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. 2014 May;35(3):214-21.
doi: 10.11813/j.issn.0254-5853.2014.3.214.

Influence of dominance rank and affiliation relationships on self-directed behavior in female Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana)

Qi-Xin Zhang  1 , Jin-Hua Li  2 , Dong-Po Xia  3 , Yong Zhu  1 , Xi Wang  1 , Dao Zhang  1
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Influence of dominance rank and affiliation relationships on self-directed behavior in female Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana)

Qi-Xin Zhang et al. Dongwuxue Yanjiu. 2014 May.

Abstract

Self-directed behavior (SDB) is characterized as an indicator of anxiety, frustration and stress in nonhuman primates. In this study, we collected self-directed behavior data from one group of free-ranging Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) at Mt. Huangshan, China (September 2012-May 2013) using a combination of behavioral sampling methods including focal animal sampling, behavioral sampling, continuous sampling and instantaneous sampling. Our results showed that females engaged in significantly higher rates of self-directed behavior when they were in proximity to dominant individuals compared to subordinate ones. Conflict losers significantly increased their SDB rates after agonistic episodes, indicating that SDB might also serve as an index of anxiety in M. thibetana. We further found that females significantly increased their SDB rates when focal individual was proximity to weakly affiliation relationship higher rank members than to strongly affiliation relationship higher rank members. If conflicts were not reconciled, the postconflict SDB rates of losers were higher when they stayed with strongly affiliation opponents; if conflicts were reconciled, victims of strongly affiliation relationships opponents engaged in more SDB rates before reconciliation than after reconciliation, while victims of moderately affiliation relationships opponents did not engaged in more SDB rates before reconciliation than after reconciliation. We conclude that both of dominance rank and affiliation relationships might both influence the SDB rates of female Tibetan macaques significantly, suggesting that SDB is not only an index of anxiety in Tibetan macaques, but also can provide a new insight into evaluation of social relationships between individuals.

Keywords: Affiliation relationship; Dominance Rank; Female; Self-directed behavior (SDB); Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana).

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Self-directed behavior rates when a dominant or subordinate conspecific was nearest neighbor within 2 m and when there was no nearest neighbor within 2 m
Figure 2
Figure 2
Victims’ self-directed behavior rates with reconciliation (Rec) or without reconciliation between opponents and MC
Figure 3
Figure 3
The effects of opponents with different affiliation relationships on self-directed behavior frequency before reconciliation and after reconciliation
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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