413 research outputs found
Postconflict third-party affiliation in Canis lupus: do wolves share similarities with the great apes?
No full textUnsolicited third-party affiliation is defined as the first postconflict affinitive contact directed by
bystanders to victims. To date, it has been found in apes and children but not in monkeys. We investigated
the occurrence of unsolicited postconflict third-party affiliation in wolves, Canis lupus, and verified
some functional hypotheses using a comparison with solicited contacts. Unsolicited affiliations were
more frequent between individuals sharing good relationships and were reciprocated between partners
(victims and third parties), thus suggesting the reciprocal nature of this mechanism (mutualistic
behaviour). At an immediate level, in wolves unsolicited contacts provided benefits to the victim by
breaking off aggression and restoring victims’ social cohesiveness. The incidence of unsolicited interactions
was affected by the presence of previous reconciliation. This result mirrors what has been found
for the great apes, in which consolation may function as a partial alternative to reconciliation. Even
though the cognitive skills at the basis of conflict resolution in canids still have to be investigated in
detail, our study shows an unexpected similarity between wolves and the great apes
Reconciliation in wolves (Canis lupus): new evidence for a comparative perspective
No full textSocial animals gain benefits from cooperative behaviours. However,
social systems also imply competition and conflict of interest. To cope
with dispersal forces, group-living animals use several peace-keeping
tactics, which have been deeply investigated in primates. Other taxa,
however, have been often neglected in this field research. Wolves (Canis
lupus) with their high sociality and cooperative behaviour may be a
good model species to investigate the reconciliation process. In this
study, we provide the first evidence for the occurrence of reconciliation
in a group of zoo-kept wolves. The conciliatory contacts were uniformly
distributed across the different sex-class combinations. We found a linear
dominance hierarchy in the colony under study, although the hierarchical
relationships did not seem to affect the reconciliation dynamics.
Moreover, both aggressors and victims initiated first post-conflict affinitive
contact with comparable rates and both high- and low-intensity
conflicts were reconciled with similar percentages. Finally, we found
that coalitionary support may be a good predictor for high level of conciliatory
contacts in this species
Play and primates: social, communicative, and cognitive aspects of one of the most puzzling behaviour.
No full textPlay is extremely difficult to define and its benefits
are not easily detectable. Due to its multifunctional
nature, play represents a good opportunity to test some
hypotheses on social, communicative, and cognitive aspects
of animal and human behaviour. For this reason, comparative
studies of social play can make contributions to a wide
variety of fields (evolutionary biology, ethology, anthropology,
psychology, and neuroscience). Here, we present data
published in the last ten years by the primatologists of the
Natural History Museum (University of Pisa) on a number
of primate species in order to elucidate the importance
of studying play behaviour in a comparative perspective.
Firstly, we explore the immediate functions of adult social
play especially in managing tension situations both within
and between group members. Then, we discuss data on the
importance of playful signals as tools in limiting competition
and increasing cooperation that characterized each
social play session. Finally, we provide new data on the
presence of facial mimicry during play in a cercopitecoid
species, a phenomenon homologous to human laughter contagion.
The facial mimicry, up to now demonstrated only in
apes and humans, is the expression of emotional contagion,
a fundamental building block of empathy. In conclusion,
such findings suggest that play behaviour also provides a
good opportunity to investigate the affecting mechanisms at
the basis of animal social cognition
Fair play and honest signals in immature chimpanzees.
No full textIn primates, specific facial displays (PF, play face; FPF,
full play face) often accompany play bouts and are considered an integral
part of play development. In humans, laughter, a universal expression
of joy, seems to derive from non-human primate play faces
and pant-like vocalizations. Playful facial displays may represent
honest signals that express the non-agonistic intent of players in order
to maintain the session at a later time. Here, we examine the
possible roles of facial displays during play sessions of immature
chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Infants and juveniles performed PF
and FPF with comparable frequency to maintain the playful mood.
However, the use of playful expressions was fine-tuned in relation
to the asymmetry of the session and of the receiver’s identity. In infants,
whose play sessions were the most unbalanced, we found a
positive correlation between the play face frequency and the asymmetry
degree that characterizes each single session. On the other
hand, in juveniles, we found that the most of the facial signals was
directed towards peers. This result is not surprising also considering
the high complexity and competition levels characterizing juvenile
play in chimpanzees. Probably, when play becomes more competitive,
as it occurs in juvenile chimpanzees and adolescent humans,
clear and fair signals are essential to maintain the session and to
avoid it turning into aggression. Therefore, like human laughter,
playful expressions do not give simple information, but positively
influence the receiver’s reaction. Independently of the playmate age,
in chimpanzees, play facial signals, may have a role in advertising cooperative
dispositions and intentions thus increasing the likelihood
of engaging in honest social relationships. In social play, there are
codes of conduct that regulate what is permissible and what is not.
