derrou, Lahcen Oukannou, Bonaventura Majolo, and Els van Lavieren
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barbary macaque ,conservation behaviour ,bayesian modelling ,logging ,thermal ecology ,atlas cedar ,Science - Abstract
Strategic microhabitat selection allows animals in seasonally cold environments to reduce homeostatic energy costs, particularly overnight when thermoregulatory demands are greatest. Suitable sleeping areas may therefore represent important resources for winter survival. Knowledge of microhabitat use and potential impacts of anthropogenic habitat modification can aid species conservation through development of targeted habitat management plans. Wild, endangered Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) in logged cedar-oak forest were studied to investigate (1) the hypothesis that macaques select winter sleeping areas with microhabitat characteristics that may reduce thermoregulatory costs, and, if so, (2) how to minimize damage to sleeping areas from logging. Macaques slept only in Atlas cedars (Cedrus atlantica). Consistent with predictions, macaques preferred sleeping in sheltered topography and dense vegetation, which may reduce exposure to wind, precipitation and cold, and preferred large trees that facilitate social huddling. This suggests that Barbary macaques employ strategic nocturnal microhabitat selection to reduce thermoregulatory costs and thus suitable sleeping areas may influence winter survival. To minimize negative impacts of logging on macaque sleeping areas, results suggest avoiding logging in topographical depressions and maintaining cedar densities greater than 250 ha−1 with average breast height greater than 60 cm. This study demonstrates how animal behaviour can be used to guide species-specific habitat management plans.
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- 2018
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10. Commentary: No unique effect of intergroup competition on cooperation: non-competitive thresholds are as effective as competition between groups for increasing human cooperative behavior
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Bonaventura Majolo and Teresa Romero
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behavioral economics game ,between-group competition ,cooperation ,conflict ,threshold ,war ,Psychology ,BF1-990 - Published
- 2018
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11. Experience-based human perception of facial expressions in Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus)
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Laëtitia Maréchal, Xandria Levy, Kerstin Meints, and Bonaventura Majolo
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Facial expressions ,Primates ,Ethnoprimatology ,Tourism ,Human-macaque interactions ,Universal hypothesis ,Medicine ,Biology (General) ,QH301-705.5 - Abstract
Background Facial expressions convey key cues of human emotions, and may also be important for interspecies interactions. The universality hypothesis suggests that six basic emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise) should be expressed by similar facial expressions in close phylogenetic species such as humans and nonhuman primates. However, some facial expressions have been shown to differ in meaning between humans and nonhuman primates like macaques. This ambiguity in signalling emotion can lead to an increased risk of aggression and injuries for both humans and animals. This raises serious concerns for activities such as wildlife tourism where humans closely interact with wild animals. Understanding what factors (i.e., experience and type of emotion) affect ability to recognise emotional state of nonhuman primates, based on their facial expressions, can enable us to test the validity of the universality hypothesis, as well as reduce the risk of aggression and potential injuries in wildlife tourism. Methods The present study investigated whether different levels of experience of Barbary macaques, Macaca sylvanus, affect the ability to correctly assess different facial expressions related to aggressive, distressed, friendly or neutral states, using an online questionnaire. Participants’ level of experience was defined as either: (1) naïve: never worked with nonhuman primates and never or rarely encountered live Barbary macaques; (2) exposed: shown pictures of the different Barbary macaques’ facial expressions along with the description and the corresponding emotion prior to undertaking the questionnaire; (3) expert: worked with Barbary macaques for at least two months. Results Experience with Barbary macaques was associated with better performance in judging their emotional state. Simple exposure to pictures of macaques’ facial expressions improved the ability of inexperienced participants to better discriminate neutral and distressed faces, and a trend was found for aggressive faces. However, these participants, even when previously exposed to pictures, had difficulties in recognising aggressive, distressed and friendly faces above chance level. Discussion These results do not support the universality hypothesis as exposed and naïve participants had difficulties in correctly identifying aggressive, distressed and friendly faces. Exposure to facial expressions improved their correct recognition. In addition, the findings suggest that providing simple exposure to 2D pictures (for example, information signs explaining animals’ facial signalling in zoos or animal parks) is not a sufficient educational tool to reduce tourists’ misinterpretations of macaque emotion. Additional measures, such as keeping a safe distance between tourists and wild animals, as well as reinforcing learning via videos or supervised visits led by expert guides, could reduce such issues and improve both animal welfare and tourist experience.
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- 2017
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12. Facial width-to-height ratio relates to dominance style in the genus Macaca
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Marta Borgi and Bonaventura Majolo
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Aggression ,Dominance style ,fWHR ,Facial structure ,Competition ,Sexual selection ,Medicine ,Biology (General) ,QH301-705.5 - Abstract
Background. Physical, visual, chemical, and auditory cues signalling fighting ability have independently evolved in many animal taxa as a means to resolve conflicts without escalating to physical aggression. Facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR, i.e., the relative width to height of the face) has been associated with dominance-related phenotypes both in humans and in other primates. In humans, faces with a larger fWHR are perceived as more aggressive. Methods. We examined fWHR variation among 11 species of the genus Macaca. Macaques have been grouped into four distinct categories, from despotic to tolerant, based on their female dominance style. Female dominance style is related to intra- and inter-sexual competition in both males and females and is the result of different evolutionary pressure across species. We used female dominance style as a proxy of intra-/inter-sexual competition to test the occurrence of correlated evolution between competitive regimes and dominance-related phenotypes. fWHR was calculated from 145 2D photographs of male and female adult macaques. Results. We found no phylogenetic signal on the differences in fWHR across species in the two sexes. However, fWHR was greater, in females and males, in species characterised by despotic female dominance style than in tolerant species. Discussion. Our results suggest that dominance-related phenotypes are related to differences in competitive regimes and intensity of inter- and intra-sexual selection across species.
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- 2016
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13. Assessing the Effects of Tourist Provisioning on the Health of Wild Barbary Macaques in Morocco.
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Laëtitia Maréchal, Stuart Semple, Bonaventura Majolo, and Ann MacLarnon
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Feeding wildlife is a very popular tourist activity, largely because it facilitates the close observation of animals in their natural habitat. Such provisioning may benefit animals by improving their survival and reproductive success, especially during periods of natural food shortage. However, provisioning by tourists may also have negative impacts on the health of the animals involved; to date such impacts are poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effects of tourist provisioning on the health of wild adult Barbary macaques, Macaca sylvanus, in Morocco. We compared health measures between a heavily provisioned group and a group that received negligible food from tourists and, in the former group, we also assessed health measures in relation to the intensity of provisioning. We used a broad range of non-invasive health measures relating to birth rate and survival, disease and injury risk, body size and condition, and physiological stress. Our findings indicate that feeding by tourists may overall have negative impacts on the health of Barbary macaques, being linked in particular to larger body size, elevated stress levels and more alopecia. Finally, we propose a framework to help consider the potential costs and benefits of provisioning, which may facilitate future research and management decisions on whether-and how much-provisioning is acceptable.
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- 2016
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14. Social interactions through the eyes of macaques and humans.
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Richard McFarland, Hettie Roebuck, Yin Yan, Bonaventura Majolo, Wu Li, and Kun Guo
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Group-living primates frequently interact with each other to maintain social bonds as well as to compete for valuable resources. Observing such social interactions between group members provides individuals with essential information (e.g. on the fighting ability or altruistic attitude of group companions) to guide their social tactics and choice of social partners. This process requires individuals to selectively attend to the most informative content within a social scene. It is unclear how non-human primates allocate attention to social interactions in different contexts, and whether they share similar patterns of social attention to humans. Here we compared the gaze behaviour of rhesus macaques and humans when free-viewing the same set of naturalistic images. The images contained positive or negative social interactions between two conspecifics of different phylogenetic distance from the observer; i.e. affiliation or aggression exchanged by two humans, rhesus macaques, Barbary macaques, baboons or lions. Monkeys directed a variable amount of gaze at the two conspecific individuals in the images according to their roles in the interaction (i.e. giver or receiver of affiliation/aggression). Their gaze distribution to non-conspecific individuals was systematically varied according to the viewed species and the nature of interactions, suggesting a contribution of both prior experience and innate bias in guiding social attention. Furthermore, the monkeys' gaze behavior was qualitatively similar to that of humans, especially when viewing negative interactions. Detailed analysis revealed that both species directed more gaze at the face than the body region when inspecting individuals, and attended more to the body region in negative than in positive social interactions. Our study suggests that monkeys and humans share a similar pattern of role-sensitive, species- and context-dependent social attention, implying a homologous cognitive mechanism of social attention between rhesus macaques and humans.
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- 2013
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15. The Organization of Collective Group Movements in Wild Barbary Macaques (Macaca sylvanus): Social Structure Drives Processes of Group Coordination in Macaques.
