Primate ecology and social organization

Clutton‐Brock, T. H.; Harvey, Paul H.

doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1977.tb04171.x

Cited by 996 publications

(294 citation statements)

References 116 publications

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“…Second, primates are highly social, and the advantages of group living provide social defenses such as large group size, vigilance, and alarm calls (40). Terrestrial primates live in larger social groups than arboreal primates (40,41,43,44), thus supporting this hypothesis. Humans, the most terrestrial of all primates, have reduced extrinsic mortality and increased longevity resulting from the obvious advantages provided by sociality and culture.…”

supporting

confidence: 68%

“…Unlike other groups of mammals (e.g., carnivores; ref. 42), body mass is significantly correlated with habitat type in primates (43). It is likely that the larger body size of terrestrial primates decreases their susceptibility to predation, thus lowering the risk of spending time on the ground (1,40,41,43,44).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…42), body mass is significantly correlated with habitat type in primates (43). It is likely that the larger body size of terrestrial primates decreases their susceptibility to predation, thus lowering the risk of spending time on the ground (1,40,41,43,44). Predation on small-bodied, arboreal primates by birds of prey and arboreal carnivores and leopard predation on primates both on the ground and in the trees may render arboreal and terrestrial primates equally susceptible to predation (40,41).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Arboreality has allowed for the evolution of increased longevity in mammals

Shattuck

Williams²

2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

117

111

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The evolutionary theory of aging predicts that species will experience delayed senescence and increased longevity when rates of extrinsic mortality are reduced. It has long been recognized that birds and bats are characterized by lower rates of extrinsic mortality and greater longevities than nonvolant endotherms, presumably because flight reduces exposure to terrestrial predators, disease, and environmental hazards. Like flight, arboreality may act to reduce extrinsic mortality, delay senescence, and increase longevity and has been suggested as an explanation for the long lifespans of primates. However, this hypothesis has yet to be tested in mammals in general. We analyze a large dataset of mammalian longevity records to test whether arboreal mammals are characterized by greater longevities than terrestrial mammals. Here, we show that arboreal mammals are longer lived than terrestrial mammals at common body sizes, independent of phylogeny. Subclade analyses demonstrate that this trend holds true in nearly every mammalian subgroup, with two notable exceptions-metatherians (marsupials) and euarchontans (primates and their close relatives). These subgroups are unique in that each has experienced a long and persistent arboreal evolutionary history, with subsequent transitions to terrestriality occurring multiple times within each group. In all other clades examined, terrestriality appears to be the primitive condition, and species that become arboreal tend to experience increased longevity, often independently in multiple lineages within each clade. Adoption of an arboreal lifestyle may have allowed for increased longevity in these lineages and in primates in general. Overall, these results confirm the fundamental predictions of the evolutionary theory of aging.senescence | extrinsic mortality | terrestriality | marsupials | primates S enescence, or aging, is an intrinsic biological phenomenon that limits an organism's maximum potential lifespan, even in the absence of extrinsic sources of mortality such as predation, disease, and environmental hazards. Its evolution is of particular interest in life-history studies (1, 2), in part because it is not immediately clear why senescence persists in the presence of natural selection, which might be expected to eliminate it. The evolutionary theory of aging, in its several, nonmutually exclusive forms (3-8), proposes that senescence is the result of late-acting, deleterious mutations that accumulate because of the diminishing effectiveness of selection with increasing age. Extrinsic mortality is one major factor that contributes to the accumulation of deleterious mutations by limiting exposure of these late-acting mutations to selection; thus, the evolutionary theory of aging predicts that extrinsic mortality will be a principal determinate of the rate of senescence in age-structured populations (9). This theory predicts that populations experiencing high extrinsic mortality rates will accumulate more deleterious mutations, evolve earlier senescence and reproduction, low...

