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The trade balance of grooming and its coordination of reciprocation and tolerance in Indonesian long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis)

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Abstract

We collected data on grooming, proximity, and aggression in long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in Kalimantan, Indonesia. We used this data to study how grooming influenced a receiver’s (B) behavior towards the bout’s initiator (A). In our first analysis, post-grooming samples were collected after A groomed B. These were compared to matched-control samples of similar conditions but A had not previously groomed B. This comparison was performed on 26 individuals (16 ♀, 3 ♂, 7 immature) and tested whether A’s initial act of grooming increased the pair’s time in proximity and the amount of time B groomed A. We also tested if A’s grooming decreased B’s aggression towards A per time in proximity. Rates of B → A aggression per time in proximity with A for 39 individuals (18 ♀, 5 ♂, 16 immature) were compared between post-grooming and focal sample data. Finally, we studied 248 grooming bouts to test if the first two grooming episodes were time matched. We assessed the influence of age, sex, rank and inferred kinship on time matching, and controlled for individual variation and tendency to groom using a general linear mixed model. Our results showed that A → B grooming acted to increase B → A grooming and the pair’s proximity, while lowering B → A aggression. Despite these effects, episodes in grooming bouts were generally not matched, except weakly among similar partners (i.e., female pairs and immature pairs). Grooming imbalance was greatest across age–sex class (i.e., male–female and adult–immature pairs). In similar pairs, grooming duration was skewed in favor of high-ranking individuals. We conclude grooming established tolerance and increased the likelihood that grooming reciprocation would occur, but grooming durations were not typically matched within bouts. Lack of time matching may be the result of grooming that is performed to coordinate interchanges of other social services.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to express thanks to Dr. Alexander H. Harcourt for his useful comments and help in developing this report. This research was made possible by funding from the American–Indonesian Exchange Foundation (AMINEF), Jakarta, Indonesia, through a Fulbright Graduate Research Fellowship. The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) provided a research permit (Permit #: 3044/SU/KS/2003), and the Indonesian Department of Forestry granted permission for the PI to enter and reside in Tanjung Puting National Park (Permit #: 1765/IV-SEK/HO/2003). The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the United States approved the research methods (Animal Research Protocol #: A2005-10167-0). Dr. Noviar Andayani from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Indonesia sponsored this work. We give special thanks to our field assistant, Peltanadanson, and to the Rimba Orangutan Ecolodge for supporting and housing the field researchers during the study.

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  1. Division of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, S3.2-B4-35, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 639798, Singapore

    Michael D. Gumert & Moon-Ho R. Ho

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  1. Michael D. Gumert
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  2. Moon-Ho R. Ho
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Correspondence to Michael D. Gumert.

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Gumert, M.D., Ho, MH.R. The trade balance of grooming and its coordination of reciprocation and tolerance in Indonesian long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis). Primates 49, 176–185 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-008-0089-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-008-0089-y

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