Post-conflict behaviour of wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in the Budongo Forest, Uganda (original) (raw)
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Postconflict behavior of spectacled leaf monkeys (Trachypithecus obscurus). I. Reconciliation
International journal of primatology, 2001
Studies of postconflict behavior have focused on Old World primates, particularly on members of the cercopithecines and chimpanzees. We present data on patterns of reconciliation in two captive groups of spectacled leaf monkeys, members of the Colobinae. Reconciliation occurred at a high rate relative to that in other primate species and within the first minute following a conflict. Friendly postconflict contact was usually initiated by aggressors in one group, and by recipients in the other. But, there was no difference in postconflict initiative to contact in comparison with MCs. These two groups showed behavioral specificity in the context of postconflict reunions. Ventroventral embracing was a common, explicit form of reconciliation. The intensity of aggression and situations in which the victim responded aggressively had no effect on the likelihood of reconciliation occurring. The postconflict behavior of both groups lends further support to the relationship-quality hypothesis . Kinship and rank distance and had no effect on reconciliation, though affiliation levels correlated positively with the tendency to reconcile. These results indicate that spectacled langurs are among the more tolerant of the species studied so far.
The Occurrence of Postconflict Skills in Captive Immature Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
International Journal of Primatology, 2016
Conflict management strategies can reduce costs of aggressive competition in group-living animals. Post-conflict behaviours such as reconciliation and third party post-conflict affiliation are widely accepted as social skills in primates and have been demonstrated in many species. Although immature primates possess a repertoire of species-specific behaviours, it is thought that they gradually develop appropriate social skills throughout prolonged juvenility to establish and maintain complex social relationships within their group. We examined the occurrence of post-conflict skills in five immature chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) over 15 months focussing on interactions that were not with the subject's mother. We observed reconciliation, with conciliatory tendencies comparable to adults, and provide the first evidence that captive immature chimpanzees commonly reconciled using social play. However, immatures were not more likely to reconcile valuable than non-valuable relationships. We also observed third party post-conflict affiliation although at a lower level than reported for adults. Our results provide evidence for post-conflict skills in immature chimpanzees but the lack of higher conciliatory tendency with valuable partners and low occurrence of third party affiliation indicates extended juvenility may be required refine these skills. Further work is needed to investigate whether these behaviours have the same function and effectiveness as those found in adults.
PLoS ONE, 2011
Consolation, i.e., post-conflict affiliation directed from bystanders to recent victims of aggression, has recently acquired an important role in the debate about empathy in great apes. Although similar contacts have been also described for aggressors, i.e., appeasement, they have received far less attention and their function and underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. An exceptionally large database of spontaneous conflict and post-conflict interactions in two outdoorhoused groups of chimpanzees lends support to the notion that affiliation toward aggressors reduces the latter's aggressive tendencies in that further aggression was less frequent after the occurrence of the affiliation. However, bystander affiliation toward aggressors occurred disproportionally between individuals that were socially close (i.e., affiliation partners) which suggest that it did not function to protect the actor itself against redirected aggression. Contrary to consolation behavior, it was provided most often by adult males and directed toward high ranking males, whereas females engaged less often in this behavior both as actors and recipients, suggesting that affiliation with aggressors is unlikely to be a reaction to the distress of others. We propose that bystander affiliation toward aggressors may function to strengthen bonds between valuable partners, probably as part of political strategies. Our findings also suggest that this post-conflict behavior may act as an alternative to reconciliation, i.e., post-conflict affiliation between opponents, in that it is more common when opponents fail to reconcile.
