primate social behavior Flashcards
hominoid classifications?
super family hominoidea
○ Family hylobatidae (lesser ape - gibbons)
○ Family hoiminidae (great apes and humans)
orangutans - describe behavior and classification
- Not social
- Pongo pygmaeus - KNOW
- Indonesia
- Solitary
- Diet consists of fruit
- Sexual dimorphism - males much larger than females, look very different
- Mostly arboreal
gorillas- describe behavior and classification
- Gorilla gorilla
- Lowland areas of western equatorial Africa, mountain areas of uganda, rowanda, and the DR congo
- Knuckle walking - derived trait - not from our MCA
- Sexual dimorphism - males much larger
- Group contains silverback male (so only one), females and offspring
- In contrast humans do not tend to choose just one group, but other primates do
chimp behavior and name
- Pan troglodytes
- Equatorial africa
- Knuckle walking
- Arboreal and terrestrial
- Highly excitable
bonobos behav and name
- Pan paniscus (same genus dif species)
- Found in the DR congo
- Resemble chimps but smaller, diff hair patterns
- Less excitable, often form groups of females - chimps usually have a male bugging solidary female
jane goodalls work
- Tanzania
- Decades of work, learned a lot about primates bc of her
- At the time chimps were thought as very different from humans- but they are similar - transfer knowledge like us, use tools (found out by jane)
- Her approach was different - she interacted with the chimps and connected with them in a personal way
primitologists are interested in
- Why are primates social?
- How do primates acquire food?
- How do primates communicate?
are primate relationships long or short
long term - they live long
harlows experiment
- Harlow’s experiments
- 40s/50s, bonding if real mother is taken away and replaced with experimental ones? - babies needed comfort beyond just food - sad, unethical, the monkeys involved did not learn the parental behaviors and could not transfer them later on
- Mother/infant bond
- Social learning
main guesses for cooperation in primates?
• Altruism - is it bc of long term connections ie will the favor be returned?
• Kin selection - chosen or selected for behavior?
Mutualism
Other reasons for coperation
with more group members a potential predator will be spotted faster • a larger group can defend themselves easier. • statistical probability - less likely to get eaten in a bigger group
6 primate residence patterns?
- 1 male multifemale
- one female multi male
- multi male multi female
- all male
- one male one female
- solitary
how much do primates forage? what does good nutrition lead to
- Primates foraging time is up to 50% of waking time
- Good nutrition leads to:
- earlier first birth
- healthier infants
- short interbirth interval
- longer lifespan
primate culture as a part of food acquisition - describe use of tools
- Lots of localized behaviors
- Use of tools to solve problems - also recognized that they have localized behaviors
- Fossil evidence - focused in on stone tools mostly (bc preservation) - tools made out of organic materials are not preserved well
- Watching primates helps us see what materials they use
- Chimps usually vegetarians but might modify a stick to eat others
how do primate communicate
• Primate vocalizations complex
• Playback experiment
○ Record calls and play it again to them with a particular time or group etc
○ Primate tends to return call if it’s a primate that would be a part of its group
• Ex. Howler monkey calls