Author:
Valdivieso-Cortadella Sara,Bernardi-Gómez Chiara,Aureli Filippo,Llorente Miquel,Amici Federica
Abstract
AbstractBehavioural contagion is a widespread phenomenon in animal species, which is thought to promote coordination and group cohesion. Among non-human primates, however, there is no evidence of behavioural contagion in Platyrrhines (i.e. primates from South and Central America) yet. Here, we investigated whether behavioural contagion is also present in this taxon, by assessing yawning and scratching contagion in a wild group (N = 49) of Geoffroy’s spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi). We conducted focal samples to examine whether individuals observing the triggering event (i.e. a naturally occurring yawning or scratching event in the group) would be more likely to yawn or scratch in the following 3 min, as compared to individuals who did not observe the triggering event. We ran generalized linear mixed models using a Bayesian approach, and found that the probability of yawning and scratching was higher for individuals observing others yawning and scratching, respectively, as compared to individuals who did not observe such an event. Behavioural contagion did not vary depending on the observer’s sex, kinship or relationship quality with the individual performing the triggering event. These findings provide the first evidence for yawning and scratching contagion in a wild group of spider monkeys, and importantly contribute to the debate about the evolutionary origins of behavioural contagion in primates.
Funder
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Cited by
5 articles.
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