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Published on: January 18, 2013
[Systemic variations of social relationships in the two groups of Java macacas]
M L Butovskaia1, A G Kozintsev
1Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
Abstract:
Complex systemic variation of the style of species-specific intragroup relations between animals was examined in two groups of stumptail macaques, comprising high- and low-status individuals. A component analysis for 17 indices of social behavior in the studied groups showed that irrespective of the actual rank, high-status animals differed reliably from those of low status by a complex of aggressive, affiliative, and cooperative behavioral features. The features varied in the group in a related, rather than a random, fashion. Generally, the behavior of the high-status females can be characterized as more "masculine," these individuals were self-assured, oriented to dominance, showed more individual independence and were less in need of cooperation with the other group members. Our data confirm the hypothesis of systemic variation of social relationships at the intraspecific level.
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