Díaz Sergio, Sánchez Susana, Fidalgo Ana
Departamento de Psicología Biológica y de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
Animals (Basel). 2023 May 25;13(11):1758. doi: 10.3390/ani13111758.
Cotton-top tamarins () are characterized by a system of cooperative breeding where helpers, in addition to the reproductive pair, contribute to infant care. Grooming interactions between individuals play an important role in establishing social relationships, creating an interconnected social network in the group. We used social network analysis to investigate the social structure of two groups of cotton-top tamarins with different sizes and compositions and study whether they remain stable after the birth of new infants. We also investigated the possible correlation between the time spent carrying infants and an increase in the grooming centrality. We found that group A ( = 13) had a stable grooming network that showed consistent stability after the birth, although group B ( = 8 and no adult helpers) changed its grooming network and showed a lower density after the birth. Infant carrying was not correlated with increased grooming centrality after the birth. These findings highlight the usefulness of social network analysis in the study of group structure in cooperatively breeding primates and suggest that the birth of offspring has a greater impact on the stability of groups without adult helpers.
棉顶狨猴（）的特点是具有合作繁殖系统，除了繁殖对之外，帮手也会参与幼崽的照料。个体之间的梳理互动在建立社会关系中起着重要作用，在群体中形成一个相互关联的社会网络。我们使用社会网络分析来研究两组规模和组成不同的棉顶狨猴的社会结构，并研究新幼崽出生后它们是否保持稳定。我们还研究了携带幼崽的时间与梳理中心性增加之间可能存在的相关性。我们发现，A组（ = 13）有一个稳定的梳理网络，出生后显示出一致的稳定性，尽管B组（ = 8且没有成年帮手）改变了其梳理网络，出生后密度较低。出生后携带幼崽与梳理中心性增加无关。这些发现突出了社会网络分析在研究合作繁殖灵长类动物群体结构中的有用性，并表明后代的出生对没有成年帮手的群体稳定性有更大影响。