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Anne Seltmann, Bonaventura Majolo, Oliver Schülke, and Julia Ostner
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Social animals have to coordinate activities and collective movements to benefit from the advantages of group living. Animals in large groups maintain cohesion by self-organization processes whereas in smaller groups consensus decisions can be reached. Where consensus decisions are relevant leadership may emerge. Variation in the organization of collective movements has been linked to variation in female social tolerance among macaque species ranging from despotic to egalitarian. Here we investigated the processes underlying group movements in a wild macaque species characterized by a degree of social tolerance intermediate to previously studied congeneric species. We focused on processes before, during and after the departure of the first individual. To this end, we observed one group of wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) in the Middle Atlas, Morocco using all-occurrence behaviour sampling of 199 collective movements. We found that initiators of a collective movement usually chose the direction in which more individuals displayed pre-departure behavior. Dominant individuals contributed to group movements more than subordinates, especially juveniles, measured as frequencies of successful initiations and pre-departure behaviour. Joining was determined by affiliative relationships and the number of individuals that already joined the movement (mimetism). Thus, in our study group partially shared consensus decisions mediated by selective mimetism seemed to be prevalent, overall supporting the suggestion that a species' social style affects the organization of group movements. As only the most tolerant species show equally shared consensus decisions whereas in others the decision is partially shared with a bias to dominant individuals the type of consensus decisions seems to follow a stepwise relation. Joining order may also follow a stepwise, however opposite, relationship, because dominance only determined joining in highly despotic, but not in intermediate and tolerant species.
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- 2013
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16. Exploring the components, asymmetry and distribution of relationship quality in wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus).
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Richard McFarland and Bonaventura Majolo
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Social relationships between group members are a key feature of many animal societies. The quality of social relationships has been described by three main components: value, compatibility and security, based on the benefits, tenure and stability of social exchanges. We aimed to analyse whether this three component structure could be used to describe the quality of social relationships in wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus). Moreover, we examined whether relationship quality was affected by the sex, age and rank differences between social partners, and investigated the asymmetric nature of social relationships. We collected over 1,900 hours of focal data on seven behavioural variables measuring relationship quality, and used principal component analysis to investigate how these variables clustered together. We found that relationship quality in wild Barbary macaques can be described by a three component structure that represents the value, compatibility and security of a relationship. Female-female dyads had more valuable relationships and same-age dyads more compatible relationships than any other dyad. Rank difference had no effect on the quality of a social relationship. Finally, we found a high degree of asymmetry in how members of a dyad exchange social behaviour. We argue that the asymmetry of social relationships should be taken into account when exploring the pattern and function of social behaviour in animal societies.
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- 2011
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17. Grooming coercion and the post-conflict trading of social services in wild Barbary macaques.
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Richard McFarland and Bonaventura Majolo
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
In animal and human societies, social services such as protection from predators are often exchanged between group members. The tactics that individuals display to obtain a service depend on its value and on differences between individuals in their capacity to aggressively obtain it. Here we analysed the exchange of valuable social services (i.e. grooming and relationship repair) in the aftermath of a conflict, in wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus). The relationship repair function of post-conflict affiliation (i.e. reconciliation) was apparent in the victim but not in the aggressor. Conversely, we found evidence for grooming coercion by the aggressor; when the victim failed to give grooming soon after a conflict they received renewed aggression from the aggressor. We argue that post-conflict affiliation between former opponents can be better described as a trading of social services rather than coercion alone, as both animals obtain some benefits (i.e. grooming for the aggressor and relationship repair for the victim). Our study is the first to test the importance of social coercion in the aftermath of a conflict. Differences in competitive abilities can affect the exchange of services and the occurrence of social coercion in animal societies. This may also help explain the variance between populations and species in their social behaviour and conflict management strategies.
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- 2011
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18. Social responses to the natural loss of individuals in Barbary macaques
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Piotr Fedurek, Richard McFarland, Bonaventura Majolo, and Julia Lehmann
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Animal Science and Zoology ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics - Abstract
In recent years, there has been considerable interest in investigating how animal social structure is affected by the loss of individuals. This is often achieved using simulations that generate predictions regarding how the removal of ‘key’ individuals from a group affects network structure. However, little is known about the effects of such removals in wild and free-ranging populations, particularly the extent to which naturally occurring mortality events and the loss of a large proportion of individuals from a social group affects the overall structure of a social network. Here, we used data from a population of wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) that was exposed to an exceptionally harsh winter, culminating in the death of 64% of the adults from two groups. We analysed how social interaction patterns among surviving individuals were affected by the natural loss of group members using social networks based on affiliative (i.e., grooming) and aggressive social interactions. We show that only the structure of the pre-decline grooming networks was conserved in the post-decline networks, suggesting that grooming, but not aggression networks are resilient against the loss of group members. Surviving group members were not significantly different from the non-survivors in terms of their affiliative and agonistic relationships, and did not form assorted communities in the pre-decline networks. Overall, our results suggest that in primates, patterns of affiliative interactions are more resilient to changes in group composition than aggressive interaction patterns, which tend to be used more flexibly in new conditions.
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- 2022
19. Effect of Anthropogenic Activities on the Population of Moor Macaques (Macaca maura) in South Sulawesi, Indonesia
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Víctor Beltrán Francés, Denise Spaan, Federica Amici, Risma Illa Maulany, Ngakan Putu Oka, and Bonaventura Majolo
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Animal Science and Zoology ,C800 Psychology ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics - Abstract
Forest loss due to anthropogenic activities is one of the main causes of plant and animal species decline. Studying the species’ population status (i.e., density, abundance, and geographic distribution) on a regular basis is one of the main tools to assess the effect of anthropogenic activities on wildlife, to monitor population dynamics and to intervene with effective conservation strategies when the population of an endangered species declines. On Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, anthropogenic activities, such as agriculture, are decreasing the remaining natural habitats available for several endemic and endangered species. The effect of this forest loss on the threatened moor macaques (Macaca maura) in South Sulawesi is unknown, and data on the population status of this species are needed to design effective conservation strategies. To assess the population status of the moor macaques, we walked linear transects (N = 29, survey effort = 114 km) at six sites between November 2019 and March 2020 to estimate macaque population density and encounter rate. We tested the effect of anthropogenic activities on macaque encounter rate. Our global density estimate (24 individuals/km2) was lower than the overall estimate from the most detailed survey conducted on this species, which covered its whole geographic distribution (36.1 individuals/km2). However, these results should be interpreted with caution because the previous density estimate falls within the confidence intervals of our estimate. Furthermore, we found regional declines in moor macaque encounter rates in at least two sites compared with previous studies. We found a high presence of anthropogenic activity in the forests inhabited by macaques. Moor macaques were less abundant in open areas with no forest (i.e., clear cuttings) than in forested areas, and in the presence of nonspecies-specific hunting traps (i.e., wire-loop traps). Moreover, moor macaques were more abundant in areas with a higher presence of humans and domestic animals. Overall, our data suggest that the population of this species may be declining in certain regions but further surveys are needed to corroborate whether this is occurring across the entire geographic distribution.
- Published
- 2022
20. Intergroup lethal gang attacks in wild crested macaques, Macaca nigra
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Laura Martínez-Íñigo, Malgorzata Pilot, Bonaventura Majolo, Muhammad Agil, and Antje Engelhardt
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biology ,Hostility ,Troglodytes ,Joint observation ,Territoriality ,biology.organism_classification ,Crocuta crocuta ,C800 Psychology ,Macaque ,biology.animal ,Cooperative breeding ,medicine ,Outgroup ,Animal Science and Zoology ,medicine.symptom ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Demography - Abstract
Lethal gang attacks, in which multiple aggressors attack a single victim, are among the most widespread forms of violence between human groups. Gang attacks are also frequent in some other social mammals, such as chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), wolves (Canis lupus), spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta), and meerkats (Suricata suricatta). So far, species where gang attacks have been observed share one or more of these socio-ecological features: territoriality, fission-fusion, cooperative breeding or coalitionary bonds. However, the scarcity of data in other taxa makes it challenging to determine if one/all of these socio-ecological features are necessary and sufficient to drive the evolution of gang attacks. Here we describe the first-ever reports of intergroup gang attacks in the crested macaque, using data on three groups collected over 13 years, with the joint observation times for the three groups summing up to 37 years. Crested macaques gang attacked outgroup conspecifics when aggressors were numerically superior to victims. Adult females were the most frequent age/sex category to attack outgroup conspecifics. The victims were mostly adult females, and infants. We propose that coalitionary bonds, hostility towards outgroup individuals, and the ability to estimate numerical odds may suffice to trigger intergroup gang attacks when the conditions favour an imbalance of power between victims and attackers.
