Social play among black and gold howler monkey (Alouatta caraya) immatures during intergroup encounters

Abstract

We studied intergroup social play (IGSP) among immatures in wild black and gold howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) in northeastern Argentina. IGSP events are one form of affiliative interaction that can occur during intergroup encounters. The main goal of this study was to analyze IGSP in A. caraya immatures and assess how intrinsic (e.g., age and sex) and extrinsic (e.g., seasonality) factors can influence the development of this type of social behavior. We followed 12 groups between 2008 and 2015 and recorded 182 encounters and 61 events of IGSP. Considering the composition of play partners, most IGSP events occurred among juveniles of both sexes (33%), followed by juveniles that were only-male (31%), and finally between mixed-sex juveniles and infants (20%) interactions. Additionally, most IGSP events occurred mainly in summer (56%), followed by spring (29%), with fewer events occurring in autumn (15%) and no IGSP events recorded in winter. Our results suggest that IGSP constitutes a beneficial activity in wild A. caraya that promotes behavioral flexibility, where immatures acquire social skills, such as tolerance, by interacting with unknown individuals. Moreover, the higher participation of young males in IGSP is consistent with the fact that adult black and gold howler males tend to be more actively involved in group encounters than females, supporting the hypothesis that social play provides benefits in the development of motor and social skills. Finally, seasonality in the frequencies of IGSP might be related to availability of foods with high and easily mobilized energy content in summer and spring.

Pattern of play behavior in infant (age 1 to 12 months) white‐headed langurs in limestone forests, southwest China

“…Nonsocial play may serve to improve survival skills and the acquisition of new behavioral patterns (Berghänel et al, 2015 ). In contrast, social play is defined as playful interactions involving two or more individuals that may be beneficial to establishing and maintaining social relationships (Gennuso et al, 2018 ). Studies have shown that play behaviors play an important role in sensory, locomotor, socio‐cognitive, and developmental processes (Fagen, 1981 ; Maestripieri & Ross, 2004 ).…”

Playful behaviors of subordinate adult male howler monkeys (genus Alouatta) in competitive contexts: cases of tactical deceptions?

“…In addition, the motor pattern observed here is very similar to elements observed in typical playful behaviors shown by howlers, like repeated movements, exposing teeth, giving little bites and softening growls, and trying to reach another individual using rapid hand movement. These activities are known to belong to howler's play faces, play invitations, and even play itself (according to the ethograms available in Albuquerque & Codenotti, 2006;Dias & Rangel-Negrín, 2015;de Cunha et al, 2015;Gennuso et al, 2018).…”

“…However, social play is also performed by adults and usually tends to be more expressed when animals are in a low-stress setting (Burghardt, 2014;Montgomery, 2014). Social play has been suggested to represent a means of facilitating tolerance and enhancing social skills and the ability of animals to cope emotionally with unexpected situations (Lewis, 2000;Gennuso et al, 2018), which helps them to bear the risk of conflicts that can escalate into severe fighting (Palagi, 2018). Adult social play can have different functions from those of immature individuals, as play between adults has shorter duration (particularly between males) and is more associated with situations of uncertainty in social relationships, courtship between males and females, or a need to solve or prevent disputes between individuals from the same or different groups (Antonacci et al, 2010;Palagi, 2018).…”

“…These monkeys are less socially active and invest less in exploration and play than other primate species (Baldwin & Baldwin, 1978). In general, social play in howlers involves mainly juveniles and infants of both sexes, and the participation of adult males is rare (Gennuso et al, 2018). According to Baldwin & Baldwin (1978), adult male howlers rarely participate or physically contact the players.…”

A positive feedback loop between sociality and social competence

“…In over 30 primate species, several other mammals and one bird, the existence of reconciliation, third party post‐conflict affiliation and/or consolation behaviour were reported as indicators of high social competence (reviewed in Farooqi & Koyama, 2016). Furthermore, a higher tolerance towards unfamiliar conspecifics (Gennuso et al, 2018), fairness when sharing a resource (Schank et al, 2018), response to other's needs (Dreiss et al, 2017) and cooperation during predator inspection (Hesse et al, 2015), or simply aggregation and sociability (Schausberger et al, 2017) have been associated with social competence in species ranging from invertebrates to mammals. Finally, a lack of social competence has been diagnosed in individuals showing inappropriate aggression, for example after affiliative approach (Kempes et al, 2008) or overly expressed aggression (Toth et al, 2008).…”