Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T07:58:36.455Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

14 - Ecological and social influences on rates of social play in immature wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2019

By
Yasmin Moebius ,
Peter D. Walsh ,
Grégoire K. Nohon  and
Christophe Boesch
Edited by
Christophe Boesch  and
Roman Wittig
Edited in association with
Catherine Crockford ,
Linda Vigilant ,
Tobias Deschner  and
Fabian Leendertz
Christophe Boesch
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Germany
Roman Wittig
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Germany
Catherine Crockford
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Germany
Linda Vigilant
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Germany
Tobias Deschner
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Germany
Fabian Leendertz
Affiliation:
Robert Koch-Institut, Germany
Get access

Summary

A central component of primates’ social ontogeny is play with conspecifics. Play is constrained by ecological factors, especially food abundance, and social play is most likely limited by partner availability, which in turn can be related to ecology. However, how much social and ecological factors collectively influence social play rates has not yet been investigated. We used a multivariate approach to test to what degree fruit and partner availability affected social play rates of wild immature chimpanzees in Taï National Park. As fruit abundance and partner availability increased, infant and juvenile play rates rose, with juvenile play being affected more by fruit abundance than infant play. Partner availability predicted infant play rates better during the low than the high fruit availability season, which was not the case for juvenile play. Our results indicate that young chimpanzees face a trade-off in allocating time or energy to foraging and social play, with foraging becoming increasingly dominant with age. This joint analysis of social and ecological factors suggests that food abundance modulates the effect of partner availability on social play rates in young chimpanzees.

Keywords

OntogenySocial developmentEcological constraintsMaternal influenceMultivariate analysis
Type
Chapter
Information
The Chimpanzees of the Taï Forest
40 Years of Research
 , pp. 221 - 241
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Altmann, J. (1974). Observational study of behavior – Sampling methods. Behaviour, 49, 227–267. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853974x00534Google Scholar
Altmann, J. (1980). Baboon Mothers and Infants. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Altmann, J. & Alberts, S. C. (2005). Growth rates in a wild primate population: Ecological influences and maternal effects. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 57, 490–501. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-004–0870–xGoogle Scholar
Anderson, D. P., Nordheim, E. V., Boesch, C. & Moermond, T. C. (2002). Factors influencing fission–fusion grouping in chimpanzees in the Taï National Park, Cote d’Ivoire. In Boesch, C., Hohmann, G. & Marchant, L. F. (eds.), Behavioural Diversity in Chimpanzees and Bonobos (pp. 90–101). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Anderson, D. P., Nordheim, E. V., Moermond, T. C., Gone Bi, Z. B. & Boesch, C. (2005). Factors influencing tree phenology in Taï National Park, Cote d’Ivoire. Biotropica, 37, 631–640. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744–7429.2005.00080.xGoogle Scholar
Baldwin, J. D. & Baldwin, J. I. (1971). Squirrel monkeys (Saimiri) in natural habitats in Panama, Colombia, Brazil, and Peru. Primates, 12, 45–61. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01730381Google Scholar
Barrett, L., Dunbar, R. I. M. & Dunbar, P. (1992). Environmental-influences on play-behavior in immature gelada baboons. Animal Behaviour, 44, 111–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003–3472(05)80760–2Google Scholar
Bates, D., Maechler, M. & Dai, B. (2008). lme4: Linear Mixed-effects Models Using S4 classes. R package version 0.999375–20.Google Scholar
Bekoff, M. (1984). Social play – Behavior. Bioscience, 34, 228–233. https://doi.org/10.2307/1309460Google Scholar
Bekoff, M. & Byers, J. A. (1981). A critical reanalysis of the ontogeny and phylogeny of mammalian social and locomotor play: an ethological hornet’s nest. In Immelmann, K., Barlow, G. W., Petrinovich, L. & Main, M. (eds.), Behavioral Development (pp. 296–338). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Berman, C. M. (1982). The ontogeny of social relationships with group companions among free-ranging infant rhesus-monkeys: 1. Social networks and differentiation. Animal Behaviour, 30, 149–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003–3472(82)80250–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berman, C. M., Rasmussen, K. L. R. & Suomi, S. J. (1997). Group size, infant development and social networks in free-ranging rhesus monkeys. Animal Behaviour, 53, 405–421. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1996.0321Google Scholar
