Monkeys Spontaneously Discriminate Their Unfamiliar Paternal Kin under Natural Conditions Using Facial Cues
Monkeys Spontaneously Discriminate Their Unfamiliar Paternal Kin under Natural Conditions Using Facial Cues
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猴子在自然条件下利用面部线索自发地辨别它们不熟悉的父系亲属
DOI：
10.1016/j.cub.2014.06.058
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发表时间：
2014
期刊：
影响因子：
9.2
通讯作者：
Widdig
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Pfefferle;A. J. N;Brockhausen;Ruiz-Lambides;A. V. ;Widdig
亲属识别可以通过裙带关系和最优远系繁殖来增强包容适应度。允许识别父系亲属的机制在雌性乱交的物种中特别有趣，导致亲子关系不确定。已知人类可以在第三方的脸上检测出亲属之间的面部相似性[1-4]，并且有一些证据表明这种能力在非人类灵长类动物中具有连续性[5-7]。然而，还没有研究表明这种倾向可以转化为检测自己亲戚的能力，这是获得健身益处的关键先决条件之一。在这里，我们报告了一个现场实验表明，自由放养的恒河猴（猕猴）自发区分他们的父亲同父异母的兄弟姐妹和无关的个人，当这两种动物都不熟悉的测试个人的面部图像。具体来说，当照片中的动物是他们自己的性别（潜在的威胁）时，相对于他们是异性（潜在的配偶），受试者系统地将他们的检查时间偏向于非亲属。我们的结果为视觉表型匹配提供了强有力的证据，并首次在灵长类动物中证明，个体可以在自然条件下根据面部线索自发地检测自己的父系亲属。
Kin recognition can enhance inclusive fitness via nepotism and optimal outbreeding. Mechanisms allowing recognition of patrilineal relatives are of particular interest in species in which females mate promiscuously, leading to paternity uncertainty. Humans are known to detect facial similarities between kin in the faces of third parties [1–4], and there is some evidence for continuity of this ability in nonhuman primates [5–7]. However, no study has yet shown that this propensity translates into an ability to detect one'sownrelatives, one of the key prerequisites for gaining fitness benefits. Here we report a field experiment demonstrating that free-ranging rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) spontaneously discriminate between facial images of their paternal half-siblings and unrelated individuals, when both animals are unfamiliar to the tested individual. Specifically, subjects systematically biased their inspection time toward nonkin when the animals pictured were of their own sex (potential threats), relative to when they were of the opposite sex (potential mates). Our results provide strong evidence for visual phenotype matching and the first demonstration in any primate that individuals can spontaneously detect their own paternal relatives on the basis of facial cues under natural conditions.