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Foraging postures are a potential communicative signal in female bonobos
Elisa Demuru1,2, François Pellegrino3, Dan Dediu3
1Laboratoire Dynamique du Langage, Université de Lyon, CNRS-UMR5596, Lyon, France. elisa.demuru@cnrs.fr.
Scientific Reports
|September 23, 2020
Summary
Bonobo females use a specific posture to amplify the visibility of their sexual swellings. This rear-exposing behavior is more frequent during ovulation, suggesting a communicative role in sociosexual interactions.
Area of Science:
- Primate ethology
- Animal communication
- Behavioral ecology
Background:
- Body postures are crucial signals in animal behavior across various species.
- Amplifier signals enhance the detectability of other signals.
- Bonobos exhibit diverse crouching postures during foraging, potentially influencing sociosexual signaling.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the functional role of bonobo foraging postures in their sociosexual life.
- To determine if specific postures, like the forelimb-crouch, amplify sexual signals.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of over 2,400 foraging events in 21 captive bonobos.
- Observation and quantification of forelimb-crouch posture frequency in relation to anogenital swelling phases.
- Comparison of posture usage between mature males, mature females, and immature individuals.
Main Results:
- Mature females significantly increased forelimb-crouch posture use when their anogenital region was swollen.
- Mature males rarely adopted the forelimb-crouch posture.
- Immature males and females exhibited similar frequencies of this posture, indicating diverging ontogeny.
Conclusions:
- The forelimb-crouch posture likely serves as a communicative amplifier, enhancing the visibility of female sexual swellings.
- This posture plays a role in bonobo sociosexual signaling, particularly during periods of female fertility.
- Postural signaling in primates warrants further investigation, even outside strictly reproductive contexts.
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