Social Grooming

Grooming site preferences have been relatively well studied in monkey species in order to investigate the function of social grooming. They are not only influenced by the amount of ectoparasites, but also by different social variables such as the dominance rank between individuals or their levels of affiliation. However, studies on this topic mainly come from monkey species, with almost no report on great apes. This study aimed to explore whether body site and body orientation preferences during social grooming show species-specific differences (bonobos vs. chimpanzees) and environment-specific differences (captivity vs. wild). Results showed that bonobos groomed the head, the front and faced each other more often than chimpanzees, while chimpanzees groomed the back, anogenitals and more frequently in face-to-back positions. Moreover, captive individuals were found to groom facing one another more often than wild ones, whereas wild individuals groomed the back and in face-to-back positions more. While future studies should expand their scope to include more populations per condition, our preliminary 2 by 2 comparison study highlights the influence of (i) species-specific social differences such as social tolerance, social attention and facial communication, and (ii) socioenvironmental constraints such as risk of predation, spatial crowding and levels of hygiene, that might be the two important factors determining the grooming patterns in two <i>Pan</i>species.

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Social contact behaviors are associated with infection status for whipworm (Trichuris sp.) in wild vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus)

10.1101/2020.10.07.329409 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Brandi Wren ◽

Ian S. Ray ◽

Melissa Remis ◽

Thomas R. Gillespie ◽

Joseph Camp

Keyword(s):

Direct Contact ◽

Sickness Behavior ◽

Gastrointestinal Parasites ◽

Physical Contact ◽

Parasitic Infections ◽

Vervet Monkeys ◽

Infection Status ◽

Social Grooming ◽

Mammal Species ◽

Chlorocebus Pygerythrus

AbstractSocial grooming in the animal kingdom is common and serves several functions, from removing ectoparasites to maintaining social bonds between conspecifics. We examined whether time spent grooming with others in a highly social mammal species was associated with infection status for gastrointestinal parasites. Of six parasites detected, one (Trichuris sp.) was associated with social grooming behaviors, but more specifically with direct physical contact with others. Individuals infected with Trichuris sp. spent significantly less time grooming conspecifics than those not infected, and time in direct contact with others was the major predictor of infection status. One model correctly predicted infection status for Trichuris sp. with a reliability of 95.17% overall when the variables used were time spent in direct contact and time spent grooming others. This decrease in time spent grooming and interacting with others is likely a sickness behavior displayed by individuals with less energy or motivation for non-essential behaviors. This study highlights the need for an understanding of a study population’s parasitic infections when attempting to interpret animal behavior.

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Social foraging in vampire bats is predicted by long-term cooperative relationships

10.1101/2021.04.23.441116 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Simon P. Ripperger ◽

Gerald G. Carter

Keyword(s):

Social Evolution ◽

Group Living ◽

Food Sharing ◽

Social Foraging ◽

Social Grooming ◽

Cooperative Relationships ◽

Vampire Bats ◽

In Captivity ◽

Access To Food

AbstractStable social bonds in group-living animals can provide greater access to food. A striking example is that female vampire bats often regurgitate blood to socially bonded kin and nonkin that failed in their nightly hunt. Food-sharing relationships form via preferred associations and social grooming within roosts. However, it remains unclear whether these cooperative relationships extend beyond the roost. To evaluate if long-term cooperative relationships in vampire bats play a role in foraging, we tested if foraging encounters measured by proximity sensors could be explained by wild roosting proximity, kinship, or rates of co-feeding, social grooming, and food sharing during 22 months in captivity. We assessed evidence for six hypothetical scenarios of social foraging, ranging from individual to collective hunting. We found that female vampire bats departed their roost individually, but often re-united far outside the roost. Nonrandomly repeating foraging encounters were predicted by within-roost association and histories of cooperation in captivity, even when controlling for kinship. Foraging bats demonstrated both affiliative and competitive interactions and a previously undescribed call type. We suggest that social foraging could have implications for social evolution if ‘local’ cooperation within the roost and ‘global’ competition outside the roost enhances fitness interdependence between frequent roostmates.

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Strategic Social Grooming: Emergent Social Grooming Styles on Facebook, Social Capital and Well-Being

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication ◽

10.1093/jcmc/zmz002 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 24 (3) ◽

pp. 90-107 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Jih-Hsuan Tammy Lin

Keyword(s):

Social Capital ◽

Well Being ◽

Social Grooming

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Cross-cultural similarity in relationship-specific social touching

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2019.0467 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 286 (1901) ◽

pp. 20190467 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Juulia T. Suvilehto ◽

Lauri Nummenmaa ◽

Tokiko Harada ◽

Robin I. M. Dunbar ◽

Riitta Hari ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

East Asian ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

The Body ◽

Human Studies ◽

Social Structures ◽

Social Grooming ◽

Emotional Bonding ◽

Social Touch ◽

Cultural Similarity

Many species use touching for reinforcing social structures, and particularly, non-human primates use social grooming for managing their social networks. However, it is still unclear how social touch contributes to the maintenance and reinforcement of human social networks. Human studies in Western cultures suggest that the body locations where touch is allowed are associated with the strength of the emotional bond between the person touched and the toucher. However, it is unknown to what extent this relationship is culturally universal and generalizes to non-Western cultures. Here, we compared relationship-specific, bodily touch allowance maps across one Western ( N = 386, UK) and one East Asian ( N = 255, Japan) country. In both cultures, the strength of the emotional bond was linearly associated with permissible touch area. However, Western participants experienced social touching as more pleasurable than Asian participants. These results indicate a similarity of emotional bonding via social touch between East Asian and Western cultures.

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