Doctoral Dissertation Research: Social Dynamics of Male Chimpanzees and the Significance of Male Bonding

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

This study will investigate how the need for coalition formation during within-group and between-group competition shapes social bonds among male chimpanzees. The question will be addressed by testing predictions of grooming models originally proposed to study the connection between coalition formation and female bonds in primates. Because male chimpanzees are similar to many female primates in using coalitions for competition within and between groups and in sharing access to limited resources, application of the grooming models will illuminate the role of the two forms of competition in shaping male bonds. This study is important because it will enhance knowledge about how competitive pressures shape social relationships among male chimpanzees and among male primates in general. Furthermore, because chimpanzees are so closely related to humans, they are an important referential model for reconstructing hominid behavior. Results of this study will provide insight into the evolution of coalitions and competition and their influence on male bonding in humans. The habituated Kanyawara community of chimpanzees at the Kibale Forest National Park, Uganda will be studied. In order to determine the distribution of male bonds, continuous social data will be collected during 30-minute focal animal follows of the 3 sub-adult and 10 adult males. Ad libitum data on all occurrences of grooming involving adult or sub-adult males will supplement the focal data. In the event of important, but relatively rare events, such as coalitions and intergroup encounters, focal samples will be abandoned in order to collect detailed ad libitum data on these events.