Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Qi, Xiao-Guang
• Garber, Paul A
• Ji, Weihong
• Huang, Zhi-Pang
• Huang, Kang
• Zhang, Peng
• Guo, Song-Tao
• Wang, Xiao-Wei
• He, Gang
• Zhang, Pei
• Li, Bao-Guo

Titel

Satellite telemetry and social modeling offer new insights into the origin of primate multilevel societies

Ist Teil von

• Nature communications, 2014-10, Vol.5 (1), p.5296-5296, Article 5296

Ort / Verlag

England: Nature Publishing Group

Erscheinungsjahr

2014

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Multilevel societies (MLS), in which polygynous reproductive units are nested in a larger social matrix, represent a highly complex social system documented only in a small number of mammalian species. Using long-term behavioural data, satellite telemetry and social network analysis, we present a new framework for understanding the function and social dynamics of the golden snub-nosed monkey MLS. Here we show that several one-male units form a cohesive breeding band that associates with one or more all-male units to form a herd. Herds seasonally aggregate and exchange members, thus facilitating gene flow and inbreeding avoidance. This MLS evolved from the aggregation of independent one-male, multifemale units that characterize ancestral Asian colobines; the evolutionary pathway leading to this MLS contrasts with that proposed for African papionins, which appear to have undergone internal fissioning of multimale-multifemale groups. The results suggest that both environmental and phylogenetic factors are important in the evolution of a primate MLS.