- Published
- 2021
21. Barbary Macaque Macaca sylvanus (Linnaeus, 1758)
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Bonaventura Majolo, Laëtitia Maréchal, Hackländer, Klaus, Zachos, Frank E., and Alves, Paulo C.
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C800 Psychology - Abstract
This comprehensive species-specific chapter covers all aspects of the mammalian biology, including paleontology, physiology, genetics, reproduction and development, ecology, habitat, diet, mortality, and behavior. The economic significance and management of mammals and future challenges for research and conservation are addressed as well. The chapter includes a distribution map, a photograph of the animal, and a list of key literature.
- Published
- 2022
22. The importance of out-group characteristics for the own-group face memory bias
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Elizabeth Fuller, Tessa R. Flack, Bonaventura Majolo, and Kay L. Ritchie
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Group (mathematics) ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,05 social sciences ,Face (sociological concept) ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Ingroups and outgroups ,Facial recognition system ,050105 experimental psychology ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous) ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Psychology ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Cognitive psychology ,Memory bias - Abstract
The own-group bias (OGB) in face recognition refers to the finding that in-group faces are recognized with greater accuracy than out-group faces. Current literature emphasizes the importance of in-...
- Published
- 2021
23. Innovation in wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus)
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Federica, Amici, Alvaro L, Caicoya, Bonaventura, Majolo, and Anja, Widdig
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Male ,Behavior, Animal ,Evolution ,lcsh:R ,lcsh:Medicine ,Animals, Wild ,C800 Psychology ,Article ,Animals ,Humans ,Macaca ,Psychology ,Female ,lcsh:Q ,Social Behavior ,lcsh:Science ,Zoology - Abstract
Innovation is the ability to solve novel problems or find novel solutions to familiar problems, and it is known to affect fitness in both human and non-human animals. In primates, innovation has been mostly studied in captivity, although differences in living conditions may affect individuals’ ability to innovate. Here, we tested innovation in a wild group of Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus). In four different conditions, we presented the group with several identical foraging boxes containing food. To understand which individual characteristics and behavioural strategies best predicted innovation rate, we measured the identity of the individuals manipulating the boxes and retrieving the food, and their behaviour during the task. Our results showed that success in the novel task was mainly affected by the experimental contingencies and the behavioural strategies used during the task. Individuals were more successful in the 1-step conditions, if they participated in more trials, showed little latency to approach the boxes and mainly manipulated functional parts of the box. In contrast, we found no effect of inhibition, social facilitation and individual characteristics like sex, age, rank, centrality, neophobia and reaction to humans, on the individuals’ ability to innovate.
- Published
- 2020
24. Effect of Group Size and Individual Characteristics on Intergroup Encounters in Primates
- Author
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Bonaventura Majolo, Julia Lehmann, Laura Martínez-Íñigo, and Aurora De Bortoli Vizioli
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0106 biological sciences ,Old World ,biology ,Aggression ,05 social sciences ,Lemur ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,humanities ,Animal ecology ,biology.animal ,medicine ,Outgroup ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Animal Science and Zoology ,Primate ,050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology ,medicine.symptom ,Psychology ,health care economics and organizations ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Demography - Abstract
Intergroup encounters are common in nonhuman primates and can vary from affiliative to aggressive. We extracted data from the literature to test five different hypotheses: 1) where there are group size differences between opposing groups, whether the larger group is more likely to win an intergroup encounter than the smaller group; 2) whether the likelihood of a group engaging in aggressive intergroup encounters increases with group size; and 3–5) whether dominant, older individuals, and/or males are more likely to participate aggressively in intergroup encounters than subordinate, younger individuals and/or females. Our data set comprised 52 studies on 31 primate species (3 lemur species, 5 New World monkeys, 19 Old World monkeys, and 4 apes). We found that the larger group is more likely to win an encounter against a smaller group than vice versa. We found no significant relationship between group size and propensity to be aggressive during intergroup encounters. We found weak/no support for the effect of age, dominance rank, and sex on the frequency of aggression displayed toward outgroup individuals during intergroup encounters. Species- and population-specific differences in inter- and intragroup competition and in the degree of the unequal distribution of resources across group members may explain why age, dominance rank, and sex are not strong predictors of aggression during intergroup encounters.
- Published
- 2020
25. The habituation process in two groups of wild moor macaques (Macaca maura)
- Author
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Clara Hernández Tienda, Bonaventura Majolo, Teresa Romero, Risma Illa Maulany, Putu Oka Ngakan, Víctor Beltrán Francés, Elisa Gregorio Hernández, Jose Gómez-Melara, Miquel Llorente, Federica Amici, and Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Antropología Social
- Subjects
South Sulawesi ,Primats -- Hàbits i conducta ,Wild macaques ,Group comparison ,Animal Science and Zoology ,Animal behavior ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Primates -- Behavior - Abstract
When studying animal behavior in the wild, some behaviors may require observation from a relatively short distance. In these cases, habituation is commonly used to ensure that animals do not perceive researchers as a direct threat and do not alter their behavior in their presence. However, habituation can have significant effects on the welfare and conservation of the animals. Studying how nonhuman primates react to the process of habituation can help to identify the factors that affect habituation and implement habituation protocols that allow other researchers to speed up the process while maintaining high standards of health and safety for both animals and researchers. In this study, we systematically described the habituation of two groups of wild moor macaques (Macaca maura), an Endangered endemic species of Sulawesi Island (Indonesia), to assess the factors that facilitate habituation and reduce impact on animal behavior during this process. During 7 months, we conducted behavioral observations for more than 7,872 encounters and an average of 120 days to monitor how macaque behavior toward researchers changed through time in the two groups under different conditions. We found that both study groups (N = 56, N = 41) became more tolerant to the presence of researchers during the course of the habituation, with occurrence of neutral group responses increasing, and minimum distance to researchers and occurrence of fearful group responses decreasing through time. These changes in behavior were predominant when macaques were in trees, with better visibility conditions, when researchers maintained a longer minimum distance to macaques and, unexpectedly, by the presence of more than one researcher. By identifying these factors, we contribute to designing habituation protocols that decrease the likelihood of fearful responses and might reduce the stress experienced during this process.
- Published
- 2022
26. Warfare in an evolutionary perspective
- Author
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Bonaventura Majolo
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Warfare ,History ,Pan troglodytes ,Injury control ,L600 Anthropology ,Poison control ,Cultural Evolution ,Phenomenon ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Social Behavior ,History, Ancient ,Behavior, Animal ,Aggression ,C182 Evolution ,Perspective (graphical) ,Hominidae ,Environmental ethics ,General Medicine ,C800 Psychology ,Human evolution ,Anthropology ,Outgroup ,medicine.symptom ,Social evolution - Abstract
The importance of warfare for human evolution is hotly debated in anthropology. Some authors hypothesize that warfare emerged at least 200,000-100,000 years BP, was frequent, and significantly shaped human social evolution. Other authors claim that warfare is a recent phenomenon, linked to the emergence of agriculture, and mostly explained by cultural rather than evolutionary forces. Here I highlight and critically evaluate six controversial points on the evolutionary bases of warfare. I argue that cultural and evolutionary explanations on the emergence of warfare are not alternative but analyze biological diversity at two distinct levels. An evolved propensity to act aggressively towards outgroup individuals may emerge irrespective of whether warfare appeared early/late during human evolution. Finally, I argue that lethal violence and aggression towards outgroup individuals are two linked but distinct phenomena, and that war and peace are complementary and should not always be treated as two mutually-exclusive behavioral responses.
- Published
- 2019
27. A cross-cultural comparison of the link between modernization, anthropomorphism and attitude to wildlife
- Author
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Federica Amici, Jose Luis Gomez-Melara, Teresa Rabazas Romero, Shahrul Anuar Mohd Sah, Patricia Izar, Bonaventura Majolo, Putu Oka Ngakan, Rufino Acosta-Naranjo, Jordi Pladevall, and Risma Illa Maulany
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Value (ethics) ,ANIMAIS SELVAGENS ,mutualism ,wildlife ,Geography, Planning and Development ,Anthropogenic pressure ,Wildlife ,TJ807-830 ,Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law ,TD194-195 ,Modernization theory ,Renewable energy sources ,C890 Psychology not elsewhere classified ,GE1-350 ,domination ,Environmental effects of industries and plants ,modernization ,anthropomorphism ,attitude ,Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment ,Cross-cultural studies ,C190 Biology not elsewhere classified ,Environmental sciences ,L690 Anthropology not elsewhere classified ,Psychology ,Social psychology ,Developed country - Abstract
Anthropogenic pressure has significantly increased in the last decades, often enhancing conflicts at the human–wildlife interface. Therefore, understanding peoples’ value orientations, attitudes and behavioural intentions towards wildlife is a crucial endeavour to reduce the occurrence of conflicts between humans and wildlife. Previous research in the USA has shown a consistent link between modernization and increased anthropomorphism (i.e., the tendency to attribute human mental or physical characteristics to other entities), leading to positive changes in value orientations, attitudes, and behavioural intentions towards wildlife. In this paper, we aimed to address whether this link is also present in other cultures, by testing participants (N = 741) in five different countries (Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, and Spain). Our study shows that while the positive link between anthropomorphism, positive attitudes and behavioural intentions towards wildlife is universal, the link between modernization and anthropomorphism is culturally mediated. In some countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Spain), modernization increased anthropomorphism, while in others modernization predicted no differences (Brazil) or even a decrease in anthropomorphism (Mexico), ultimately deteriorating individuals’ attitude and behavioural intentions towards wildlife. These results call for caution when generalizing findings from western industrialized countries to inform conservation policies worldwide.
