Male tolerance and male–male bonds in a multilevel primate society

Abstract

Male relationships in most species of mammals generally are characterized by intense intrasexual competition, with little bonding among unrelated individuals. In contrast, human societies are characterized by high levels of cooperation and strong bonds among both related and unrelated males. The emergence of cooperative male-male relationships has been linked to the multilevel structure of traditional human societies. Based on an analysis of the patterns of spatial and social interaction in combination with genetic relatedness data of wild Guinea baboons (Papio papio), we show that this species exhibits a multilevel social organization in which males maintain strong bonds and are highly tolerant of each other. Several "units" of males with their associated females form "parties," which team up as "gangs." Several gangs of the same "community" use the same home range. Males formed strong bonds predominantly within parties; however, these bonds were not correlated with genetic relatedness. Agonistic interactions were relatively rare and were restricted to a few dyads. Although the social organization of Guinea baboons resembles that of hamadryas baboons, we found stronger male-male affiliation and more elaborate greeting rituals among male Guinea baboons and less aggression toward females. Thus, the social relationships of male Guinea baboons differ markedly from those of other members of the genus, adding valuable comparative data to test hypotheses regarding social evolution. We suggest that this species constitutes an intriguing model to study the predictors and fitness benefits of male bonds, thus contributing to a better understanding of the evolution of this important facet of human social behavior.association index | fission-fusion | multilevel society | range expansion | social network analysis

Lethal coalitionary aggression and long-term alliance formation among Yanomamö men

“…Although social and genetic kinship play a pivotal role in within-community alliance formation (87,88), unokai alliances seem to be more salient for uniting multiple lineages and villages. That genetic kinship organizes cooperation at some levels of social organization but not others is consistent with research demonstrating that the modular structure of multilevel societies, in conjunction with the presence of female exogamy and conspecific male threats, can promote cooperation between distantly or unrelated males in some primate species (89,90).…”

Using Automated Learning Devices for Monkeys (ALDM) to study social networks

“…but these methods are time consuming and provide irregular and sometime biased information (e.g., when one individual is more easily seen or recognized than another; Whitehead, 2008). More recently, the development of GPS collars has provided new ways to gather relatively large amounts of data over substantial periods of time (e.g., Patzelt et al, 2014;Qi et al, 2014). However, GPS techniques have a relatively poor spatial resolution and can only be used to track the movements of groups of individuals (between-group SNA), but not the proximity of individuals within groups.…”

“…However, GPS techniques have a relatively poor spatial resolution and can only be used to track the movements of groups of individuals (between-group SNA), but not the proximity of individuals within groups. In Patzelt et al (2014). for instance, two individuals wearing GPS collar are considered associated when they are less than 100 m away.…”

Primate model offers insights into male bonding in complex societies

“…However, there are other, lesser known primates that may shed complementary light on human traits. In PNAS, Patzelt et al (2) show that a more distantly related taxon-the Guinea baboon (Papio papio) from West Africa, a hitherto poorly known and difficult to study speciesshares with humans a combination of core socio-structural features, namely tolerant relations between males that materialize in a multilevel society.…”

“…Guinea baboons have until recently remained largely neglected by the primatological and anthropological community. Patzelt et al (2) offer the most rigorous attempt to date at elucidating the social system of this peculiar primate. The authors marshal evidence in favor of a multilevel society in this species, a previously disputed assumption.…”