Boesch, C. (1991). The effects of leopard predation on grouping patterns in forest chimpanzees. Behaviour, 117, 221–242.Google Scholar
Boesch, C. (1997). Evidence for dominant wild female chimpanzees investing more in sons. Animal Behaviour, 54, 811–815. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1996.0510Google Scholar
Boesch, C. (2008). Why do chimpanzees die in the forest? The challenges of understanding and controlling for wild ape health. American Journal of Primatology, 70, 722–726. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.20571Google Scholar
Boesch, C. & Boesch-Achermann, H. (2000). The Chimpanzees of the Taï Forest: Behavioural Ecology and Evolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Brent, L., Bramblett, C. A., Bard, K. A., Bloomsmith, M. A. & Blangero, J. (1997). The influence of siblings on wild infant chimpanzee social interaction. Behaviour, 134, 1189–1210. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853997x00124Google Scholar
Burghardt, G. M. (2005). The Genesis of Animal Play: Testing the Limits. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Burnham, K. P. & Anderson, D. R. (2002). Model Selection and Multimodel Inference: A Practical Information-theoretic Approach. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Byers, J. A. (1998). Biological effects of locomotor play: getting into shape, or something more specific? In Bekoff, M. & Byers, J. A. (eds.), Animal Play: Evolutionary, Comparative, and Ecological Perspectives (pp. 205–220). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Byers, J. A. & Walker, C. (1995). Refining the motor training hypothesis for the evolution of play. American Naturalist, 146, 25–40. https://doi.org/10.1086/285785Google Scholar
Cameron, E. Z., Linklater, W. L., Stafford, K. J. & Minot, E. O. (2008). Maternal investment results in better foal condition through increased play behaviour in horses. Animal Behaviour, 76, 1511–1518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.07.009Google Scholar
Cheney, D. L. (1978). Play partners of immature baboons. Animal Behaviour, 26, 1038–1050. https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-3472(78)90093-3Google Scholar
Cordoni, G. & Palagi, E. (2011). Ontogenetic trajectories of chimpanzee social play: Similarities with humans. PLoS ONE, 6(11), e27344. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0027344Google Scholar
Fagen, R. (1981). Animal Play Behavior. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fagen, R. (1993). Primate juveniles and primate play. In Pereira, M. E. & Fairbanks, L. A. (eds.), Juvenile Primates: Life History, Development, and Behavior (pp. 182–196). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fagen, R. & Fagen, J. (2004). Juvenile survival and benefits of play behaviour in brown bears, Ursus arctos. Evolutionary Ecology Research, 6, 89–102.Google Scholar
Fairbanks, L. A. (1993). Juvenile vervet monkeys: Establishing relationships and practicing skills for the future. In Pereira, M. E. & Fairbanks, L. A. (eds.), Juvenile Primates: Life History, Development, and Behavior (pp. 211–227). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Field, A. P. (2005). Discovering Statistics using SPSS. New York: Sage.Google Scholar
French, J. A. (1981). Individual differences in play in Macaca fuscata: The role of maternal status and proximity. International Journal of Primatology, 2, 237–246. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02739332Google Scholar
Gard, G. C. & Meier, G. W. (1977). Social and contextual factors of play behavior in sub-adult rhesus monkeys. Primates, 18, 367–377. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02383114Google Scholar
Goodall, J. (1986). The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Hayaki, H. (1985). Social play of juvenile and adolescent chimpanzees in the Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania. Primates, 26, 343–360. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02382452CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hemelrijk, C. K. & Dekogel, C. H. (1989). What chimpanzee mothers have more sociable infants. Behaviour, 111, 305–318. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853989x00727CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hendy, H. (1986). Social interactions of free-ranging baboon infants. In Else, J. G. & Lee, P. C. (eds.), Primate Ontogeny, Cognition and Social Behaviour (pp. 267–280). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hiraiwa-Hasegawa, M. (1990). A note on the ontogeny of feeding. In Nishida, T. (ed.), The Chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains – Sexual & Life History Strategies (pp. 277–283). Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.Google Scholar