- Published
- 2021
28. Dominance style is a key predictor of vocal use and evolution across nonhuman primates
- Author
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Samantha J. Green, Daria Valente, Zarin P. Machanda, Erica van de Waal, Joan B. Silk, Christopher Young, Daniela Hedwig, Klaus Zuberbühler, Oliver Schülke, Lindsey Hagberg, Sally E. Street, Anna Zanoli, Mary S. M. Pavelka, Martha M. Robbins, Martin N. Muller, Chloe Chen-Kraus, Roberta Salmi, Barbara Fruth, Cristina Giacoma, Isaac Schamberg, Michelle Brown, Louise Peckre, Fredy Quintero, Richard W. Wrangham, Andrew J. J. MacIntosh, Shreejata Gupta, Gillian King-Bailey, Felix O. Angwela, Eithne Kavanagh, Stuart Semple, Zanna Clay, Melissa Emery Thompson, Claudia Wilke, Camille Coye, Julia Ostner, Cyril C. Grueter, Marco Gamba, Raffaella Ventura, Margarita Briseño-Jaramillo, Hugh Notman, Sophie Marshall, Jérôme Micheletta, Thore J. Bergman, Bonaventura Majolo, Anna H. Weyher, Megan Petersdorf, Valérie A. M. Schoof, Gabriel Ramos-Fernández, Maryjka B. Blaszczyk, Kirsty E. Graham, Adriano R. Lameira, Morgan L. Gustison, Alban Lemasson, Karim Ouattara, Alejandro Estrada, Laura M. Bolt, David Macgregor Inglis, Peter M. Kappeler, Valeria Torti, Claudia Fichtel, Barbora Kuběnová, Stéphanie Mercier, J. Roberto Sosa-López, Katharine M. Jack, Katie E. Slocombe, University of York [York, UK], Nottingham Trent University, Durham University, University of Michigan [Ann Arbor], University of Michigan System, University of Texas at Austin [Austin], University of Waterloo [Waterloo], Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), University of California [Santa Barbara] (UCSB), University of California, Yale University [New Haven], University of Exeter, Ethologie animale et humaine (EthoS), Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), No funding was provided specifically for the current paper, but funding which supported data collection at field sites is acknowledged in electronic supplementary material, S11., University of St Andrews. School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews. Institute of Behavioural and Neural Sciences, University of St Andrews. Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution, Mountains of the Moon University, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México = National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), University of California [Santa Barbara] (UC Santa Barbara), University of California (UC), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Université de Rennes (UR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), The University of New Mexico [Albuquerque], German Primate Center - Deutsches Primatenzentrum -- Leibniz Insitute for Primate Research -- [Göttingen, Allemagne] (GPC - DPZ), Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Università degli studi di Torino = University of Turin (UNITO), School of Psychology and Neuroscience [University of St. Andrews], University of St Andrews [Scotland], The University of Western Australia (UWA), Harvard University, Cornell University [New York], Tulane University, Kyoto University, University of Roehampton, United Kingdom, Tufts University [Medford], University of Lincoln, Université de Neufchätel (UNIME), University of Portsmouth, Athabasca University (AU), Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Cote d'Ivoire [Abidjan] (CSRS-CI), University of Calgary, New York University [New York] (NYU), NYU System (NYU), Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology [Leipzig], Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, University of Georgia [USA], Arizona State University [Tempe] (ASU), Instituto Politecnico Nacional [Mexico] (IPN), Abertay University (Abertay University), Université de Lausanne = University of Lausanne (UNIL), University of Massachusetts [Amherst] (UMass Amherst), University of Massachusetts System (UMASS), University of Pretoria [South Africa], and University of Lethbridge
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Science ,Basic Behavioral and Social Science ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Key (music) ,Style (sociolinguistics) ,social behaviour ,[SCCO]Cognitive science ,biology.animal ,ddc:570 ,Behavioral and Social Science ,dominance style ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Animal communication ,Primate ,050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology ,Research Articles ,Sociality ,QL ,Multidisciplinary ,biology ,communication ,QH ,Repertoire ,05 social sciences ,DAS ,QL Zoology ,sociality ,vocal ,C800 Psychology ,vocal, sociality, communication, dominance style, social behaviour ,Dominance hierarchy ,Dominance (ethology) ,communication, sociality, social behaviour, dominance style, vocal ,Organismal and Evolutionary Biology ,Psychology ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
Animal communication has long been thought to be subject to pressures and constraints associated with social relationships. However, our understanding of how the nature and quality of social relationships relates to the use and evolution of communication is limited by a lack of directly comparable methods across multiple levels of analysis. Here, we analysed observational data from 111 wild groups belonging to 26 non-human primate species, to test how vocal communication relates to dominance style (the strictness with which a dominance hierarchy is enforced, ranging from 'despotic' to 'tolerant'). At the individual-level, we found that dominant individuals who were more tolerant vocalized at a higher rate than their despotic counterparts. This indicates that tolerance within a relationship may place pressure on the dominant partner to communicate more during social interactions. At the species-level, however, despotic species exhibited a larger repertoire of hierarchy-related vocalizations than their tolerant counterparts. Findings suggest primate signals are used and evolve in tandem with the nature of interactions that characterize individuals' social relationships. Publisher PDF
- Published
- 2021
29. Effect of human activity on habitat selection in the endangered Barbary macaque
- Author
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Bonaventura Majolo, Malgorzata Pilot, Laëtitia Maréchal, Lad Campbell, and James O. Waterman
- Subjects
C181 Biodiversity ,0106 biological sciences ,education.field_of_study ,Ecology ,biology ,National park ,010604 marine biology & hydrobiology ,Home range ,Population ,Macaca sylvanus ,Endangered species ,biology.organism_classification ,C800 Psychology ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Macaque ,Geography ,Habitat ,biology.animal ,Herding ,C180 Ecology ,education ,Nature and Landscape Conservation - Abstract
The exponential growth of human population and infrastructure is significantly reducing the amount of ecological resources available for wild animals. We analyzed the effect of human activity on Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus), an endangered species restricted to the fragmented forests of Morocco and Algeria, using location data from five social groups inhabiting Ifrane National Park, Morocco. We used a resource selection function to explore the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on macaque habitat selection, using nine natural, social, and anthropogenic disturbance variables as predictors. Forest cover, home range overlap, herding route proximity, and road proximity were all significant predictors of habitat use. Macaques avoided areas used by local shepherds, to reduce the risk of attack by shepherds’ dogs, but approached roads to increase the chances of provisioning by tourists. However, herding route and road use varied seasonally in line with levels of human use, suggesting that macaques may be navigating their environment strategically (in space and time) to balance food acquisition and risk avoidance. The results of this study highlight the importance of assessing human impact on habitat selection in both space and time. Our data on seasonal variations in macaques’ use of roads can help prevent road injuries, a major source of mortality for provisioned macaques, by focusing management efforts by national park workers in time and space. Furthermore, understanding when and where macaques seek provisioning from tourists can help combat provisioning, which negatively impacts macaque health, behavior, and susceptibility to poaching.
