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

本研究将探讨在组内和组间竞争中形成联盟的需要如何塑造雄性黑猩猩之间的社会纽带。 这个问题将通过测试梳理模型的预测来解决，这些模型最初是为了研究灵长类动物中联盟形成和雌性债券之间的联系而提出的。 由于雄性黑猩猩和许多雌性灵长类动物在利用联盟进行群体内和群体间的竞争以及共享有限资源方面很相似，因此梳理模型的应用将阐明两种形式的竞争在塑造雄性债券中的作用。这项研究很重要，因为它将增强人们对竞争压力如何塑造雄性黑猩猩和雄性灵长类动物之间社会关系的认识。此外，由于黑猩猩与人类关系密切，它们是重建原始人类行为的重要参考模型。 这项研究的结果将提供深入了解联盟和竞争的演变及其对人类男性结合的影响。 将对乌干达基巴莱森林国家公园的习惯性Kanyawara黑猩猩群落进行研究。 为了确定雄性债券的分布，将在3只亚成体和10只成年雄性的30分钟焦点动物随访期间收集连续的社会数据。 涉及成年或亚成年雄性动物的所有理毛事件的自由采食数据将补充重点数据。 如果发生重要但相对罕见的事件，如联合和组间接触，将放弃焦点样本，以随意收集有关这些事件的详细数据。

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.