Skip to main content
Log in

Aggressive interventions and matrilineal dominance relations in semifree-ranging barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus)

  • Published:
Primates Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Female Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) form matrilineal hierarchies, i.e. they come to rank below their mother in relation to non-kin females in the course of maturation. The stability of such hierarchies and the acquisition of the matrilineal rank are achieved through dyadic aggressions and third party interventions in conflicts. This study examines the dynamics of interventions in non-kin conflicts in a semifree-ranging group of 109 Barbary macaques at “La Montagne des Singes,” Kintzheim, France. Focal sampling on 13 females aged 3 and 4 years not yet dominant over all older females from lower ranking kin groups (lower born females) was carried out during 16 months in 1987 and 1988. Results on the direction of support in non-kin female conflicts (all samples pooled) show that interventions were generally provided on behalf of the female from the higher ranking kin group (higher born female). Rates of interventions (derived from focal samples) given and received were correlated with the hierarchy; higher born females received more support and intervened more often than lower born females. A subset of interventions (based on the age of the females involved) was analyzed according to the rank distance between the opponents and the type of support provided (spontaneous or solicited). On the basis of their representation, intermediate-ranking supporters (i.e. females ranking between the opponents) intervened more often than above-ranking supporters (i.e. females dominant to both opponents), and they intervened more often spontaneously than following a solicitation. The results on interventions are discussed in the perspective of benefits to supporters. Twenty-one instances of outranking of older females (matrilineal rank acquisition) were observed. By the end of the study, the number of older lower born females not yet outranked by the focal females was negatively correlated to the rank distance between the two sets of females. However no such correlation was found between these two groups when compared according to their age difference in years.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Altmann, J., 1974. Observational study of behavior: sampling methods.Behaviour, 49: 227–265.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Angst, W., 1975. Basic data and concepts on the social organization ofMacaca fascicularis. In:Primate Behavior. Developments in Field and Laboratory Research,L. A. Rosenblum (ed.), Academic Press, New York, pp. 325–388.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bercovitch, F. B., 1988. Coalitions, cooperation and reproductive tactics among adult male baboons.Anim. Behav., 36: 1198–1209.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berman, C. M., 1980. Early agonistic experience and rank acquisition among free-ranging infant rhesus monkeys.Int. J. Primatol., 1: 153–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein, I. S., 1969. Stability of the status hierarchy in a pigtail monkey group (Macaca nemestrina).Anim. Behav., 5: 452–458.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———— &C. L. Ehardt, 1985. Agonistic aiding: kinship, rank, age, and sex influence.Amer. J. Primatol., 8: 37–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bramblett, C. A., S. S. Bramblett, D. Bishop, &A. M. Coelho, Jr., 1982. Longitudinal stability in adult status hierarchies among vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops).Amer. J. Primatol., 2: 43–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapais, B., 1983. Dominance, relatedness and the structure of female relationships in rhesus monkeys. In:Primate Social Relationships: An Integrated Approach,R. A. Hinde (ed.), Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, pp. 208–219.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————, 1985. An experimental analysis of a mother-daughter rank reversal in Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata).Primates, 26: 407–423.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————, 1988a. Experimental matrilineal inheritance of rank in female Japanese macaques.Anim. Behav., 36: 1025–1037.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————, 1988b. Rank maintenance in female Japanese macaques: experimental evidence for social dependency.Behaviour, 104: 41–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————, 1992. Role of alliances in the social inheritance of rank among female primates. In:Cooperation in Contests in Animals and Humans,A. Harcourt &F. B. M. de Waal (eds.), Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, pp. 29–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———— &S. R. Schulman, 1980. An evolutionary model of female dominance relation in primates.J. Theoret. Biol., 82: 47–89.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • ————,M. Girard, &G. Primi, 1991. Non-kin alliances and the stability of matrilineal dominance relations in Japanese macaques.Anim. Behav., 41: 481–491.

    Google Scholar 

  • —,J. Prud'Homme, & S. Teijeiro, in prep. Constraints on nepotistic support in Japanese macaques.

