Department of Psychology, Language Research Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA.
Sci Rep. 2017 Jun 7;7(1):2952. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-02903-w.
In aggressive interactions, game theory predicts that animals should assess an opponent's condition relative to their own prior to escalation or retreat. Despite the benefits of such mutual assessment, few studies have been able to reject simpler assessment strategies. Here we report evidence for mutual assessment in a wild primate. Gelada (Theropithecus gelada) males have conspicuous loud calls that may function as a signal of male quality. "Leader" males with harems putatively use loud calls to deter challenges from non-reproductive "bachelor" males. By contrast, leader males pose no threat to each other and congregate in large groups for a dilution effect against bachelors. In playback experiments and natural observations, gelada males responded to loud calls according to both their own and their opponent's attributes. Although primates routinely classify others relative to themselves using individual attributes, this represents some of the first direct evidence for mutual assessment in primate signaling contests.
在具有攻击性的互动中，博弈论预测动物应该在升级或撤退之前，根据自己的情况来评估对手的情况。尽管这种相互评估有很多好处，但很少有研究能够拒绝更简单的评估策略。在这里，我们报告了野生灵长类动物中存在相互评估的证据。狒狒（Theropithecus gelada）雄性有明显的大声叫声，可能作为雄性质量的信号。有后宫的“首领”雄性据称使用大声叫声来阻止非生殖“单身”雄性的挑战。相比之下，首领雄性之间没有威胁，它们聚集在大群体中，以稀释对单身雄性的影响。在播放实验和自然观察中，狒狒雄性根据自己和对手的特征对大声叫声做出反应。虽然灵长类动物通常会根据自己的个体特征来对他人进行分类，但这是灵长类动物信号竞争中首次直接证明相互评估的证据之一。
