Avoidant social style among wild crested macaque males (Macaca nigra) in Tangkoko Nature Reserve, Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract

Abstract Although it is well established that female crested macaques (Macaca nigra) display very tolerant social styles, less is known about the extent to which crested macaque males can be characterized by the social style concept. We examined core social style traits and other measures of social interactions in three groups of wild crested macaque males in Tangkoko Reserve, Indonesia. Comparisons with males of other macaque species suggest that they display a mixture of tolerant and despotic indicators, a pattern inconsistent with tolerant, despotic or uniformly intermediate designations. Their apparent avoidance of affiliative interactions and reconciliation involving contact suggest that their relationships also contrast with the typically affiliative and relaxed social style of female crested macaques. Rather than labeling them as distinctly tolerant or despotic, we describe the social style of crested males as ‘avoidant’, which may reflect tense relationships due to high levels of risky reproductive competition.