The existence of shared codes in immature individuals might contribute
in developing some traits of social morality in adults
Being a victim or an aggressor: Different functions of triadic post-conflict interactions in wolves (Canis lupus lupus)
No full textAnimals adopt different behavioral strategies to cope with the conflict of interests coming from the competition over limited resources. Starting from the study on chimpanzees, post-conflict third-party affiliation (the affiliative contact provided by a third-party toward the victim—VTA—or the aggressor—ATA) was investigated mainly in primates. Later, this post-conflict mechanism has been demonstrated also in other mammals, such as wallabies, horses, dolphins, domestic dogs, and wolves. Here, we present data on triadic post-conflict affiliation in wolves (Canis lupus lupus) by exploring some of the hypotheses already proposed for primates and never tested before in other social mammals. In this carnivore species, the study of VTA and ATA revealed that these strategies cannot be considered as a unique behavioral category since they differ in many functional aspects. VTA serves to protect the victim by reducing the likelihood of reiterated attacks from the previous aggressor and to reinforce the relationship shared by the third-party and the victim. On the other hand, ATA has a role in bystander protection by limiting the renewed attacks of the previous aggressor toward uninvolved group-members (potential third-parties). In conclusion, exploring VTA and ATA gives the opportunity to concurrently demonstrate some functional differences in triadic post-conflict affiliation according to the different targets of bystanders (victims or aggressors). The data comparison between primates and other social mammals should permit to open new lines of research
Play behavioural tactics under space reduction: social challenges in bonobos (Pan paniscus)
No full textSeveral studies have suggested that primates vary in their response to spatial reduction, which represents
a challenge for captive animals. Under spatial reduction, primates can adopt various strategies to
reduce social tension. Such strategies, which are not mutually exclusive, can involve avoidance and
coping tactics. Recently, it has been shown that, during short-term crowding, bonobos may use both
grooming and nonreproductive sexuality to avoid a potential rise in tension. Because bonobos are
extremely playful, and play can be a risky activity, we tested whether play patterns were selectively
avoided under space reduction. We collected daily data via focal animal sampling on a group of bonobos
housed in the Apenheul Primate Park (Apeldoorn, The Netherlands) over a 12-month period. Among the
adults, we found no difference in the contact play levels (play fighting) between the two space conditions
(outdoors, 5000 m2, and indoors, 230 m2), whereas indoors, there was a tendency toward an increase in
locomotor–rotational play frequency. These findings indicate that bonobos do not adopt an avoidance
tactic to reduce the risk involved in space reduction. Nevertheless, dyads showing higher rates of
agonistic encounters were less likely to engage in contact play sessions. Even though it is difficult to
affirm that space availability significantly induced higher playmate selectivity, we found that play signals
significantly increased indoors, thus suggesting the need for a clearer ‘declaration of intentions’ in an
unsafe situation
Response of captive lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) to different housing conditions: testing the aggression/density and coping models
No full textThe aim of this study was to thoroughly
investigate social play and its modalities among adult
bonobos. We evaluated how play intensity varies according
to the sex-class combination of the playmates and
we also performed an analysis on social locomotor-rotational
movements (L-R play) and contact interactions (C
play). Rough and gentle play sessions were performed
with comparable frequencies by male–female and
female–female adult dyads, with play signals unlikely
when the playmates strongly differed in age and in
rank position. L-R play rates did not differ according to
the sex-combination of the players; in contrast, C play
sessions were particularly frequent among females.
Play faces (play signals) were significantly higher during
C play than L-R play sessions, thus suggesting that
playmates assess reciprocally yet safely their relationships
by using facial displays to avoid any kind of misunderstanding.
Play was positively correlated with
grooming and contact sitting interactions, suggesting
that it may be used as a social enhancer. Finally, we
found no correlation between both play contexts (L-R
and C play) and age, size and rank differences of the
players. In conclusion, we suggest that bonobos with
their egalitarian society, peculiar social structure, and
playful tendency represent an attractive testing subject
to examine empirically many emerging hypotheses on
adult play behavior
Playing with the face: playful facial chattering and its modulation in a monkey species.
No full textDarwin (1872), in The expression of emotions in man and animals, underlined that human facial expressions represent a shared heritage of our species with nonhuman primates. Play is a fertile field to examine the role of facial expressions that we share with our common ancestors because the primate play face is homologous to human laughter. Here, we focus on the use of two playful expression variants (PF: play face, mouth opened with only the lower teeth exposed; FPF: full play face, lower/upper teeth and gums exposed via the actively retraction of the upper lip) in Theropithecus gelada. During ontogeny PF
was replaced by FPF; in older subjects PF was virtually absent. The ontogenetic transition appears to
reflect the phylogenetic sequence of the two playful displays with FPF considered a derived form of PF.
This age-trend bias of facial displays is probably due to their different roles in communication. The correspondence between facial signals emitted and elicited is a valuable criterion to evaluate playmates’ attentional state. Adults were more sensitive than immatures in responding to the play faces of others. Probably, previous playful experience, social competence, and neural circuit maturation are at the basis of adult sensitiveness. Similar to humans, where unconscious laughing is deserved for close friends
and/or relatives, FPF was extremely frequent during gelada mother-offspring play. Probably, under some
intimate circumstances, facial displays should be primarily linked to the spontaneous expression of emotional states of the sender more than to the strategic transfer of actual information to the receiver
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