Presenter(s): Caitlin Shreeve
Co Presenter(s): Nichole Biggs
Faculty Mentor(s): Frances White & Kylen Gartland
Poster 62
Session: Sciences
In primate societies, social rank is very important in males. Higher-ranking males get more food, more mates, and better social situations than lower-ranking males. Males, therefore, fight over rank and as a result, often need to “make-up” or reconcile after a fight. This reconciliation is important for repairing social bonds and group cohesion. Dominance rank is primarily determined by primatologists from watching aggressive interactions, but if fights are rare it can be hard to identify male rank. In this study, we will be researching whether it is possible to use a more common behavior to identify male rank. Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) spend a lot of time grooming, which is used to rebuild and strengthen bonds within the social group. The directionality of grooming may be indicative of dominance relationships because high-ranking individuals may receive more grooming than low ranking individuals. Additionally, reconciliation through social grooming may also be related to the dominance rank of the males involved. Through an examination of published studies, we will extract information on the relationship between grooming and reconciliation with dominance rank. We will then develop a data collection methodology which we will use in a research study of the adult males in the Japanese macaque group at the Oregon National Primate Research Center. Studies of reconciliation and dominance rank through the lens of grooming behaviors can give us a better understanding of the complex social relationships in multi-male Japanese macaque societies.