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confidence: 68%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Arboreality has allowed for the evolution of increased longevity in mammals

Shattuck

Williams²

2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

117

111

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“…Nevertheless, the widespread use of dietary categories to make inferences about social relationships (e.g. in a recent review [18]), and the strong link between diet and various aspects of primate behaviour [110] make it important to conduct a comparative study of the presumed link between diet and agonism.…”

Section: (B) Testing Links Between Agonism and Social Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in grouping patterns, mating systems and social structure: what socio-ecological models attempt to explain

Koenig

Scarry

Wheeler

et al. 2013

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

122

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Socio-ecological models aim to predict the variation in social systems based on a limited number of ecological parameters. Since the 1960s, the original model has taken two paths: one relating to grouping patterns and mating systems and one relating to grouping patterns and female social structure. Here, we review the basic ideas specifically with regard to non-human primates, present new results and point to open questions. While most primates live in permanent groups and exhibit female defence polygyny, recent studies indicate more flexibility with cooperative male resource defence occurring repeatedly in all radiations. In contrast to other animals, the potential link between ecology and these mating systems remains, however, largely unexplored. The model of the ecology of female social structure has often been deemed successful, but has recently been criticized. We show that the predicted association of agonistic rates and despotism (directional consistency of relationships) was not supported in a comparative test. The overall variation in despotism is probably due to phylogenetic grade shifts. At the same time, it varies within clades more or less in the direction predicted by the model. This suggests that the model's utility may lie in predicting social variation within but not across clades.

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“…For example, daily movement distance increases with body size and diet quality, reflecting both size-related increases energy requirements and the relative scarcity of high-quality, energy-dense foods on the landscape (2,6). Further, decreases in an individual's rate of food acquisition, B, whether through experimental manipulation in the laboratory (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14), increased foraging group size (1,4,6,15) or through seasonal changes in food availability in the wild (16)(17)(18)(19) typically leads to increases in the daily distance traveled.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Great ranging associated with greater reproductive investment in mammals

Pontzer

Kamilar

2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Most animals must travel to find food, incurring an unavoidable energy and time cost. Economic theory predicts, and experimental work confirms, that within species, increasing the distance traveled each day to find food has negative fitness consequences, decreasing the amount of energy invested in maintenance, repair, and reproduction. Here, we show that this relationship between daily distance traveled and reproductive success is fundamentally different between species and over evolutionary time in many lineages. Phylogenetically controlled analyses of 161 eutherian mammals indicate that, after controlling for body mass, evolutionary increases in the daily distance traveled are associated with corresponding increases in both total fertility (number of offspring per lifetime) and total offspring mass (grams of offspring per lifetime). This suggests that over evolutionary time, increasing travel distance is often part of a strategy for procuring more food energy and not necessarily a response to decreased food availability. These results have important implications for ecological comparisons among species, including assessments of habitat quality based on locomotor behavior.ecology ͉ energetics ͉ reproduction ͉ life history ͉ foraging economics H ow far will an animal travel each day? A broad range of ecological pressures influence ranging decisions (1-7), making this seemingly straightforward question exceedingly difficult to answer definitively. In the simplest case, in which an animal requiring a net energy intake of E net (J/day) acquires food energy at a constant rate B (J/m) and spends energy on travel at some rate C (J/m), it must travel sufficient distance, D (m/day), so thatPerhaps surprisingly, despite considerable variation and complexity in foraging and ranging behaviors, this simple relationship between daily movement distance, food availability, and energy requirements is generally supported by behavioral observation in a broad range of species. While ecological constraints cannot always be linked to foraging behavior (7) and physiological constraints may limit ranging ability (8), large interspecific comparisons of foraging behavior indicate that daily movement distance, D, is primarily determined by the need to acquire sufficient food energy (2, 3, 6). For example, daily movement distance increases with body size and diet quality, reflecting both size-related increases energy requirements and the relative scarcity of high-quality, energy-dense foods on the landscape (2, 6). Further, decreases in an individual's rate of food acquisition, B, whether through experimental manipulation in the laboratory (9-14), increased foraging group size (1, 4, 6, 15) or through seasonal changes in food availability in the wild (16-19) typically leads to increases in the daily distance traveled.In principle, one might expect longer daily movement distances to be energetically beneficial, since greater D will lead to greater E net as long as B Ͼ C (10, 20). In practice, however, while some species may increase foragi...

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Primate ecology and social organization

Cited by 996 publications

References 116 publications

Arboreality has allowed for the evolution of increased longevity in mammals

Arboreality has allowed for the evolution of increased longevity in mammals

Variation in grouping patterns, mating systems and social structure: what socio-ecological models attempt to explain

Great ranging associated with greater reproductive investment in mammals

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