Revista Argentina de Ciencias del Comportamiento, 2016
Agonism was often associated to an increase in inter-individual distances in social individuals; however, many evidences indicate that individuals affiliate after a dispute ( “reconciliate”). The post-agonism behavior of individuals in a captive troop of the wedge-capped capuchin monkey was described and conciliatory tendency (CT) was estimated by using the PC-MC (Post-Conflict – Matched Control) method; here PA-MC (Post-Agonism – Matched-Control). Males initiated more agonistic interactions toward females than to other males while females avoided initiating them toward males. Interestingly, females were more prone to initiate reconciliation than males, both toward males (CT: 0.20-0.42) and toward other females (CT: 0.24-0.25). Overall, the CT in the group ranged from 0.127 to 0.198. We compared our results with those from other capuchins and propose that reconciliation may not be fundamental in maintaining social cohesion in Cebidae; nonetheless, due to our small sample, this is a...
Behaviour, 2007
Primates resolve conflicts through post-conflict interactions (PCI). However, the occurrence of different PCI in relation to one another is not well understood. Furthermore, the factors influencing the occurrence of PCI are rarely addressed together, and thereby their relative impact is usually ignored. We investigated the occurrence and interrelatedness of five PCI, namely reconciliation, further (or redirected) aggression, third-party affiliation, third-party aggression and 'no PCI' in captive chimpanzees. Most PCI were found to occur independently from each other. Reconciliation was determined by relationship attributes between the opponents. Further aggression was mainly determined by directionality and intensity of conflicts. Opponents received third-party affiliation most often when they were likely to redirect aggression to third parties, although in aggressees this aspect was less clear than in aggressors. The predictors for third-party aggression and 'no PCI' remained unclear or insignificant. Overall, the results indicate that (1) most PCI do not directly depend on one another and that (2) the conflict opponents and the bystanders each make their own 'decisions' about which PCI to employ depending on specific conflict characteristics, the conflict outcome and the relationship attributes among the opponents. This study emphasises the multidimensionality of primate conflict resolution.
Post-conflict third-party affiliation in chimpanzees: what's in it for the third party?
American journal of primatology, 2009
Affiliative behavior after conflicts between conflict participants and other group members is common in many primate species. The proposed functions for such triadic interactions are numerous, mostly concerning the benefit for the former conflict opponents. We investigated post-conflict third-party affiliation (TPA) in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) with the aim of assessing what the affiliating third parties may gain from affiliation. Specifically, we tested whether third-party-initiated affiliation protects the third parties from further aggression by conflict opponents. We found support for this “self-protection hypothesis,” in that third parties selectively directed affiliation to those opponents who more often gave further aggression to them, and affiliation effectively decreased their chance of receiving aggression from these opponents. However, a subset of affiliation, provided to conflict victims by their own kin, appeared to not be self-protective and the function of it remained open. We conclude that chimpanzee third-party-initiated affiliation is a more heterogeneous behavior than thus far assumed. Am. J. Primatol. 71:409–418, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Post-Conflict Behaviors of Wild Gelada Monkeys (Theropithecus gelada) at Guassa, Ethiopia
International Journal of Primatology, 2024
Post-conflict behaviors are a crucial component of primate sociality, yet are difficult to study in the wild. We evaluated the presence and timing of reconciliation, victim-solicited and unsolicited third-party affiliation, and secondary and redirected aggression following observed agonistic interactions among 38 wild gelada monkeys (Theropithecus gelada) in eight one-male, multi-female units at Guassa, Ethiopia, from April to August 2018. We also report background rates of aggression and patterns of agonistic interactions and post-conflict behaviours among wild geladas relative to possible mediating factors for each conflict, including social rank disparity, kinship type, sex, age class, conflict intensity, and conflict decidedness. Across 55 post-conflict and 55 subsequent matched-control focal follows, we found no evidence for post-conflict reconciliation, third-party affiliation, secondary aggression, or redirected aggression. These findings contrast with previous studies of captive geladas, which find that individuals often reconcile after fights and frequently exhibit unsolicited third-party affiliation when reconciliation does not occur. Our results from wild geladas point to possible populational differences in behavioral Badge earned for open practices: Open Data Badge. Experiment materials and data are available in the repository at