- Published
- 2019
30. The male and female perspective in the link between male infant care and mating behaviour in Barbary macaques
- Author
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Oliver Schülke, Julia Ostner, Patrick J. Tkaczynski, James O. Waterman, Petr Šmilauer, Bonaventura Majolo, Martina Konečná, and Barbora Kuběnová
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Offspring ,Infant Care ,05 social sciences ,Perspective (graphical) ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,behavior and behavior mechanisms ,medicine ,Positive relationship ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Animal Science and Zoology ,050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology ,Mating ,medicine.symptom ,Psychology ,reproductive and urinary physiology ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Demography ,Confusion - Abstract
Infant care from adult males is unexpected in species with high paternity uncertainty. Still, males of several polygynandrous primates engage in frequent affiliative interactions with infants. Two non‐exclusive hypotheses link male infant care to male mating strategies. The paternal investment hypothesis views infant care as a male strategy to maximize the survival of sired offspring, while the mating effort hypothesis predicts that females reward males who cared for their infant by preferably mating with them. Both hypotheses predict a positive relationship between infant care and matings with a particular female. However, the paternal investment hypothesis predicts that increased matings come before infant care whereas the mating effort hypothesis predicts that infant care precedes an increase in matings. Both hypotheses are usually tested from the perspective of the proportion of matings and care that individual females engage in and receive, rather than from the perspective of the care and mating behaviour of individual males. We tested the relationships between care and mating from both female and male perspectives in Barbary macaques. Mating predicted subsequent care and care predicted subsequent mating when viewed from the male but not the female perspective. Males mainly cared for infants of their main mating partners, but infants were not mainly cared for by their likely father. Males mated more with the mothers of their favourite infants, but females did not mate more with the main caretakers of their infants. We suggest that females do not choose their mating partners based on previous infant care, increasing paternity confusion. Males might try to increase paternal investment by distributing the care according to their own instead of female mating history. Further, males pursue females for mating opportunities based on previous care.
- Published
- 2019
31. A meta-analysis of interindividual differences in innovation
- Author
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Bonaventura Majolo, Julia Lehmann, Anja Widdig, and Federica Amici
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Energy (esotericism) ,05 social sciences ,Foraging ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Variation (linguistics) ,Empirical research ,Human evolution ,Meta-analysis ,Personality ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Animal Science and Zoology ,050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology ,Psychology ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,media_common ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
The ability to innovate and the social transmission of innovations have played a central role in human evolution. However, innovation is also crucial for other animals, by allowing them to cope with novel socioecological challenges. Although innovation plays such a central role in animals’ lives, we still do not know the conditions required for innovative behaviour to emerge. Here, we focused on interindividual differences in innovation by (1) extensively reviewing existing literature on innovative behaviour in animals and (2) quantitatively testing the different evolutionary hypotheses that have been proposed to explain interindividual variation in innovation propensity during foraging tasks. We ran a series of phylogenetically controlled mixed-effects meta-regression models to determine which hypotheses (if any) are supported by currently available empirical studies. Our analyses show that innovation is more common in individuals that are older and belong to the larger sex, but also in more neophilic and/or explorative individuals. Moreover, these effects change depending on the study setting (i.e. wild versus captive). Our results provide no clear support to the excess of energy or the bad competitor hypotheses and suggest that study setting and interindividual differences in traits related to personality are also important predictors of innovation.
- Published
- 2019
32. The Effect of Dominance Rank on the Distribution of Different Types of Male–Infant–Male Interactions in Barbary Macaques (Macaca sylvanus)
- Author
-
Petr Šmilauer, Bonaventura Majolo, Barbora Kuběnová, Martina Konečná, Oliver Schülke, and Julia Ostner
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,05 social sciences ,Macaca sylvanus ,Relative rank ,Biology ,biology.organism_classification ,C800 Psychology ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Animal ecology ,Agonistic behaviour ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Animal Science and Zoology ,050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Demography ,Dominance (genetics) - Abstract
In several cercopithecine species males exhibit a specific type of male–infant–male interaction during which two males briefly manipulate an infant. These interactions typically occur after a male carrying an infant (infant holder) approaches or is approached by another male who is not holding an infant (infant nonholder). The agonistic buffering and relationship management hypotheses explain these interactions as a tool to establish and maintain social bonds among males. Both hypotheses predict that males preferentially use the opportunity to interact and bond with males dominant to themselves. However, the agonistic buffering hypothesis predicts that males preferentially initiate male–infant–male interactions with the highest ranking males available, whereas the relationships management hypothesis predicts that males are more likely to interact with males that are close to them in rank. To test these predictions, we collected data on 1562 male–infant–male interactions during 1430 hours of focal observation of 12 infants in one group of wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) in Morocco. Using generalized linear mixed-effect models we found that males preferably initiated interactions with males that were dominant to them. However, we observed this effect only for interactions initiated by the infant holder. In interactions initiated by non-holders, the receiver’s relative rank did not predict the frequency of interactions. Males also initiated more interactions with males close in rank to themselves than distantly ranked males. Our results support the relationship management hypothesis, but also indicate that the different types of male–infant–male interactions may require different explanations.
- Published
- 2019
33. The Habituation Process in Two Groups of Wild Moor Macaques (
- Author
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Clara, Hernández Tienda, Bonaventura, Majolo, Teresa, Romero, Risma, Illa Maulany, Putu, Oka Ngakan, Víctor, Beltrán Francés, Elisa, Gregorio Hernández, Jose, Gómez-Melara, Miquel, Llorente, and Federica, Amici
- Subjects
South Sulawesi ,Wild macaques ,Group comparison ,Article ,Animal behavior - Abstract
When studying animal behavior in the wild, some behaviors may require observation from a relatively short distance. In these cases, habituation is commonly used to ensure that animals do not perceive researchers as a direct threat and do not alter their behavior in their presence. However, habituation can have significant effects on the welfare and conservation of the animals. Studying how nonhuman primates react to the process of habituation can help to identify the factors that affect habituation and implement habituation protocols that allow other researchers to speed up the process while maintaining high standards of health and safety for both animals and researchers. In this study, we systematically described the habituation of two groups of wild moor macaques (Macaca maura), an Endangered endemic species of Sulawesi Island (Indonesia), to assess the factors that facilitate habituation and reduce impact on animal behavior during this process. During 7 months, we conducted behavioral observations for more than 7,872 encounters and an average of 120 days to monitor how macaque behavior toward researchers changed through time in the two groups under different conditions. We found that both study groups (N = 56, N = 41) became more tolerant to the presence of researchers during the course of the habituation, with occurrence of neutral group responses increasing, and minimum distance to researchers and occurrence of fearful group responses decreasing through time. These changes in behavior were predominant when macaques were in trees, with better visibility conditions, when researchers maintained a longer minimum distance to macaques and, unexpectedly, by the presence of more than one researcher. By identifying these factors, we contribute to designing habituation protocols that decrease the likelihood of fearful responses and might reduce the stress experienced during this process.
- Published
- 2021
34. The function of mounts in free-ranging Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus)
- Author
-
Federica Amici, Simone Anzà, and Bonaventura Majolo
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Free ranging ,biology ,Aggression ,05 social sciences ,Macaca sylvanus ,biology.organism_classification ,C800 Psychology ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Dominance (ethology) ,Animal ecology ,Conflict resolution ,Agonistic behaviour ,medicine ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Animal Science and Zoology ,050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology ,medicine.symptom ,Reinforcement ,Psychology ,Social psychology ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics - Abstract
Generally, nonreproductive sex is thought to act as “social grease,” facilitating peaceful coexistence between subjects that lack close genetic ties. However, specifc nonreproductive sexual behaviors may fulfill different functions. With this study, we aimed to test whether nonreproductive mounts in Barbary macaques are used to 1) assert dominance, 2) reinforce social relationships, and/or 3) solve conflicts. We analyzed nonreproductive mounts (N = 236) and postmount behavior in both aggressive and nonaggressive contexts, in 118 individuals belonging to two semi-free-ranging groups at La Montagne des Singes (France). As predicted by the dominance assertion hypothesis, the probability to be the mounter increased with rank difference, especially in aggressive contexts (increasing from 0.066 to 0.797 in nonaggressive contexts, and from 0.011 to 0.969 in aggressive contexts, when the rank difference was minimal vs. maximal). The strength of the social bond did not significantly predict the proportion of mounts across dyads in nonaggressive contexts, providing no support for the relationship reinforcement hypothesis. Finally, in support of the conflict resolution hypothesis, when individuals engaged in postconflict mounts, 1) the probability of being involved in further aggression decreased from 0.825 to 0.517, while 2) the probability of being involved in grooming interactions with each other increased from 0.119 to 0.606. The strength of the social bond between former opponents had no significant effect on grooming occurrence and agonistic behavior after postconflict mounts. Overall, our findings suggest that nonreproductive mounts in Barbary macaques have different functions that are not affected by the strength of the social bond.
