More tolerant primates have a greater need to communicate vocally, new
study shows

Date:
July 29, 2021
Source:
University of York
Summary:
Primates who are more tolerant of each other use vocal communication
more than their stricter counterparts, research shows.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Primates who are more tolerant of each other use vocal communication
more than their stricter counterparts, research from the University of
York shows.


==========================================================================
The study looked at how dominant primates behave towards those of
lower status, with some demanding deference and punishing challenges
from subordinates harshly (despotic), whilst others are more relaxed (tolerant).

Japanese macaques are an example of a despotic species in this study,
while black howler monkeys are an example of a tolerant species.

Researchers say this characteristic called "dominance style" is an
important factor in understanding the evolution of communication. They
expected that tolerant primates would use more communication than despotic primates to achieve their goals or to maintain their dominant position,
instead of using aggression.

Using behavioural data from 26 primate species, the researchers quantified dominance style for the first time in many of these species.

Lead author, Dr Eithne Kavanagh a former PhD student from the Department
of Psychology said: "We found evidence that dominance style was related
to vocal communication at both individual and species levels.

"Notably, we found that more despotic species had richer repertoires
of hierarchy-related calls in their evolved vocal systems, but that
individuals who were more tolerant of lower-ranking partners vocalized
at a higher rate.

"This indicates that tolerance within a relationship may place pressure
on the dominant partner to communicate more during social interactions."
The study concluded that overall, the findings suggested that the
strictness of the dominance relationships of individuals and species
provides important context for understanding primate vocal usage and
evolution.

Partners in the research included Professor Katie Slocombe from the
University of York, Dr Adriano Lameira from University of Warwick and
Dr Sally Street from Durham University. This project was only possible
with a great collaborative effort, with 64 primate researchers from 59 institutions working together to build the data set necessary to test
these ideas.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_York. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Eithne Kavanagh, Sally E. Street, Felix O. Angwela, Thore
J. Bergman,
Maryjka B. Blaszczyk, Laura M. Bolt, Margarita Brisen~o-Jaramillo,
Michelle Brown, Chloe Chen-Kraus, Zanna Clay, Camille Coye, Melissa
Emery Thompson, Alejandro Estrada, Claudia Fichtel, Barbara Fruth,
Marco Gamba, Cristina Giacoma, Kirsty E. Graham, Samantha Green,
Cyril C. Grueter, Shreejata Gupta, Morgan L. Gustison, Lindsey
Hagberg, Daniela Hedwig, Katharine M. Jack, Peter M. Kappeler,
Gillian King-Bailey, Barbora Kuběnova', Alban Lemasson, David
MacGregor Inglis, Zarin Machanda, Andrew MacIntosh, Bonaventura
Majolo, Sophie Marshall, Stephanie Mercier, Je'ro^me Micheletta,
Martin Muller, Hugh Notman, Karim Ouattara, Julia Ostner, Mary
S. M. Pavelka, Louise R. Peckre, Megan Petersdorf, Fredy Quintero,
Gabriel Ramos-Ferna'ndez, Martha M. Robbins, Roberta Salmi, Isaac
Schamberg, Oliver Schu"lke, Stuart Semple, Joan B. Silk, J. Roberto
Sosa-Lope'z, Valeria Torti, Daria Valente, Raffaella Ventura, Erica
van de Waal, Anna H. Weyher, Claudia Wilke, Richard Wrangham,
Christopher Young, Anna Zanoli, Klaus Zuberbu"hler, Adriano
R. Lameira, Katie Slocombe. Dominance style is a key predictor of
vocal use and evolution across nonhuman primates. Royal Society
Open Science, 2021; 8 (7): 210873 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.210873 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210729143444.htm

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