  • Cheney, D. L., 1977. The acquisition of rank and the development of reciprocal alliances among free-ranging immature baboons.Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 2: 303–318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ————, 1983. Extra-familial alliances among vervet monkeys. In:Primate Social Relationships: An Integrated Approach,R. A. Hinde (ed.), Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, pp. 278–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Datta, S. B., 1983a. Relative power and the acquisition of rank. In:Primate Social Relationships: An Integrated Approach,R. A. Hidne (ed.), Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, pp. 93–103.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————, 1983b. Relative power and the maintenance of dominance. In:Primate Social Relationships: An Integrated Approach,R. A. Hinde (ed.), Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, pp. 103–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————, 1992. Effects of availability of allies on female dominance structure. In:Cooperation in Contests in Animals and Humans,A. Harcourt &F. B. M. de Waal (eds.), Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, pp. 61–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deag, J. M., 1977. Aggression and submission in monkey societies.Anim. Behav., 25: 465–474.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunbar, R. I. M., 1980. Determinants and evolutionary consequences of dominance among female gelada baboons.Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 7: 253–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estrada, A., R. Estrada, &F. Ervin, 1977. Establishment of a free-ranging colony of stumptail macaques (Macaca arctoïdes): social relations I.Primates, 18: 647–676.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fa, J. E. (ed.), 1984.The Barbary Macaque: A Case Study in Conservation. Plenum Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gouzoules, S., H. Gouzoules, &P. Marler, 1984. Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) screams: representational signalling in the recruitment of agonistic aid.Anim. Behav., 32: 182–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hausfater, G., 1975. Dominance and reproduction in baboons (Papio cynocephalus). In:Contribution to Primatology, No.7, Karger, Basel, pp. 1–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————,J. Altmann, &S. A. Altmann, 1982. Long-term consistency of dominance relations among female baboons (Papio cynocephalus).Science, 217: 752–754.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horrocks, J. &W. Hunte, 1983. Maternal rank and offspring rank in vervet monkeys: an appraisal of the mechanisms of rank acquisition.Anim. Behav., 31: 772–782.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunte, W. &J. Horrocks, 1987. Kin and non-kin interventions in the aggressive disputes of vervet monkeys.Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 20: 257–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, J. A., 1987. Dominance rank in juvenile olive baboons,Papio anubis: the influence of gender, size, maternal rank and orphaning.Anim. Behav., 35: 1694–1708.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kawai, M., 1958. On the system of social rank in a natural group of Japanese monkeys.Primates, 1: 11–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kawamura, S., 1958. Matriarchal social order in the Minoo-B group: a study of the rank system of Japanese macaques.Primates, 1: 149–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koyama, N., 1967. On dominance rank and kinship of a wild Japanese monkey troop in Arashiyama.Primates, 8: 189–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, P. C., 1983. Context-specific unpredictability in dominance interactions. In:Primate Social Relationships: An Integrated Approach,R. A. Hinde (ed.), Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, pp. 35–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———— &J. I. Oliver, 1979. Competition, dominance and the acquisition of rank in juvenile yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus).Anim. Behav., 27: 576–585.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacRoberts, M. H., 1970. The social organization of Barbary apes (Macaca sylvana) on Gibraltar.Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol., 33: 83–100.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Missakian, E. A., 1972. Genealogical and cross-genealogical dominance relations in a group of free-ranging rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) on Cayo Santiago.Primates, 13: 169–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Netto, J. W. &J. A. R. A. M. van Hooff, 1986. Conflict interference and the development of dominance relationships in immatureMacaca fascicularis. In:Primate Ontogeny, Cognition and Social Behaviour,J. G. Else &P. C. Lee (eds.), Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, pp. 291–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paul, A. &J. Kuester, 1987. Dominance, kinship and reproductive value in female Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) at Affenberg Salem.Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 21: 323–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pereira, M. E., 1988. Agonistic interactions of juvenile savanna baboons. I. Fundamental features.Ethology, 79: 195–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————, 1989. Agonistic interactions of juvenile savanna baboons. II. Agonistic support and rank acquisition.Ethology, 80: 152–171.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prud'Homme, J., 1991. Group fission in a semifree-ranging population of Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus).Primates, 32: 9–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • — &B. Chapais, in press. Rank relations among sisters in semifree-ranging Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus).Int. J. Primatol., 14.

  • Sade, D. S., 1967. Determinants of dominance in a group of free-ranging rhesus monkeys. In:Social Communication among Primates,S. A. Altmann (ed.), Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 99–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————, 1972. A longitudinal study of social behavior of rhesus monkeys. In:The Functional and Evolutionary Biology of Primates,R. H. Tuttle (ed.), Aldine, Chicago, pp. 378–398.

    Google Scholar 

  • Samuels, A., J. B. Silk, &J. Altmann, 1987. Continuity and change in dominance relations among female baboons.Anim. Behav., 35: 785–793.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seyfarth, R. M., 1977. A model of social grooming among adult female monkeys.J. Theoret. Biol., 65: 671–698.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • ————, 1983. Grooming and social competition in primates. In:Primate Social Relationships: An Integrated Approach,R. A. Hinde (ed.), Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, pp. 182–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silk, J. B., A. Samuels, &P. Rodman, 1981. Hierarchical organization of femaleMacaca radiata in captivity.Primates, 22: 84–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Turckheim, G. &E. Merz, 1984. Breeding Barbary macaques in outdoor open enclosures. In:The Barbary Macaque: A Case Study in Conservation,J. E. Fa (ed.), Plenum Press, New York, pp. 241–261.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Waal, F. B. M., 1977. The organization of agonistic relations within two captive groups of Java monkeys (Macaca fascicularis).Z. Tierpsychol., 44: 225–282.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • ————, 1991. Rank distance as a central feature of rhesus monkey social organization: a sociometric analysis.Anim. Behav., 41: 383–395.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walters, J., 1980. Interventions and the development of dominance relationships in female baboons.Folia Primatol., 34: 61–89.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

About this article

Cite this article

Prud'Homme, J., Chapais, B. Aggressive interventions and matrilineal dominance relations in semifree-ranging barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus). Primates 34, 271–283 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02382621

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02382621

Key Words

Navigation