- Published
- 2021
35. Reaction to snakes in wild moor macaques (Macaca maura)
- Author
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Bonaventura Majolo, Federica Amici, Risma Illa Maulany, Teresa Rabazas Romero, Putu Oka Ngakan, Victor Beltrán Francés, and Clara Hernández Tienda
- Subjects
Triangular head shape ,King cobra ,Animal ecology ,Zoology ,D300 Animal Science ,Animal Science and Zoology ,Biology ,biology.organism_classification ,Alarm signal ,C120 Behavioural Biology ,complex mixtures ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Predation - Abstract
Snake predation is considered an important evolutionary force for primates. Yet, very few studies have documented encounters between primates and snakes in the wild. Here, we provide a preliminary account of how wild moor macaques (Macaca maura) respond to seven species of real and model snakes. Snakes could be local and dangerous to the macaques (i.e., venomous or constricting), local and nondangerous, and novel and dangerous. Macaques reacted most strongly to constrictors (i.e., pythons), exploring them and producing alarm calls, and partially to vipers (both local and novel), exploring them but producing no alarm calls. However, they did not react to other dangerous (i.e., king cobra) or nondangerous species. Our results suggest that moor macaques discriminate local dangerous snakes from nondangerous ones, and may use specific cues (e.g., triangular head shape) to generalize their previous experience with vipers to novel species.
- Published
- 2021
36. Intergroup lethal gang attacks do not require fission-fusion dynamics to evolve
- Author
-
Malgorzata Pilot, Antje Engelhardt, Laura Martínez-Íñigo, Bonaventura Majolo, and Muhammad Agil
- Subjects
biology ,Fission fusion ,Aggression ,Variable size ,Hostility ,Criminology ,Crocuta crocuta ,biology.organism_classification ,biology.animal ,medicine ,Outgroup ,Current theory ,medicine.symptom ,Panthera ,Psychology - Abstract
Lethal gang attacks, in which multiple aggressors attack a single victim, are among the most widespread forms of violence between human groups. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), as well as wolves (Canis lupus), spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta), and lions (Panthera leo), perform gang attacks during raids. In raids, a few individuals of a group enter another group’s territory and attack its members if found in numerical disadvantage. Current theory predicts that raids and gang attacks are linked to fission-fusion dynamics, i.e., the capacity of a group to split into smaller subgroups of variable size and composition. However, over the last decade, research on social mammals without fission-fusion societies nor raiding have shown that they may also be involved in intergroup lethal gang attacks. Thus, neither fission-fusion dynamics nor raiding are required for gang attacks to evolve. Based on our first-ever reports of intergroup gang attacks in the crested macaque (Macaca nigra), combined with the synthesis of earlier observations of such attacks in several species living in stable groups, we develop a new hypothesis about the proximate causes leading to lethal intergroup aggression. We propose that the ability to estimate numerical odds, form coalitionary bonds, and show hostility towards outgroup individuals may suffice to trigger intergroup gang attacks when the conditions favour an imbalance of power between victims and attackers.
- Published
- 2020
37. Dominance style only partially predicts differences in neophobia and social tolerance over food in four macaque species
- Author
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Alvaro L. Caicoya, Anja Widdig, Karimullah Karimullah, Andi Siady Hamzah, Alba Castellano-Navarro, Risma Illa Maulany, Federica Amici, Bonaventura Majolo, Andrew J. J. MacIntosh, Victor Beltrán Francés, Putu Oka Ngakan, UCH. Departamento de Producción y Sanidad Animal, Salud Pública Veterinaria y Ciencia y Tecnología de los Alimentos, and Producción Científica UCH 2020
- Subjects
Male ,0106 biological sciences ,Science ,Primates - Behavior ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Macaque ,Article ,Animal psychology ,Species Specificity ,biology.animal ,medicine ,Psychology ,Animals ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology ,Macacos - Hábitos y conducta ,Macaques - Behavior ,Comparative psychology ,Multidisciplinary ,biology ,Psicología animal ,Primates - Hábitos y conducta ,05 social sciences ,Neophobia ,Feeding Behavior ,medicine.disease ,Dominance (ethology) ,Social Dominance ,Medicine ,Macaca ,Female ,Zoology ,Social psychology ,Personality - Abstract
Este artículo se encuentra disponible en la siguiente URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-79246-6.pdf En este artículo también participan: Karimullah Karimullah, Risma Illa Maulany, Putu Oka Ngakan, Andi Siady Hamzah y Bonaventura Majolo. Primates live in complex social systems with social structures ranging from more to less despotic. In less despotic species, dominance might impose fewer constraints on social choices, tolerance is greater than in despotic species and subordinates may have little need to include novel food items in the diet (i.e. neophilia), as contest food competition is lower and resources more equally distributed across group members. Here, we used macaques as a model to assess whether different dominance styles predict differences in neophilia and social tolerance over food. We provided familiar and novel food to 4 groups of wild macaques (N = 131) with different dominance styles (Macaca fuscata, M. fascicularis, M. sylvanus, M. maura). Our study revealed inter- and intra-specific differences in individuals’ access to food, which only partially reflected the dominance styles of the study subjects. Contrary to our prediction, social tolerance over food was higher in more despotic species than in less despotic species. Individuals with a higher dominance rank and being better socially integrated (i.e. higher Eigenvector centrality) were more likely to retrieve food in all species, regardless of their dominance style. Partially in line with our predictions, less integrated individuals more likely overcame neophobia (as compared to more integrated ones), but only in species with more tolerance over food. Our study suggests that individual characteristics (e.g. social integration or personality) other than dominance rank may have a stronger effect on an individual’s access to resources.
- Published
- 2020
38. DOMINANCE STYLE AND VOCAL COMMUNICATION IN NON-HUMAN PRIMATES
- Author
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Katie, Slocombe, Eithne, Kavanagh, Sally, Street, Angwela, Felix O., Bergman, Thore J., Blaszczyk, Maryjka B., Bolt, Laura M., Margarita, Briseño-Jaramillo, Michelle, Brown, Chloe, Chen-Kraus, Zanna, Clay, Camille, Coye, Melissa Emery Thompson, Alejandro, Estrada, Barbara, Fruth, Claudia, Fichtel, Gamba, Marco, Giacoma, Cristina, Graham, Kirsty E., Samantha, Green, Cyril, Grueter, Shreejata, Gupta, Gustiso, Morgan L., Lindsey, Hagberg, Daniela, Hedwig, Jack, Katharine M., Kappeler, Peter M., Gillian, King-Bailey, Barbora, Kuběnová, Alban, Lemasson, David Macgregor Inglis, Zarin, Machanda, Andrew, Macintosh, Bonaventura, Majolo, Sophie, Marshall, Stephanie, Mercier, Jérôme, Micheletta, Martin, Muller, Hugh, Notman, Karim, Ouattara, Julia, Ostnera, Mary Sm Pavelka, Peckre, Louise R., Megan, Petersdorf, Fredy, Quintero, Gabriel Ramos- Fernández, Robbins, Martha M., Roberta, Salmi, Isaac, Schamberg, Oliver, Schülke, Stuart, Semple, Silk, Joan B., Roberto Sosa-Lopéz, J., Torti, Valeria, Valente, Daria, Raffaella, Ventura, Erica Van De Waal, Weyher, Anna H., Claudia, Wilke, Richard, Wrangham, Christopher, Young, Zanoli, Anna, Klaus, Zuberbühler, and Adriano, Lameira.
- Published
- 2020
39. Measuring personality in the field: An in situ comparison of personality quantification methods in wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus)
- Author
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Ann MacLarnon, Patrick J. Tkaczynski, Bonaventura Majolo, Mohamed Mouna, Caroline Ross, and Julia Lehmann
- Subjects
Male ,Ecological validity ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Animals, Wild ,Macaque ,Correlation ,biology.animal ,Personality ,Animals ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology ,Social Behavior ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,media_common ,Comparative psychology ,biology ,Behavior, Animal ,05 social sciences ,Macaca sylvanus ,biology.organism_classification ,C800 Psychology ,C880 Social Psychology ,Trait ,Macaca ,Female ,Psychology (miscellaneous) ,Personality in animals ,Psychology ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
Three popular approaches exist for quantifying personality in animals: behavioral coding in unconstrained and experimental settings and trait assessment. Both behavioral coding in an unconstrained setting and trait assessment aim to identify an overview of personality structure by reducing the behavioral repertoire of a species into broad personality dimensions, whereas experimental assays quantify personality as reactive tendencies to particular stimuli. Criticisms of these methods include that they generate personality dimensions with low levels of cross-study or cross-species comparability (behavioral coding in unconstrained and experimental settings) or that the personality dimensions generated are not ecologically valid, that is, not reflecting naturally occurring behavior (trait assessment and experimental assays). Which method is best for comparative research is currently debated, and there is presently a paucity of personality research conducted in wild subjects. In our study, all three described methods are used to quantify personality in a wild animal subject, the Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus). Our results show that the structures generated by unconstrained behavioral coding and trait assessment were not equivalent. Personality dimensions derived from both trait assessments and experimental assays demonstrated low levels of ecological validity, with very limited correlation with behaviors observed in nonmanipulated circumstances. Our results reflect the methodological differences between these quantification methods. Based on these findings and the practical considerations of wild animal research, we suggest future comparative studies of quantification methods within similar methodological frameworks to best identify methods viable for future comparisons of personality structures in wild animals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
- Published
- 2018
40. Behavioral responses to injury and death in wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus)
- Author
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Mohamed Qarro, James O. Waterman, Liz A. D. Campbell, Mohamed Mouna, Bonaventura Majolo, and Patrick J. Tkaczynski
- Subjects
Male ,0106 biological sciences ,Thanatology ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,biology.animal ,Animals ,Juvenile ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Primate ,050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology ,Social Behavior ,Behavior, Animal ,Adult female ,biology ,05 social sciences ,Macaca sylvanus ,biology.organism_classification ,Death ,Morocco ,Distress ,Animal ecology ,Trait ,Macaca ,Female ,Animal Science and Zoology ,Social psychology ,Demography - Abstract
The wounding or death of a conspecific has been shown to elicit varied behavioral responses throughout thanatology. Recently, a number of reports have presented contentious evidence of epimeletic behavior towards the dying and dead among non-human animals, a behavioral trait previously considered uniquely human. Here, we report on the behavioral responses of Barbary macaques, a social, non-human primate, to the deaths of four group members (one high-ranking adult female, one high-ranking adult male, one juvenile male, and one female infant), all caused by road traffic accidents. Responses appeared to vary based on the nature of the death (protracted or instant) and the age class of the deceased. Responses included several behaviors with potential adaptive explanations or consequences. These included exploration, caretaking (guarding, carrying, and grooming), and proximity to wounded individuals or corpses, and immediate as well as longer-lasting distress behaviors from other group members following death, all of which have been reported in other non-human primate species. These observations add to a growing body of comparative evolutionary analysis of primate thanatology and help to highlight the multifaceted impacts of human-induced fatalities on an endangered and socially complex primate.
