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Age‐related changes in the social behavior of tufted capuchin monkeys
Author(s) -
Schino Gabriele,
Pinzaglia Marta
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
american journal of primatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.988
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1098-2345
pISSN - 0275-2565
DOI - 10.1002/ajp.22746
Subject(s) - aggression , nonhuman primate , social grooming , psychology , primate , developmental psychology , social behavior , non human , social relationship , social animal , social psychology , biology , ecology , neuroscience , evolutionary biology , political science , law
The effects of aging on the social behavior of nonhuman primates is little understood, especially in New World monkeys. We studied the members of a colony of tufted capuchin monkeys ( Sapajus sp.) in order to evaluate age related changes in their social behavior. We conducted observations on 25 subjects aged 4–36 years, living in captive social groups. We found that affiliative interactions (grooming and proximity) decreased with age, and that grooming was increasingly directed to a single preferred partner. Manipulation of objects in the environment also decreased with age, while locomotion and aggression showed no change. Overall, these results concur with previous findings on both human and nonhuman primates, and cast doubts on interpretations of age associated changes in human social behavior that rely of uniquely human advanced cognitive capacities.