Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Competitive ability determines coalition participation and partner selection during maturation in wild male chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii)

  • Featured Student Research Paper
  • Published:
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Social mammals often live in groups in which a dominance hierarchy is an important determinant of access to mates. In addition to competing individually, males may form coalitions of two or more to attack or intimidate rivals. Coalition formation could be particularly advantageous for adolescent males by helping them compensate for their physical and social immaturity. However, adolescents may struggle to attract effective coalition partners because of these inadequacies. Here, we examine the behavior of maturing male chimpanzees to test whether coalitions are more frequent among more or less powerful individuals. Our longitudinal study followed 18 males (ages 5 through 25 years) and utilized 1517 coalitions across 12 years of observation of the Kanyawara chimpanzee community in Kibale National Park, Uganda. We found that rates of coalition formation increased across maturation and that this increase was independent of a rise in the overall use of aggression. Juveniles formed coalitions almost exclusively with their mothers, while adolescents partnered primarily with peers and adult males. When adolescents and adult males formed coalitions with each other, the adolescents were more likely to join the adults than vice versa. Finally, adolescents engaged in joint behavior with adult males more often in non-aggressive vocal displays than in aggressive coalitions. Taken together, our results suggest that adolescent males are largely unable to attract the most powerful coalition partners and that they “make the best of a bad job” by joining adult males in less competitive situations, when the risk of receiving aggression from opponents is lower.

Significance statement

Adolescent males are at a disadvantage in competing for powerful allies, because they have less strength to contribute to a cooperative dyad. Even when a variety of possible coalition partners are present, the partner choices of higher-ranking males likely limit the number of remaining individuals that are available and willing to form coalitions with adolescents. Accordingly, we found that males sorted with closely ranked coalition partners down the hierarchy, leaving adolescents to form coalitions with partners of similar rank to themselves rather than high-ranking adult males. There was no evidence for rank sorting in joint vocal displays, however. Additionally, adolescents participated in more than twice as many joint vocal displays as coalitions. These data suggest that joint vocal displays represent a viable alternative to coalitions for adolescents attempting to integrate themselves into the adult male social world.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Altmann J (1974) Observational study of behavior: sampling methods. Behaviour 49:227–267

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barton K (2018) MuMIn: multi-model inference. R package version 1.42.1, https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=MuMIn

  • Bates D, Maechler M, Bolker B, Walker S (2015) Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. J Stat Softw 67:1–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Bercovitch FB (1988) Coalitions, cooperation and reproductive tactics among adult male baboons. Anim Behav 36:1198–1209

    Google Scholar 

  • Bertram BCR (1975) Social factors influencing reproduction in wild lions. J Zool 177:463–482

    Google Scholar 

  • Bissonnette A, Bischofberger N, van Schaik CP (2011) Mating skew in Barbary macaque males: the role of female mating synchrony, female behavior, and male-male coalitions. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 65:167–182

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bissonnette A, Perry S, Barrett L, Mitani JC, Flinn M, Gavrilets S, de Waal FBM (2015) Coalitions in theory and reality: a review of pertinent variables and processes. Behaviour 152:1–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Borries C, Sommer V, Srivastava A (1991) Dominance, age and reproductive success in free-ranging female Hanuman langurs (Presbytis entellus). Int J Primatol 12:231–257

    Google Scholar 

  • Bray J, Pusey AE, Gilby IC (2016) Incomplete control and concessions explain mating skew in male chimpanzees. Proc R Soc B 283:20162071

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2002) Model selection and multimodel inference: a practical information-theoretic approach. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Bygott JD (1979) Agonistic behavior, dominance, and social structure in wild chimpanzees of the Gombe National Park. In: Hamburg DA, McCown ER (eds) The great apes. Benjamin/Cummings, Menlo Park, pp 405–427

    Google Scholar 

  • Bygott JD, Bertram BCR, Hanby JP (1979) Male lions in large coalitions gain reproductive advantages. Nature 282:839–841

