An approach to the interpretation of the communicative meaning of visual signals in agonistic behavior of squirrel monkeys.

The repertoire of the visually recognizable agonistice signals of the squirrel monkey can be divided up into classes in such a manner that elements of the same class have a similar, and elements of different classes a different communicative meaning. The differences between these classes are described using quantitative values. An attempt is made to derive clues from these differences for an interpretation of the communicative meaning of the individual classes. The admissibility of the criteria used and the question of the general validity of the quantitative values are discussed.