Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Free State Qwaqwa, Phuthaditjhaba 9866, South Africa.
Nat Commun. 2013;4:1462. doi: 10.1038/ncomms2468.
Theory predicts that cheating individuals should alter their behaviour to avoid detection, yet empirical data for such 'deceptive' behaviour (and its putative consequence-punishment) is almost entirely absent from the literature. This dearth of evidence, particularly among primates, limits our understanding of the evolution of deception and punishment. Here, we quantify deception and punishment in a reproductive context in wild geladas (Theropithecus gelada). Individuals involved in extra-pair copulations (9% of observed copulations) exhibited behaviour consistent with tactical deception: they were less likely to vocalize and more likely to copulate when the cuckolded male was a sizable distance away (>20 m). Further, many extra-pair copulations (∼20%) elicited post-copulatory aggression-likely, punishment-from cuckolded males. This rare empirical evidence of both tactical concealment and retaliatory aggression offers a potential model system for examining the co-occurrence of deception and punishment in natural settings.
理论预测，作弊者应该改变自己的行为以避免被发现，但关于这种“欺骗”行为（及其可能的后果——惩罚）的实证数据在文献中几乎完全缺失。这种证据的缺乏，特别是在灵长类动物中，限制了我们对欺骗和惩罚进化的理解。在这里，我们在野生狒狒（Theropithecus gelada）的生殖背景下量化了欺骗和惩罚。参与婚外交配的个体（观察到的交配的 9%）表现出与策略性欺骗一致的行为：当被戴绿帽子的雄性距离较远（>20 米）时，它们发声的可能性较小，而交配的可能性较大。此外，许多婚外交配（约 20%）引发了被戴绿帽子的雄性的交配后攻击性——可能是惩罚。这种罕见的关于策略性隐瞒和报复性攻击的实证证据为在自然环境中检验欺骗和惩罚的同时发生提供了一个潜在的模型系统。