    Google Scholar 

  • Caro TM (1994) Cheetahs of the Serengeti plains. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapais B (1992) The role of alliances in social inheritance of rank among female primates. In: Harcourt AH, de Waal FBM (eds) Coalitions and alliances in humans and other animals. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 29–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapais B (1995) Alliances as a means of competition in primates: evolutionary, developmental, and cognitive aspects. Yearb Phys Anthropol 38:115–136

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapais B, Gauthier C, Prud’Homme J, Vasey P (1997) Relatedness threshold for nepotism in Japanese macaques. Anim Behav 53:1089–1101

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapais B, Savard L, Gauthier C (2001) Kin selection and the distribution of altruism in relation to degree of kinship in Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 49:493–502

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark Arcadi A (1996) Phrase structure of wild chimpanzee pant hoots: patterns of production and interpopulation variability. Am J Primatol 39:159–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Clay Z, Zuberbühler K (2014) Vocal communication and social awareness in chimpanzees and bonobos: insights from studies of vocal communication. In: Dor D, Knight C, Lewis J (eds) The social origins of language. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 141–156

    Google Scholar 

  • Connor RC (1992) Dolphin alliances and coalitions. In: Harcourt AH, de Waal FBM (eds) Coalitions and alliances in humans and other animals. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 415–443

    Google Scholar 

  • Connor RC, Smolker RA, Richards AF (1992) Two levels of alliance formation among male bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.). Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 89:987–990

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Crockford C, Wittig RM, Mundry R, Zuberbühler K (2012) Wild chimpanzees inform ignorant group members of danger. Curr Biol 22:142–146

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dawkins R (1980) Good strategy or evolutionarily stable strategy. In: Barlow GW, Silverberg J (eds) Sociobiology: beyond nature/nurture. Westview Press, Boulder, pp 331–370

    Google Scholar 

  • de Villiers MS, Richardson PRK, van Jaarsveld AS (2003) Patterns of coalition formation and spatial association in a social carnivore, the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus). J Zool 260:377–389

    Google Scholar 

  • de Waal FBM (1982) Chimpanzee politics. Harper and Row, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Duffy KG, Wrangham RW, Silk JB (2007) Male chimpanzees exchange political support for mating opportunities. Curr Biol 17:R586–R587

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • East ML, Honer OP, Wachter B, Wilhelm K, Burke T, Hofer H (2009) Maternal effects on offspring social status in spotted hyenas. Behav Ecol 20:478–483

    Google Scholar 

  • Engh AL, Esch K, Smale L, Holekamp KE (2000) Mechanisms of maternal rank ‘inheritance’ in the spotted hyaena, Crocuta crocuta. Anim Behav 60:323–332

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fedurek P, Machanda ZP, Schel AM, Slocombe KE (2013) Pant hoot chorusing and social bonds in male chimpanzees. Anim Behav 86:189–196

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster MW, Gilby IC, Murray CM, Johnson A, Wroblewski EE, Pusey AE (2009) Alpha male chimpanzee grooming patterns: implications for dominance “style”. Am J Primatol 71:136–144

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gerber L, Connor RC, King SL, Allen SJ, Wittwer S, Bizzozzero MR, Friedman WR, Kalberer S, Sherwin WB, Wild S, Willems EP, Krützen M (2020) Affiliation history and age similarity predict alliance formation in adult male bottlenose dolphins. Behav Ecol 31:361–370

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ghiglieri MP (1984) The chimpanzees of Kibale Forest: a field study of ecology and social structure. Columbia University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilby IC, Wrangham RW (2008) Association patterns among wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) reflect sex differences in cooperation. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 62:1831–1842

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilby IC, Brent LJN, Wroblewski EE, Rudicell RS, Hahn BH, Goodall J, Pusey AE (2013) Fitness benefits of coalitionary aggression in male chimpanzees. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 67:373–381

