Instituto de Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico.
Psychology Department, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Adam State University, Alamosa, CO, USA.
Proc Biol Sci. 2022 Jul 13;289(1978):20212808. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2021.2808. Epub 2022 Jul 6.
Male-male relationships are mostly characterized by competition. However, males also cooperate with one another if socio-ecological conditions are suitable. Due to their male philopatry, the need for cooperation in home range defence and high degree of fission-fusion dynamics, spider monkeys provide an opportunity to investigate how male-male interactions are associated with socio-ecological factors, such as the presence of potentially receptive females, the degree of food availability and the likelihood of home range defence. We tested predictions about changes in social interactions between wild spider monkey males in relation to these factors. First, males did not change their interaction patterns when potentially receptive females were in the subgroup compared to when they were absent. Second, males tended to be less tolerant of one another when feeding, but spent more time grooming, in contact and proximity with one another when food availability was lower than when it was higher. Third, males exchanged fewer embraces, spent less time grooming, in proximity and in contact with one another, and spent more time vigilant at the home range boundary area than at other locations. Our findings contribute to the understanding of social flexibility and the importance of considering males in socio-ecological models of any group-living species.
雄性间的关系大多以竞争为特征。然而，如果社会生态条件适宜，雄性间也会相互合作。由于雄性蜘蛛猴的雄性亲缘关系、对领域防御的合作需求以及高度的分合动态，它们为研究雄性间的相互作用如何与社会生态因素（如潜在的可接受雌性的存在、食物可获得性的程度以及领域防御的可能性）相关提供了机会。我们检验了关于野生蜘蛛猴雄性在这些因素下的社会互动变化的预测。首先，当潜在的可接受雌性存在于亚群中时，雄性与不存在时相比，它们的互动模式没有变化。其次，当食物供应较低时，雄性在进食时彼此之间的容忍度较低，但彼此之间的梳理、接触和接近的时间更多。第三，雄性之间拥抱的次数减少，花在梳理、接触和接近上的时间减少，在领域边界区域的警戒时间比在其他地方的时间更多。我们的研究结果有助于理解社会灵活性，以及在任何群体生活物种的社会生态模型中考虑雄性的重要性。
