scholarly journals Selective attention to philopatric models causes directed social learning in wild vervet monkeys

2010 ◽  
Vol 277 (1691) ◽  
pp. 2105-2111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica van de Waal ◽  
Nathalie Renevey ◽  
Camille Monique Favre ◽  
Redouan Bshary
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Selective Attention ◽  
Participation Rate ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Vervet Monkey ◽  
Dominant Male ◽  
Vervet Monkeys ◽  
Dominant Female ◽  
Artificial Fruit ◽  
Access To Food

Human behaviour is often based on social learning, a mechanism that has been documented also in a variety of other vertebrates. However, social learning as a means of problem-solving may be optimal only under specific conditions, and both theoretical work and laboratory experiments highlight the importance of a potential model's identity. Here we present the results from a social learning experiment on six wild vervet monkey groups, where models were either a dominant female or a dominant male. We presented ‘artificial fruit’ boxes that had doors on opposite, differently coloured ends for access to food. One option was blocked during the demonstration phase, creating consistent demonstrations of one possible solution. Following demonstrations we found a significantly higher participation rate and same-door manipulation in groups with female models compared to groups with male models. These differences appeared to be owing to selective attention of bystanders to female model behaviour rather than owing to female tolerance. Our results demonstrate the favoured role of dominant females as a source for ‘directed’ social learning in a species with female philopatry. Our findings imply that migration does not necessarily lead to an exchange of socially acquired information within populations, potentially causing highly localized traditions.

Philopatric vervet monkey females are the focus of social attention rather independently of rank

Behaviour ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 150 (6) ◽  
pp. 599-615 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Renevey ◽  
R. Bshary ◽  
E. van de Waal
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Vervet Monkey ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Social Attention ◽  
Social Partner ◽  
Vervet Monkeys ◽  
Artificial Fruit ◽  
Group Members

Social learning has potential advantages over individual learning but one challenge is to identify valuable information. One possibility is to not randomly learn from any social partner but mainly from specific role models like for example the mother or high ranking group members. A potential mechanism for such directed social learning could be that individuals observe the actions of role models more often than of other group members. Field experiments showed that in vervet monkeys — a species with female philopatry — dominant females are more closely watched than dominant males in an artificial fruit-type social learning task. Here, we quantified social attention to males and females under natural conditions in six groups of vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops) at Loskop Dam Nature Reserve, South Africa. Using the focal sampling method, we quantified the frequencies with which all adult individuals were observed by other group members of known age class, rank, sex and degree of relatedness during foraging bouts and grooming interactions. We found that group members generally paid more attention to females than to males. This effect remained when we excluded matriline members from the analyses. Furthermore, we found that an individual’s rank did not affect the attention it received from other group members. These results suggest that philopatry may promote social attention independently of an individual’s rank and across situations.

scholarly journals Processing of novel food reveals payoff and rank-biased social learning in a wild primate

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Canteloup ◽  
Mabia B. Cera ◽  
Brendan J. Barrett ◽  
Erica van de Waal
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Individual Learning ◽  
Diffusion Experiment ◽  
Vervet Monkeys ◽  
Dynamic Learning ◽  
Novel Food ◽  
Bias Attention ◽  
Higher Rank ◽  
Learning From Others

AbstractSocial learning—learning from others—is the basis for behavioural traditions. Different social learning strategies (SLS), where individuals biasedly learn behaviours based on their content or who demonstrates them, may increase an individual’s fitness and generate behavioural traditions. While SLS have been mostly studied in isolation, their interaction and the interplay between individual and social learning is less understood. We performed a field-based open diffusion experiment in a wild primate. We provided two groups of vervet monkeys with a novel food, unshelled peanuts, and documented how three different peanut opening techniques spread within the groups. We analysed data using hierarchical Bayesian dynamic learning models that explore the integration of multiple SLS with individual learning. We (1) report evidence of social learning compared to strictly individual learning, (2) show that vervets preferentially socially learn the technique that yields the highest observed payoff and (3) also bias attention toward individuals of higher rank. This shows that behavioural preferences can arise when individuals integrate social information about the efficiency of a behaviour alongside cues related to the rank of a demonstrator. When these preferences converge to the same behaviour in a group, they may result in stable behavioural traditions.

