Association patterns of female gorillas

Author:

Young Christopher12ORCID,Robbins Martha M.2

Affiliation:

1. Department of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham NG1 4FQ, UK

2. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany

Abstract

Social interactions ultimately impact health and fitness in gregarious mammals. However, research focusing on the strength of affiliative interactions has primarily been conducted on female philopatric species. Gorillas provide an interesting counterpoint to previous research as females emigrate multiple times throughout their lives. We compare female–female association strength, duration and consistency in wild mountain ( Gorilla beringei beringei ) and western gorillas ( Gorilla gorilla gorilla ). Additionally, we examine whether the alpha male influences female association strength and if these associations are an artefact of both females concurrently in spatial proximity of the alpha male. In this between-species comparison, female gorillas had differentiated association patterns that were consistent on average for 2 years. The alpha males did not influence female association strength, with associations being similar in his presence or absence. Finally, we found more variability in association patterns among mountain gorillas with higher average association scores and higher proportion of ‘preferred associates' than western gorillas. The rare dispersal pattern in the Gorilla genus may lead to greater flexibility in female association patterns than in species exhibiting female philopatry and strong kinship bonds. This may echo ancestral human society and provide new evidence to help us understand the evolution of modern human society. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Cooperation among women: evolutionary and cross-cultural perspectives’.

Funder

Tusk Trust

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service

Great Ape Fund

Taipei Zoo

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Berggorilla und Regenwald Direkthilfe

Publisher

The Royal Society

Subject

General Agricultural and Biological Sciences,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Cited by 5 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

1. Female gorillas compete for food and males;Evolution and Human Behavior;2024-09

2. Female mountain gorillas form enduring social relationships;Animal Behaviour;2024-07

3. Group structure and individual relationships of sanctuary-living Grauer’s gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri);PLOS ONE;2024-01-17

4. Reflections on connections;Primates;2023-03

5. New perspectives on the evolution of women's cooperation;Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences;2022-11-28

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3