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Boy will be boys: sex differences in wild infant chimpanzee social interactions

Elizabeth V Lonsdorf1, Karen E Anderson2, Margaret A Stanton3

  • 1Department of Psychology and Biological Foundations of Behavior Program, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, U.S.A ; Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL, U.S.A.

Animal Behaviour
|February 4, 2014
PubMed

Insights

Male chimpanzee infants are more social than females, interacting with more individuals and adult males. These findings suggest early-emerging sex differences in sociability have evolutionary roots.

Area of Science:

  • Primatology
  • Evolutionary Psychology
  • Developmental Biology

Background:

  • Sex differences in human child behavior are debated, with some evidence for a biological basis.
  • Understanding evolutionary roots of behavior is crucial for human development studies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Investigate sex differences in sociability in wild chimpanzee infants.
  • Explore the evolutionary basis of early social behavior development.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a long-term dataset on mother-infant behavior in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii).
  • Analyzed the diversity of social partners for infants aged 30-36 months.
  • Controlled for maternal sociability in the analysis.

Main Results:

  • Male infants (N=12) interacted with significantly more individuals than female infants (N=8).
  • Male infants showed significantly more interactions with adult males compared to females.
  • Sex differences in social tendencies emerge early in chimpanzee development.

Conclusions:

  • Early-emerging sex differences in sociability are evident in chimpanzee infants.
  • These findings support a biological and evolutionary basis for behavioral sex differences, potentially including humans.

Keywords:
Pan troglodytes schweinfurthiichimpanzeemother–infant interactionsex differencesocial behaviour

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