Crofoot Margaret C
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panamá, República de Panamá. crofootm @ si.edu
Folia Primatol (Basel). 2012;83(3-6):252-73. doi: 10.1159/000343072. Epub 2013 Jan 28.
While some primate species attempt to avoid predators by fleeing, hiding or producing alarm calls, others actually approach, harass and sometimes attack potential threats, a behavior known as 'mobbing'. Why individuals risk their safety to mob potential predators remains poorly understood. Here, I review reports of predator harassment by primates to (1) determine the distribution of this behavior across taxa, (2) assess what is known about the costs of mobbing, and (3) evaluate hypotheses about its function. Mobbing is taxonomically widespread and is used against a wide range of predator species. However, inconsistent use of the term 'mobbing' within the primate literature, the lack of systematic studies of primate mobbing, and the likelihood of systematic biases in the existing data pose significant obstacles to understanding this puzzling behavior. Although difficult to quantify, the costs associated with harassing predators appear nontrivial. Many benefits that have been proposed to explain mobbing in birds may also be important in primate systems. There are puzzling aspects of primate mobbing, however, that existing hypotheses cannot explain. Future research should consider the within-group signaling potential of this costly behavior, as well as the ability of behavioral syndromes to explain the distribution of mobbing in primates.
虽然一些灵长类物种试图通过逃跑、躲藏或发出警报声来躲避捕食者，但其他灵长类动物实际上会接近、骚扰甚至有时攻击潜在威胁，这种行为被称为“围攻”。个体为何冒着自身安全风险去围攻潜在捕食者，目前仍知之甚少。在此，我回顾了灵长类动物骚扰捕食者的相关报道，以（1）确定这种行为在各分类群中的分布情况，（2）评估关于围攻成本的已知信息，以及（3）评估关于其功能的各种假说。围攻行为在分类学上广泛存在，且针对多种捕食者物种。然而，灵长类文献中对“围攻”一词的使用不一致、缺乏对灵长类围攻行为的系统研究，以及现有数据中存在系统偏差的可能性，都给理解这种令人困惑的行为带来了重大障碍。虽然难以量化，但与骚扰捕食者相关的成本似乎不容小觑。许多被提出用于解释鸟类围攻行为的益处，在灵长类系统中可能也很重要。然而，灵长类围攻行为存在一些现有假说无法解释的令人困惑之处。未来的研究应考虑这种高成本行为在群体内部的信号传递潜力，以及行为综合征解释灵长类动物围攻行为分布的能力。