- Published
- 2016
41. The effect of intergroup competition on intragroup affiliation in primates
- Author
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Bonaventura Majolo, A. de Bortoli Vizioli, and Julia Lehmann
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Colobinae ,biology ,media_common.quotation_subject ,05 social sciences ,Cercopithecinae ,Altruism (biology) ,biology.organism_classification ,Positive correlation ,C800 Psychology ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Sex specific ,Competition (biology) ,Developmental psychology ,Friendship ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Animal Science and Zoology ,050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology ,Psychology ,Scramble competition ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,media_common - Abstract
Researchers from various disciplines have hypothesized a positive correlation between the level of intergroup contest competition (IGCC) and the evolution of behavioural traits, such as cooperation, altruism and friendship, which promote intragroup affiliation. Empirical support for this hypothesis is, however, scarce and mainly available from humans. We tested whether the level of IGCC affects intragroup affiliation (i.e. intragroup grooming exchange) among male and female nonhuman primates. To quantify intragroup affiliation, we used social network measures and a grooming index. Our measure of IGCC combined frequency of intergroup encounters and proportion of aggressive encounters and was calculated separately for males and females. We ran our analyses on 27 wild groups of primates belonging to 15 species (13 Cercopithecinae, one Colobinae and one Cebinae). Our analyses reveal a clear pattern of correlated evolution between grooming network density and interindividual variation in the number of grooming partners on the one hand and the intensity of IGCC on the other in females, but not males. Thus, our results suggest that the exact nature of the relationship between IGCC and intragroup affiliation is sex specific. These results may be explained by the differential costs and benefits males and females experience during aggressive intergroup confrontations and by sex-specific differences in intragroup affiliation.
- Published
- 2016
42. Dominance (social)
- Author
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Bonaventura Majolo
- Published
- 2018
43. Behavioural thermoregulation via microhabitat selection of winter sleeping areas in an endangered primate: implications for habitat conservation
- Author
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Abderrahim Derrou, Bonaventura Majolo, Patrick J. Tkaczynski, Els van Lavieren, Lahcen Oukannou, Liz A. D. Campbell, and Mohamed Mouna
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,barbary macaque ,conservation behaviour ,Endangered species ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Corrections ,logging ,biology.animal ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Primate ,050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology ,thermal ecology ,lcsh:Science ,bayesian modelling ,Selection (genetic algorithm) ,Multidisciplinary ,biology ,Ecology ,05 social sciences ,Habitat conservation ,C800 Psychology ,Sleep in non-human animals ,Behavioural thermoregulation ,atlas cedar ,lcsh:Q - Abstract
Strategic microhabitat selection allows animals in seasonally cold environments to reduce homeostatic energy costs, particularly overnight when thermoregulatory demands are greatest. Suitable sleeping areas may therefore represent important resources for winter survival. Knowledge of microhabitat use and potential impacts of anthropogenic habitat modification can aid species conservation through development of targeted habitat management plans. Wild, endangered Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) in logged cedar-oak forest were studied to investigate (1) the hypothesis that macaques select winter sleeping areas with microhabitat characteristics that may reduce thermoregulatory costs, and, if so, (2) how to minimize damage to sleeping areas from logging. Macaques slept only in Atlas cedars (Cedrus atlantica). Consistent with predictions, macaques preferred sleeping in sheltered topography and dense vegetation, which may reduce exposure to wind, precipitation and cold, and preferred large trees that facilitate social huddling. This suggests that Barbary macaques employ strategic nocturnal microhabitat selection to reduce thermoregulatory costs and thus suitable sleeping areas may influence winter survival. To minimize negative impacts of logging on macaque sleeping areas, results suggest avoiding logging in topographical depressions and maintaining cedar densities greater than 250 ha−1with average breast height greater than 60 cm. This study demonstrates how animal behaviour can be used to guide species-specific habitat management plans.
- Published
- 2018
44. No unique effect of intergroup competition on cooperation: non-competitive thresholds are as effective as competitions between groups for increasing human cooperative behavior
- Author
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Bonaventura Majolo and Teresa Rabazas Romero
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,General Commentary ,conflict ,lcsh:BF1-990 ,between-group competition ,cooperation ,C830 Experimental Psychology ,C120 Behavioural Biology ,behavioral economics game ,Competition (economics) ,Microeconomics ,03 medical and health sciences ,030104 developmental biology ,lcsh:Psychology ,C880 Social Psychology ,Hum ,threshold ,Psychology ,Cooperative behavior ,war ,Non competitive ,General Psychology - Abstract
A commentary on No unique effect of intergroup competition on cooperation: non-competitive thresholds are as effective as competitions between groups for increasing human cooperative behavior by Jordan, M. R., Jordan, J. J., and Rand, D. G. (2017). Evol. Hum. Behav. 38, 102–108. doi: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.07.005
- Published
- 2018
45. Social thermoregulation as a potential mechanism linking sociality and fitness: Barbary macaques with more social partners form larger huddles
- Author
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Patrick J. Tkaczynski, Mohamed Mouna, Bonaventura Majolo, Julia Lehmann, and Liz A. D. Campbell
- Subjects
Male ,0106 biological sciences ,Science ,Population ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Article ,Social partners ,Animals ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology ,Social Behavior ,education ,Potential mechanism ,Sociality ,education.field_of_study ,QL ,Multidisciplinary ,biology ,Ecology ,Mechanism (biology) ,05 social sciences ,Stressor ,Macaca sylvanus ,Thermoregulation ,biology.organism_classification ,Grooming ,C800 Psychology ,Cold Temperature ,Macaca ,Medicine ,Female ,Seasons ,Energy Metabolism ,Body Temperature Regulation - Abstract
Individuals with more or stronger social bonds experience enhanced survival and reproduction in various species, though the mechanisms mediating these effects are unclear. Social thermoregulation is a common behaviour across many species which reduces cold stress exposure, body heat loss, and homeostatic energy costs, allowing greater energetic investment in growth, reproduction, and survival, with larger aggregations providing greater benefits. If more social individuals form larger thermoregulation aggregations due to having more potential partners, this would provide a direct link between sociality and fitness. We conducted the first test of this hypothesis by studying social relationships and winter sleeping huddles in wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus), wherein individuals with more social partners experience greater probability of winter survival. Precipitation and low temperature increased huddle sizes, supporting previous research that huddle size influences thermoregulation and energetics. Huddling relationships were predicted by social (grooming) relationships. Individuals with more social partners therefore formed larger huddles, suggesting reduced energy expenditure and exposure to environmental stressors than less social individuals, potentially explaining how sociality affects survival in this population. This is the first evidence that social thermoregulation may be a direct proximate mechanism by which increased sociality enhances fitness, which may be widely applicable across taxa.
