Paukner Annika, Suomi Stephen J
Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH Animal Center, PO Box 529, Poolesville, MD 20837, USA.
Primates. 2008 Oct;49(4):288-91. doi: 10.1007/s10329-008-0095-0. Epub 2008 Aug 1.
According to the motor training hypothesis, play behavior in juvenile primates improves motor skills that are required in later adult life. Sex differences in juvenile play behavior can therefore be expected when adult animals assume distinct sexually dimorphic roles. Tufted capuchin monkeys show sexually dimorphic levels of physical antagonism in both inter- and intra-group encounters. Accordingly, it can be predicted that juvenile capuchins also show sex differences in social play behavior. To test this hypothesis, the play behavior of nine juvenile and two infant capuchins was examined. As predicted, juvenile males showed significantly higher levels of social play (wrestle, chase) than juvenile females, but no differences were found in nonsocial play (arboreal, object). Levels of infant play behavior were comparable to that of juveniles. These results lend support to the motor training hypothesis and highlight the need for more detailed investigations of individual differences in play behavior.
根据运动训练假说，幼年灵长类动物的玩耍行为可提高成年后所需的运动技能。因此，当成年动物承担明显的两性异形角色时，幼年玩耍行为中的性别差异是可以预期的。簇绒卷尾猴在组间和组内相遇时表现出不同程度的身体对抗性二态性。据此，可以预测幼年卷尾猴在社交玩耍行为中也存在性别差异。为了验证这一假说，研究人员对9只幼年卷尾猴和2只婴猴的玩耍行为进行了观察。正如预测的那样，幼年雄性卷尾猴的社交玩耍（摔跤、追逐）水平显著高于幼年雌性卷尾猴，但在非社交玩耍（树栖、玩物体）方面未发现差异。婴猴的玩耍行为水平与幼年卷尾猴相当。这些结果支持了运动训练假说，并强调需要对玩耍行为中的个体差异进行更详细的研究。
