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Comparative Study
. 2007 Jun 22;3(3):231-3.
doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2007.0052.

Grooming in Barbary macaques: better to give than to receive?

Kathryn Shutt  1 , Ann MacLarnon, Michael Heistermann, Stuart Semple
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Grooming in Barbary macaques: better to give than to receive?

Kathryn Shutt et al. Biol Lett. .

Abstract

It is well established that grooming underpins sociality in group-living primates, and a number of studies have documented the stress-reducing effects of being groomed. In this study, we quantified grooming behaviour and physiological stress (assessed by faecal glucocorticoid analysis) in free-ranging Barbary macaques, Macaca sylvanus. Our results indicate that it is the giving rather than the receiving of grooming that is associated with lower stress levels. These findings shed important new light on the benefits of this key behaviour in primate social life.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Plots of 3α,11β-dihydroxy-CM levels and (a) grooming given and (b) grooming received. On both plots, the same individual (open symbol) is a clear outlier (see §2).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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