Janson, C. H. & Goldsmith, M. L. (1995). Predicting group-size in primates – Foraging costs and predation risks. Behavioral Ecology, 6, 326–336.Google Scholar
Janson, C. H. & van Schaik, C. P. (1993). Ecological risk aversion in juvenile primates: Slow and steady wins the race. In Pereira, M. E. & Fairbanks, L. A. (eds.), Juvenile Primates: Life History, Development, and Behavior (pp. 57–74). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Joffe, T. H. (1997). Social pressures have selected for an extended juvenile period in primates. Journal of Human Evolution, 32, 593–605. https://doi.org/10.1006/jhev.1997.0140Google Scholar
Johnson, J. B. & Omland, K. S. (2004). Model selection in ecology and evolution. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 19, 101–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2003.10.013Google Scholar
Kappeler, P. M. & van Schaik, C. P. (2002). Evolution of primate social systems. International Journal of Primatology, 23, 707–740. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015520830318Google Scholar
King, B. J. (1994). The Information Continuum: Evolution of Social Information Transfer in Monkeys, Apes and Hominids. Santa Fe: School of American Research Press.Google Scholar
van Lawick-Goodall, J. (1968). Behaviour of free-living chimpanzees of the Gombe Stream area. Animal Behaviour Monograph, 1, 163–311.Google Scholar
Lee, P. C. (1983). Play as a means for developing relationships. In Hinde, R. A. (ed.), Primate Social Relationships: An Integrated Approach (pp. 82–89). Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Lee, P. C. (1984). Ecological constraints on the social-development of vervet monkeys. Behaviour, 91, 245–262. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853984x00092CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, P. C. (1986). Environmental influences on development: Play, weaning and social structure. In Else, J. G. & Lee, P. C. (eds.), Primate Ontogeny, Cognition & Social Behaviour (pp. 227–237). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lehmann, J. & Boesch, C. (2008). Sexual differences in chimpanzee sociality. International Journal of Primatology, 29, 65–81. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-007–9230–9Google Scholar
Lonsdorf, E. V. (2005). Sex differences in the development of termite-fishing skills in the wild chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii, of Gombe National Park, Tanzania. Animal Behaviour, 70, 673–683. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2004.12.014Google Scholar
Maestripieri, D. & Ross, S. R. (2004). Sex differences in play among western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) infants: Implications for adult behavior and social structure. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 123, 52–61. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.10295Google Scholar
Manly, B. F. J. (1997). Randomization, Bootstrap and Monte Carlo Methods in Biology. London: Chapman & Hall.Google Scholar
Martin, P. & Caro, T. M. (1985). On the functions of play and its role in behavioral development. Advances in the Study of Behavior, 15, 59–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065–3454(08)60487–8Google Scholar
Mendoza-Granados, D. & Sommer, V. (1995). Play in chimpanzees of the Arnhem Zoo: Self-serving compromises. Primates, 36, 57–68. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02381915Google Scholar
Mitani, J.C. & Watts, D.P. (2002). Ecological and social correlates of chimpanzee party size and composition. In Boesch, C., Hohmann, G. & Marchant, L. F. (eds.), Behavioural Diversity in Chimpanzees and Bonobos (pp. 102–111). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Morgan, D. & Sanz, C. (2002). Chimpanzee feeding ecology and comparisons with sympatric gorillas in the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo. In Hohmann, G., Robbins, M. M. & Boesch, C. (eds.), Feeding Ecology in Apes and Other Primates: Ecological, Physical and Behavioral Aspects (pp. 97–122). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Müller-Schwarze, D., Stagge, B. & Müller-Schwarze, C. (1982). Play-behavior – Persistence, decrease, and energetic compensation during food shortage in deer fawns. Science, 215(4528), 85–87. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.215.4528.85Google Scholar
Murray, C. M., Eberly, L. E. & Pusey, A. E. (2006). Foraging strategies as a function of season and rank among wild female chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Behavioral Ecology, 17, 1020–1028. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arl042Google Scholar
