Individual variation and plasticity in the infant-directed communication of orang-utan mothers

Author:

Fröhlich Marlen12ORCID,van Schaik Carel P.2345,van Noordwijk Maria A.23,Knief Ulrich6ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Paleoanthropology, Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

2. Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

3. Comparative Socioecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany

4. Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

5. Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

6. Division of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany

Abstract

Between-individual variation in behavioural expression, such as social responsiveness, has been shown to have important eco-evolutionary consequences. However, most comparative research on non-human primate communication has focused on species- or population-level variation, while among- and within-individual variation has been largely ignored or considered as noise. Here, we apply a behavioural reaction norm framework to repeated observations of mother–offspring interactions in wild and zoo-housed orang-utans ( Pongo abelii, P. pygmaeus ) to tease apart variation on the individual level from population-level and species-level differences. Our results showed that mothers not only differed in the composition of their infant-directed gestural repertoires, but also in communicative tactics, such as gestural redoings (i.e. persistence) and responsiveness to infants' requests. These differences remained after controlling for essential moderators, including species, setting, parity and infant age. Importantly, mothers differed in how they adjusted their behaviour across social contexts, making a strong case for investigating within-individual variation. Our findings highlight that partitioning behavioural variation into its within-individual, between-individual and environmental sources allows us to estimate the extent of plastic responses to the immediate environment in great ape communication.

Funder

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

NCCR Evolving Language Program

Universität Zürich

Publisher

The Royal Society

Subject

General Agricultural and Biological Sciences,General Environmental Science,General Immunology and Microbiology,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Medicine

Reference65 articles.

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3. Maynard Smith J, Harper D. 2003 Animal signals. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

4. van Lawick-Goodall J. 1967 Mother–offspring relationships in free-ranging chimpanzees. In Primate ethology (ed. D Morris), pp. 287-346. London, UK: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.

5. Jay P. 1963 Mother-infant relations in langurs. In Maternal behavior in mammals (ed. HL Rheingold), pp. 282-304. New York, NY: Wiley & Sons.

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