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goodall J (1986) The chimpanzees of Gombe: patterns of behavior. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Harcourt AH, de Waal FBM (1992) Coalitions and alliances in humans and other animals. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Hasegawa M, Kutsukake N (2015) Bayesian competitiveness estimation predicts dominance turnover among wild male chimpanzees. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 69:89–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayaki H, Huffman MA, Nishida T (1989) Dominance among male chimpanzees in the Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania: a preliminary study. Primates 30:187–197

    Google Scholar 

  • Jennings DJ, Carlin CM, Hayden TJ, Gammell MP (2011) Third-party intervention behaviour during fallow deer fights: the role of dominance, age, fighting and body size. Anim Behav 81:1217–1222

    Google Scholar 

  • Joffe TH (1997) Social pressures have selected for an extended juvenile period in primates. J Hum Evol 32:593–605

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson JB, Omland KS (2004) Model selection in ecology and evolution. Trends Ecol Evol 19:101–108

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kuester J, Paul A (1992) Influence of male competition and female mate choice on male mating success in Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus). Behaviour 120:192–217

    Google Scholar 

  • Langergraber KA (2012) Cooperation among kin. In: Mitani JC, Call J, Kappeler PM, Palombit RA, Silk JB (eds) The evolution of primate societies. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 491–513

    Google Scholar 

  • Lea AJ, Learn NH, Theus MJ, Altmann J, Alberts SC (2014) Complex sources of variance in female dominance rank in a nepotistic society. Anim Behav 94:87–99

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mitani JC (2009) Male chimpanzees form enduring and equitable social bonds. Anim Behav 77:633–640

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitani JC, Brandt KL (1994) Social factors influence the acoustic variability in the long-distance calls of male chimpanzees. Ethology 96:233–252

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitani JC, Gros-Louis J (1998) Chorusing and call convergence in chimpanzees: tests of three hypotheses. Behaviour 135:1041–1064

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitani JC, Watts DP, Muller MN (2002) Recent developments in the study of wild chimpanzee behavior. Evol Anthropol 11:9–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell CL, Boinski S, van Schaik CP (1991) Competitive regimes and female bonding in two species of squirrel monkeys (Saimiri oerstedi and S. sciureus). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 28:55–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Muller MN (2002) Agonistic relations among Kanyawara chimpanzees. In: Boesch C, Hohmann G, Marchant LF (eds) Behavioural diversity in chimpanzees and bonobos. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 112–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Muller MN (2017) Testosterone and reproductive effort in male primates. Horm Behav 91:36–51

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Muller MN, Mitani JC (2005) Conflict and cooperation in wild chimpanzees. Adv Stud Behav 35:275–331

    Google Scholar 

  • Muller MN, Kahlenberg SM, Emery Thompson M, Wrangham RW (2007) Male coercion and the costs of promiscuous mating for female chimpanzees. Proc R Soc B 274:1009–1014

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nishida T (1968) The social group of wild chimpanzees in the Mahali Mountains. Primates 9:167–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Nishida T (2003) Harassment of mature female chimpanzees by young males in the Mahale Mountains. Int J Primatol 24:503–514

    Google Scholar 

  • Nishida T, Hosaka K (1996) Coalition strategies among adult male chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains, Tanzania. In: McGrew WC, Marchant LF, Nishida T (eds) Great ape societies. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 114–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Noë R (1989) Coalition formation among male baboons. PhD thesis, University of Utrecht

  • Noë R (1992) Alliance formation among male baboons: shopping for profitable partners. In: Harcourt AH, de Waal FBM (eds) Coalitions and alliances in humans and other animals. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 233–257

    Google Scholar 

  • Noë R (1994) A model of coalition formation among male baboons with fighting ability as the crucial parameter. Anim Behav 47:211–213