TOLERATED CO-FEEDING IN RELATION TO DEGREE OF KINSHIP IN JAPANESE MACAQUES

Behaviour ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 138 (4) ◽  
pp. 487-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Chapais ◽  
Patrick Belisle
Keyword(s):  
Macaca Fuscata ◽  
Japanese Macaques ◽  
Preferential Treatment ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Dominance Relationship ◽  
Mothers And Daughters ◽  
Dominant Female ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Access To Food

AbstractWe analyzed co-feeding in relation to degree of kinship in Japanese macaques Macaca fuscata), testing experimentally five categories of matrilineal kin dyads: mother-daughter, grandmother-granddaughter, sisters, aunt-niece and nonkin. In each test, two adult females with a clear dominance relationship had access to a box containing a limited quantity of highly prized food. The dominant female could easily prevent the subordinate from eating so that food was easily monopolizable, hence the use of the expression tolerated co-feeding. Rates of tolerated co-feeding increased steeply with degree of kinship. The aggression levels of dominant females towards subordinate females decreased with increasing degree of kinship and this effect was most apparent between mothers and daughters. The confidence level of subordinate females increased with degree of kinship and this effect became apparent above the aunt-niece kin class. Prior access to food by the subordinate female was a significant means of access to food, mostly beyond the grandmother-granddaughter kin category. The results point to a relatedness threshold for the preferential treatment of kin at r = 0.25 (grandmother-granddaughter and sister dyads), beyond which (r = 0.125: aunt-niece dyads), levels of tolerated co-feeding were comparable to those of nonkin females. The identity of this threshold with that found in previous studies on the same group for two different types of interactions suggests the existence of a generalized relatedness threshold for kin favoritism in Japanese macaques. Assuming that the costs of food defense by the dominant females were negligible and that tolerated co-feeding was altruistic, our results support the role of kin selection in the evolution of altruism in primates beyond the mother-offspring bond.

scholarly journals Adaptive genetic variation at three loci in South African vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) and the role of selection within Primates

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willem G Coetzer ◽  
Trudy R Turner ◽  
Christopher A Schmitt ◽  
J Paul Grobler
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
South African ◽  
Vervet Monkey ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Vervet Monkeys ◽  
Adaptive Genetic Variation ◽  
Chlorocebus Pygerythrus

Vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) are one of the most widely distributed non-human primate species found in South Africa. They occur across all the South African provinces, inhabiting a large variety of habitats. These habitats vary sufficiently that it can be assumed that various factors such as pathogen diversity could influence populations in different ways. In turn, these factors could lead to varied levels of selection at specific fitness linked loci. The Toll-like Receptor (TLR) gene family, which play an integral role in vertebrate innate immunity, is a group of fitness linked loci which has been the focus of much research. In this study, we assessed the level of genetic variation at partial sequences of two TLR loci (TLR4 and 7) and a reproductively linked gene, acrosin (ACR), across the different habitat types within the vervet monkey distribution range. Gene variation and selection estimates were also made among 11 – 21 primate species. Low levels of genetic variation for all three gene regions were observed within vervet monkeys , with only two polymorphic sites identified for TLR4, three sites for TLR7 and one site for ACR . TLR7 variation was positively correlated with high mean annual rainfall, which was linked to increased pathogen abundance. The observed genetic variation at TLR4 might have been influenced by numerous factors including pathogens and climatic conditions. The ACR exonic regions showed no variation in vervet monkeys, which could point to the occurrence of a selective sweep. The TLR4 and TLR7 results for the among primate analyses was mostly in line with previous studies, indicating a higher rate of evolution for TLR4. Within primates, ACR also showed signs of positive selection, which was congruent with previous reports on mammals. Important additional information to the already existing vervet monkey knowledge base was gained from this study, which can guide future research projects on this highly researched taxon as well as help conservation agencies with future management planning involving possible translocations of this species.

Vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) alarm calls to leopards (Panthera pardus) function as a predator deterrent

Behaviour ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 153 (5) ◽  
pp. 591-606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynne A. Isbell ◽  
Laura R. Bidner
Keyword(s):  
Alarm Call ◽  
Vervet Monkey ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Gps Data ◽  
Vervet Monkeys ◽  
Panthera Pardus ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Gps Collars ◽  
Chlorocebus Pygerythrus

Behavioural predator–prey interactions are difficult to study, especially when predators avoid humans. To gain greater understanding of their dynamism, we conducted a 14-month field study in which we minimized human presence by employing acoustic recorders and camera traps, along with GPS collars deployed on vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) and leopards (Panthera pardus) in Laikipia, Kenya. Recordings at the vervets’ sleeping site revealed that they gave ‘leopard’ alarm calls most frequently near dusk and dawn, whereas photographs showed that leopards approached vervets more closely at night, when the monkeys alarm-called less often. GPS data showed that after vervets alarm-called, leopards within 200 m quickly moved away, changing direction, but when vervets did not alarm-call, leopards continued moving forward. These results reveal that vervets’ leopard alarm calls function as a predator deterrent in addition to a conspecific warning call.

Social learning of an artificial fruit task in capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella).

1999 ◽  
Vol 113 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Custance ◽  
Andrew Whiten ◽  
Tamar Fredman
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Cebus Apella ◽  
Capuchin Monkeys ◽  
Artificial Fruit
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document