Murray, C. M., Mane, S. V. & Pusey, A. E. (2007). Dominance rank influences female space use in wild chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes: Towards an ideal despotic distribution. Animal Behaviour, 74, 1795–1804. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.03.024Google Scholar
Nadler, R. D., Wallis, J., Rothmeyer, C., Cooper, R. W. & Baulieu, E. E. (1987). Hormones and behavior of prepubertal and peripubertal chimpanzees. Hormones and Behavior, 21, 118–131. https://doi.org/10.1016/0018-506x(87)90037–7Google Scholar
Nishida, T. (1968). The social group of wild chimpanzees in the Mahale Mountains. Primates, 9, 167–224. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01730971Google Scholar
Nunes, S., Muecke, E. M., Anthony, J. A. & Batterbee, A. S. (1999). Endocrine and energetic mediation of play behavior in free-living Belding’s ground squirrels. Hormones and Behavior, 36, 153–165. https://doi.org/10.1006/hbeh.1999.1538Google Scholar
Nunes, S., Muecke, E. M., Lancaster, L. T., Miller, N. A., Mueller, M. A., Muelhaus, J., et al.(2004a). Functions and consequences of play behaviour in juvenile Belding’s ground squirrels. Animal Behaviour, 68, 27–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.06.024Google Scholar
Nunes, S., Muecke, E. M., Sanchez, Z., Hoffmeier, R. R. & Lancaster, L. T. (2004b). Play behavior and motor development in juvenile Belding’s ground squirrels (Spermophilus beldingi). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 56, 97–105. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-004–0765–xGoogle Scholar
Owens, N. W. (1975). Social play behavior in free-living baboons, Papio anubis. Animal Behaviour, 23, 387–408. https://doi.org/10.1016/0003–3472(75)90087–1Google Scholar
Pereira, M. E. & Altmann, J. (1985). Development of social behavior in free-living nonhuman primates. In Watts, E. S. (ed.), Nonhuman Primate Models for Human Growth and Development (pp. 217–309). New York: Blank Liss.Google Scholar
Perry, S. E. (2006). What cultural primatology can tell anthropologists about the evolution of culture. Annual Review of Anthropology, 35, 171–190. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.35.081705.123312Google Scholar
Poirier, F. E. & Smith, E. O. (1974). Socializing functions of primate play. American Zoologist, 14, 275–287.Google Scholar
Pusey, A. E. (1990). Behavioral changes at adolescence in chimpanzees. Behaviour, 115, 203–246. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853990x00581Google Scholar
Pusey, A. E., Williams, J. & Goodall, J. (1997). The influence of dominance rank on the reproductive success of female chimpanzees. Science, 277(5327), 828–831. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.277.5327.828Google Scholar
R Core Team (2008). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing.Google Scholar
Robson, S. L. (2004). Breast milk, diet, and large human brains. Current Anthropology, 45, 419–425. https://doi.org/10.1086/420910Google Scholar
Sharpe, L. L., Clutton-Brock, T. H., Brotherton, P. N. M., Cameron, E. Z. & Cherry, M. I. (2002). Experimental provisioning increases play in free-ranging meerkats. Animal Behaviour, 64, 113–121. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.2002.3031Google Scholar
Smith, P. K. (1982). Does play matter – Functional and evolutionary aspects of animal and human play. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 5, 139–155.Google Scholar
Spinka, M., Newberry, R. C. & Bekoff, M. (2001). Mammalian play: Training for the unexpected. Quarterly Review of Biology, 76, 141–168.Google Scholar
Stephens, P. A., Buskirk, S. W. & del Rio, C. M. (2007). Inference in ecology and evolution. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 22, 192–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2006.12.003Google Scholar
Sterck, E. H. M., Watts, D. P. & van Schaik, C. P. (1997). The evolution of female social relationships in nonhuman primates. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 41, 291–309. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002650050390Google Scholar
Tartabini, A. & Dienske, H. (1979). Social play and rank order in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Behavioural Processes, 4, 375–383. https://doi.org/10.1016/0376–6357(79)90020–2Google Scholar
Ulvi, O. S., Fortunato, M. & McGraw, W. S. (2006). Infant socialization in bonobos (Pan paniscus): The influence of age, gender and maternal rank. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 129(S42), 180–180.Google Scholar
Wittig, R. M. & Boesch, C. (2003). Food competition and linear dominance hierarchy among female chimpanzees of the Taï National Park. International Journal of Primatology, 24, 847–867. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024632923180Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×