    Google Scholar 

  • Noë R, Hammerstein P (1994) Biological markets: supply and demand determine the effect of partner choice in cooperation, mutualism and mating. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 35:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Noë R, Sluijter AA (1995) Which adult male savanna baboons form coalitions? Int J Primatol 16:77–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Noë R, van Schaik CP, van Hooff JARAM (1991) The market effect: an explanation for pay-off asymmetries among collaborating animals. Ethology 87:97–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Packer C, Pusey AE (1982) Cooperation and competition within coalitions of male lions: kin selection or game theory? Nature 296:740–742

    Google Scholar 

  • Packer C, Herbst L, Pusey AE, Bygott JD, Hanby JP, Cairns SJ, Borgerhoff-Mulder M (1988) Reproductive success in lions. In: Clutton-Brock TH (ed) Reproductive success. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 363–383

    Google Scholar 

  • Pandit SA, van Schaik CP (2003) A model for leveling coalitions among primate males: toward a theory of egalitarianism. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 55:161–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Pereira ME (1989) Agonistic interactions of juvenile savanna baboons. II Agonistic support and rank acquisition. Ethology 80:152–171

    Google Scholar 

  • Pereira ME, Fairbanks LA (1993) Juvenile primates: life history, development and behavior. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Perry S (1997) Male-female social relationships in wild white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus). Behaviour 134:477–510

    Google Scholar 

  • Pusey AE (1983) Mother-offspring relationships in chimpanzees after weaning. Anim Behav 31:363–377

    Google Scholar 

  • Pusey AE (1990) Behavioural changes at adolescence in chimpanzees. Behaviour 115:203–246

    Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2020) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria, https://www.R-project.org/

  • Sandel AA, Reddy RB, Mitani JC (2017) Adolescent male chimpanzees do not form a dominance hierarchy with their peers. Primates 58:39–49

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schülke O, Bhagavatula J, Vigilant L, Ostner J (2010) Social bonds enhance reproductive success in male macaques. Curr Biol 20:2207–2210

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Seyfarth RM (1977) A model of social grooming among adult female monkeys. J Theor Biol 65:671–698

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Silk JB, Alberts SC, Altmann J (2004) Patterns of coalition formation by adult female baboons in Amboseli, Kenya. Anim Behav 67:573–582

    Google Scholar 

  • Slocombe KE, Kaller T, Call J, Zuberbühler K (2010a) Chimpanzees extract social information from agonistic screams. PLoS One 5:e11473

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Slocombe KE, Kaller T, Turman L, Townsend SW, Papworth S, Squibbs P, Zuberbühler K (2010b) Production of food-associated calls in wild male chimpanzees is dependent on the composition of the audience. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 64:1959–1966

    Google Scholar 

  • Smale L, Frank LG, Holekamp KE (1993) Ontogeny of dominance in free-living spotted hyaenas: juvenile rank relations with adult females and immigrant males. Anim Behav 46:467–477

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith JE, van Horn RC, Powning KS, Cole AR, Graham KE, Memenis SK, Holekamp KE (2010) Evolutionary forces favoring intragroup coalitions among spotted hyenas and other animals. Behav Ecol 21:284–303

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephens PA, Buskirk SW, Martínez del Rio C (2007) Inference in ecology and evolution. Trends Ecol Evol 22:192–197

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sugiyama Y (1968) Social organization of chimpanzees in the Budongo Forest, Uganda. Primates 9:225–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Surbeck M, Mundry R, Hohmann G (2011) Mothers matter! Maternal support, dominance status and mating success in male bonobos (Pan paniscus). Proc R Soc B 278:590–598

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Symonds MRE, Moussalli A (2011) A brief guide to model selection, multimodel inference and model averaging in behavioural ecology using Akaike’s information criterion. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 65:13–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Takahata Y (1990) Social relationships among adult males. In: Nishida T (ed) The chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains. University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, pp 149–170