- Published
- 2018
46. The influence of phylogeny, social style, and sociodemographic factors on macaque social network structure
- Author
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Bernard Thierry, Frans B. M. de Waal, Sandra Molesti, Arianna De Marco, Julie Duboscq, Richard McFarland, Brianne A. Beisner, Sebastian Sosa, Cédric Sueur, Odile Petit, Bonaventura Majolo, Gabriele Schino, Carol M. Berman, Brenda McCowan, Hideshi Ogawa, Krishna N. Balasubramaniam, Sabina Koirala, Andrew J. J. MacIntosh, University of California [Davis] (UC Davis), University of California, University at Buffalo [SUNY] (SUNY Buffalo), State University of New York (SUNY), Department of Animal Biology and Genetics, Università degli Studi di Firenze = University of Florence [Firenze] (UNIFI), Kyoto University [Kyoto], University of Lincoln, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cognition, Langues, Langage, Ergonomie (CLLE-LTC), École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), School of international liberal studies, Chukyo University, Ethologie Cognitive et Sociale, Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche [Roma] (CNR), Sun Yat-Sen University [Guangzhou] (SYSU), Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie (DEPE-IPHC), Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Emory University [Atlanta, GA], Ethoikos, Radicondoli, Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Lincoln University School of Psychology, Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute [Manchester, NH, USA], University of Barcelona, Service d'Ecologie Sociale, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Station de Primatologie, CNRS, UPS846, 13790 Rousset, France, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Anthropology department Sun Yat-sen University, and Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Male ,Social style ,[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] ,Animals, Wild ,Biology ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Macaque ,Social networks ,Macaques ,Phylogenetics ,biology.animal ,[SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology ,medicine ,Social grooming ,Animals ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology ,Sex Ratio ,Social Behavior ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS ,Clustering coefficient ,Social network ,Female dominance ,Behavior, Animal ,business.industry ,Aggression ,05 social sciences ,Grooming ,Phylogenetic signals ,Group size ,Social Dominance ,Evolutionary biology ,[SDE]Environmental Sciences ,Macaca ,Animal Science and Zoology ,Female ,medicine.symptom ,business ,Centrality ,Social psychology - Abstract
International audience; Among nonhuman primates, the evolutionary underpinnings of variation in social structure remain debated, with both ancestral relationships and adaptation to current conditions hypothesized to play determining roles. Here we assess whether interspecific variation in higher‐order aspects of female macaque (genus: Macaca ) dominance and grooming social structure show phylogenetic signals, that is, greater similarity among more closely‐related species. We use a social network approach to describe higher‐order characteristics of social structure, based on both direct interactions and secondary pathways that connect group members. We also ask whether network traits covary with each other, with species‐typical social style grades, and/or with sociodemographic characteristics, specifically group size, sex‐ratio, and current living condition (captive vs. free‐living). We assembled 34–38 datasets of female‐female dyadic aggression and allogrooming among captive and free‐living macaques representing 10 species. We calculated dominance (transitivity, certainty), and grooming (centrality coefficient, Newman's modularity, clustering coefficient) network traits as aspects of social structure. Computations of K statistics and randomization tests on multiple phylogenies revealed moderate‐strong phylogenetic signals in dominance traits, but moderate‐weak signals in grooming traits. GLMMs showed that grooming traits did not covary with dominance traits and/or social style grade. Rather, modularity and clustering coefficient, but not centrality coefficient, were strongly predicted by group size and current living condition. Specifically, larger groups showed more modular networks with sparsely‐connected clusters than smaller groups. Further, this effect was independent of variation in living condition, and/or sampling effort. In summary, our results reveal that female dominance networks were more phylogenetically conserved across macaque species than grooming networks, which were more labile to sociodemographic factors. Such findings narrow down the processes that influence interspecific variation in two core aspects of macaque social structure. Future directions should include using phylogeographic approaches, and addressing challenges in examining the effects of socioecological factors on primate social structure.
- Published
- 2018
47. Implications of Tourist-Macaque interactions for disease transmission
- Author
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Stuart Semple, Bonaventura Majolo, Laëtitia Maréchal, Ann MacLarnon, and Charlotte Carne
- Subjects
Primates ,Male ,0106 biological sciences ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Parks, Recreational ,Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis ,Disease transmission risks ,Animals, Wild ,Disease ,Wildlife tourism ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Macaque ,Modelling ,Animal Diseases ,Tourist–wildlife interactions ,Sex Factors ,C841 Health Psychology ,Zoonoses ,biology.animal ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology ,Social network analysis ,C300 Zoology ,Behavior, Animal ,Ecology ,biology ,Public health ,05 social sciences ,Macaca sylvanus ,Outbreak ,Original Contribution ,Models, Theoretical ,C120 Behavioural Biology ,biology.organism_classification ,C800 Psychology ,Morocco ,Geography ,Animal ecology ,Macaca ,Female ,C910 Applied Biological Sciences ,Demography - Abstract
During wildlife tourism, proximity or actual contact between people and animals may lead to a significant risk of anthropozoonotic disease transmission. In this paper, we use social network analysis, disease simulation modelling and data on animal health and behaviour to investigate such risks at a site in Morocco, where tourists come to see wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus). Measures of individual macaques' network centrality-an index of the strength and distribution of their social relationships and thus potentially their ability to spread disease-did not show clear and consistent relationships with their time spent in close proximity to, or rate of interacting with, tourists. Disease simulation modelling indicated that while higher-ranked animals had a significantly greater ability to spread disease within the group, in absolute terms there was little difference in the size of outbreaks that different individuals were predicted to cause. We observed a high rate of physical contact and close proximity between humans and macaques, including during three periods when the macaques were coughing and sneezing heavily, highlighting the potential risk of disease transmission. We recommend that general disease prevention strategies, such as those aimed at reducing opportunities for contact between tourists and macaques, should be adopted.
- Published
- 2017
48. Group Living
- Author
-
Bonaventura Majolo and Pengzhen Huang
- Published
- 2017
49. The functions of non-reproductive mounts among male Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus)
- Author
-
Amy Northwood, Bonaventura Majolo, and Lauriane Faraut
- Subjects
Socio sexual behavior ,biology ,biology.animal ,Macaca sylvanus ,Zoology ,Animal Science and Zoology ,Primate ,biology.organism_classification ,Mutually exclusive events ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Social tension - Abstract
Same-sex, non-reproductive mounts have been observed in a number of primate species and in various social contexts. However, the function of non-reproductive mounts is still largely unknown. We aimed to test whether non-reproductive mounts function to assert dominance and as appeasement behavior in male Barbary macaques. We analyzed post-mount behavior in 54 macaques belonging to two captive groups at Trentham Monkey Forest in Staffordshire, using 10 min post-mount/matched-control focal sessions collected either on the mounter or the mountee. In support of the dominance assertion hypothesis, the higher-ranking male within a mounting pair was more likely to be the mounter than the mountee, and to mock bite the lower-ranking male. In support of the appeasement hypothesis, the former mounting partners were more likely to exchange grooming and to have a lower frequency of self-scratching (a measure of social tension) after a non-reproductive mount than in control sessions. Our study indicates that non-reproductive mounts have different and not mutually exclusive functions and can modulate the quality of social interactions among group members. We discuss the possible factors that can affect the occurrence of non-reproductive mounts within and between species.
- Published
- 2015
50. No Short-Term Contingency Between Grooming and Food Tolerance in Barbary Macaques (Macaca sylvanus)
- Author
-
Sandra Molesti and Bonaventura Majolo
- Subjects
biology ,Aggression ,Mechanism (biology) ,Macaca sylvanus ,Provisioning ,biology.organism_classification ,Developmental psychology ,Agonistic behaviour ,medicine ,Social grooming ,Animal Science and Zoology ,medicine.symptom ,Contingency ,Psychology ,Social psychology ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Reciprocity (cultural anthropology) - Abstract
The exchange of services such as allo-grooming, allo-preening, food tolerance and agonistic support has been observed in a range of species. Two proximate mechanisms have been proposed to explain the exchanges of services in animals. First, an animal can give a service to a partner depending on how the partner behaved towards it in the recent past. This mechanism is usually tested by examining the within-dyad temporal relation between events given and received over short time periods. Second, the partner choice mechanism assumes that animals give favours towards specific partners but not others, by comparing how each partner behaved towards them over longer time frames. As such, the partner choice mechanism does not make specific predictions on a temporal contingency between services received and given over short time frames. While there is evidence for a long-term positive correlation between services exchanged in animals, results for short-term contingencies between services given and received are mixed. Our study investigated the exchange of grooming for food tolerance in a partially provisioned group of Barbary macaques, by analysing the short-term contingency between these events. Tolerance over food was compared immediately after grooming and in control condition, using food of different shareability. We found no evidence that grooming increases food tolerance or decrease aggression around food in the short term. Food tolerance was affected by the shareability of the food and the sex of the partners. The exchanges of grooming and food tolerance in non-human primates may be little affected by recent single events. We suggest that long-term exchanges between services given and received and social partner choice may play a more important role in explaining social interactions than short-term contingent events.
- Published
- 2015
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