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

这项研究将调查在群体内和群体间的竞争中，雄性黑猩猩对联盟形成的需求是如何形成社会纽带的。这个问题将通过测试梳理模型的预测来解决，梳理模型最初是为了研究灵长类动物的联盟形成和雌性关系之间的联系而提出的。因为雄性黑猩猩和许多雌性灵长类动物一样，在群体内部和群体之间使用联盟进行竞争，并共享有限的资源，所以梳理模型的应用将阐明两种形式的竞争在形成雄性纽带中的作用。这项研究很重要，因为它将增强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，由于黑猩猩与人类的关系如此密切，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雄性关系的影响。研究人员将对乌干达基巴莱森林国家公园的肯亚瓦拉黑猩猩群落进行研究。为了确定雄性纽带的分布，将连续收集3只亚成虫和10只成虫在30分钟的焦点动物跟踪期间的社会数据。涉及成年或亚成年雄性的所有梳理事件的随意数据将补充焦点数据。在发生重要但相对罕见的事件时，例如联合和群体间遭遇，将放弃焦点样本，以便收集有关这些事件的详细随意数据。

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.