    Google Scholar 

  • Vogel ER, Munch SB, Janson CH (2007) Understanding escalated aggression over food resources in white-faced capuchin monkeys. Anim Behav 74:71–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Wahaj SA, van Horn RC, van Horn TL, Dreyer R, Hilgris R, Schwarz J, Holekamp KE (2004) Kin discrimination in the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta): nepotism among siblings. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 56:237–247

    Google Scholar 

  • Watts DP (1998) Coalitionary mate guarding by male chimpanzees at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 44:43–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Watts DP (2002) Reciprocity and interchange in the social relationships of wild male chimpanzees. Behaviour 139:343–370

    Google Scholar 

  • Watts DP (2015) Mating behavior of adolescent male chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. Primates 56:163–172

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Watts DP (2018) Male dominance relationships in an extremely large chimpanzee community at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. Behaviour 165:969–1009

    Google Scholar 

  • Watts DP, Pusey AE (1993) Behavior of juvenile and adolescent great apes. In: Pereira ME, Fairbanks LF (eds) Juvenile primates: life history, development and behavior. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 148–167

    Google Scholar 

  • Wickham H (2016) ggplot2: elegant graphics for data analysis. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Zabel CJ, Glickman SE, Frank LG, Woodmansee KB, Keppel G (1992) Coalition formation in a colony of prepubertal spotted hyenas. In: Harcourt AH, de Waal FBM (eds) Coalitions and alliances in humans and other animals. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 112–135

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeileis A, Hothorn T (2002) Diagnostic checking in regression relationships. R News 2:7–10. https://CRAN.R-project.org/doc/Rnews/

Download references

Acknowledgments

For collecting field data, we thank Daniel Akaruhanga, Seezi Atwijuze, Fred Baguma, the late John Barwogeza, Richard Karamagi, Christopher Katongole, James Kyomuhendo, Francis Mugurusi, the late Donor Muhangyi, the late Christopher Muruuli, Solomon Musana, Japan Musunguzi, Denis Sebugwawo, John Sunday, Peter Tuhairwe, and Wilberforce Tweheyo. We thank Edgar Mugenyi, Christine Abbe, and Jovia Mahoro for field data entry, Emily Otali for research oversight, and Kamden Cornell for providing laboratory assistance in the assaying of testosterone. For sponsoring long-term research in Kibale National Park, we thank the Uganda Wildlife Authority and Makerere University Biological Field Station. For helpful comments on the manuscript, we thank David Watts and three anonymous reviewers.

Funding

Research was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Grant No. DGE-0237002; National Science Foundation Grants No. 1355014, 9807448, 0416125, and NCS-FO-1926352; the National Institutes of Health (National Institute on Aging/Office of Research on Women’s Health R01-AG049395); the Wenner-Gren Foundation; the Leakey Foundation; Harvard University; and the University of New Mexico.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Drew K. Enigk, Melissa Emery Thompson & Martin N. Muller

  2. Kibale Chimpanzee Project, Fort Portal, Uganda

    Melissa Emery Thompson, Zarin P. Machanda, Richard W. Wrangham & Martin N. Muller

  3. Department of Anthropology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA

    Zarin P. Machanda

  4. Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Richard W. Wrangham

Authors
  1. Drew K. Enigk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Melissa Emery Thompson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Zarin P. Machanda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Richard W. Wrangham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Martin N. Muller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

DKE, MNM, and MET conceived and designed the study. All authors contributed to material preparation and data collection, and DKE performed all analyses. The first draft of the manuscript was written by DKE. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript, with extensive edits by MNM and MET. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Drew K. Enigk or Martin N. Muller.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All applicable international, national, and institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the University of New Mexico Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (no. 19-200862-MC), the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology, and the Uganda Wildlife Authority.

Data availability

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding authors on reasonable request.

Additional information

Communicated by D. P. Watts

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(PDF 292 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Enigk, D.K., Thompson, M.E., Machanda, Z.P. et al. Competitive ability determines coalition participation and partner selection during maturation in wild male chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 74, 89 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-020-02872-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-020-02872-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation