Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Female Songs of the Nonduetting Javan Gibbons (Hylobates moloch) Function for Territorial Defense

  • Published:
International Journal of Primatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Duets in territorial, pair-living primates may function to maintain intragroup cohesion, promote intergroup avoidance, and assist in territorial and resource defense, as well as advertising and reinforcing pair bonds. Despite the absence of duetting in Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch), recent playback experiments suggested that Javan gibbon songs also play a role in pair-bond advertisement as well as territorial and mate defense. However, playback experiments only assess motivations of the listener, which may not reflect the motivations of the caller. We conducted an observational study of naturally occurring female songs in two groups of Javan gibbons from July 2009 to March 2010 and from March to November 2011 in Gunung Halimun–Salak National Park, Indonesia. We investigated female singing rates in relation to singing location, daily path length, occurrence of intergroup encounters, feeding rate, allogrooming rate, and distance between pair mates. The two females produced 47 songs during 164 observation days. Females in the area of their home range that overlapped with neighboring groups sang more frequently than expected based on time spent in the area of overlap vs. the home range interior. Groups also had longer daily path lengths on days when females sang than on nonsinging days, and on days when they visited the area of overlap than on nonvisiting days. Our findings indicate that, like the duets of other pair-living territorial primates, female Javan gibbon songs function for territorial defense, but we found no support for other functions such as intergroup avoidance, resource defense, and pair-bond reinforcement.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

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

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Amsler, S. J. (2010). Energetic costs of territorial boundary patrols by wild chimpanzees. American Journal of Primatology, 72, 93–103.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baayen, R. H. (2008). Analyzing linguistic data: A practical introduction to statistics using R. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin, J. D., & Baldwin, J. I. (1973). Interactions between adult female and infant howling monkeys (Alouatta palliata). Folia Primatologica, 20, 27–71.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barelli, C., Boesch, C., Heistermann, M., & Reichard, U. H. (2008). Female white-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar) lead group movements and have priority of access to food resources. Behaviour, 145, 965–981.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barelli, C., Reichard, U. H., & Mundry, R. (2011). Is grooming used as a commodity in wild white-handed gibbons, Hylobates lar? Animal Behaviour, 82, 801–809.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barr, D. J., Levy, R., Scheepers, C., & Tily, H. J. (2013). Random effects structure for confirmatory hypothesis testing: Keep it maximal. Journal of Memory and Language, 68, 255–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartlett, T. Q. (2007). The Hylobatidae: Small apes of Asia. In C. J. Campbell, A. Fuentes, K. C. MacKinnon, & S. K. Bearder (Eds.), Primates in perspective (pp. 300–312). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartlett, T. Q. (2009a). Seasonal home range use and defendability in white-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar) in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand. In D. Whittaker & S. Lappan (Eds.), The gibbons: New perspectives on small ape socioecology and population biology (pp. 265–275). Developments in primatology: Progress and prospects. New York: Springer Science+Business media.

  • Bartlett, T. Q. (2009b). Territoriality and intergroup encounters. In R. W. Sussmann & N. Vasey (Eds.), The gibbons of Khao Yai: Seasonal variation in behaviour and ecology (pp. 103–119). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartlett, T. Q., Light, L. E. O., & Brockelman, W. Y. (2016). Long-term home range use in white-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar) in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand. American Journal of Primatology, 78, 192–203.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bates, D., Maechler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S. (2013). lme4: Linear mixed-effects models using Eigen and S4 classes. R package version 10–4. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=lme4.

  • Beyer, H.L. (2012). Geospatial modelling environment (v0.7.2.0). http://www.spatialecology.com/gme.

  • Bivand, R. S., Pebesma, E. J., & Gomez-Rubio, V. (2013). Applied spatial data analysis with R. New York: Springer Science+Business Media.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Brockelman, W. Y., Reichard, U., Treesucon, U., & Raemaekers, J. J. (1998). Dispersal, pair formation and social structure in gibbons (Hylobates lar). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 42, 329–339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calenge, C. (2006). The package “adehabitat” for the R software: A tool for the analysis of space and habitat use by animals. Ecological Modelling, 197, 516–519.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheney, D. L. (1987). Interactions and relationships between groups. In B. B. Smuts, D. L. Cheney, R. M. Seyfarth, R. W. Wrangham, & T. T. Struhsaker (Eds.), Primate societies (pp. 267–281). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chivers, D. (1969). On the daily behaviour and spacing of howling monkey groups. Folia Primatologica, 10, 48–102.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chivers, D. J. (1976). Communication within and between family groups of siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus). Behaviour, 57, 116–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chivers, D. J., Anandam, M. V., Groves, C. P., Molur, S., Rawson, B. M., et al (2013). Family Hylobotidae (gibbons). In R. A. Mittermeier, A. B. Rylands, & D. E. Wilson (Eds.), Handbook of the mammals of the world (pp. 754–791). Barcelona: Lynx Edicions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chivers, D. J., & MacKinnon, J. (1977). On the behaviour of siamang after playback of their calls. Primates, 18, 943–948.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, E., Reichard, U. H., & Zuberbühler, K. (2006). The syntax and meaning of wild gibbon song. PloS One, 1, e73.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cleveland, J., & Snowdon, C. T. (1982). The complex vocal repertoire of the adult cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus oedipus). Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 58, 231–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., & Aiken, L. S. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cowlishaw, G. (1992). Song function in gibbons. Behaviour, 121, 131–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dooley, H. M., Judge, D. S., & Schmitt, L. H. (2013). Singing by male and female Kloss gibbons (Hylobates klossii) in the Peleonan Forest, Siberut Island, Indonesia. Primates, 54, 39–48.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ellefson, J. O. (1968). Territorial behavior in the common white-handed gibbon, Hylobates lar Linn. In P. C. Jay (Ed.), Primates: Studies in adaptation and variability (pp. 180–199). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • ESRI (2011). ArcMap 10. Redlands: Environmental Systems Research Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fan, P. F., & Jiang, X. L. (2008). Effects of food and topography on ranging behavior of black crested gibbon (Nomascus concolor jingdongensis) in Wuliang Mountain, Yunnan, China. American Journal of Primatology, 70, 871–878.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fan, P. F., Xiao, W., Huo, S., & Jiang, X. L. (2009). Singing behavior and singing functions of black-crested gibbons (Nomascus concolor jingdongensis) at Mt. Wuliang, Central Yunnan, China. American Journal of Primatology, 71, 539–547.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Field, A. (2005). Discovering statistics using SPSS. London: SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forstmeier, W., & Schielzeth, H. (2011). Cryptic multiple hypotheses testing in linear models: Overestimated effect sizes and the winner's curse. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 65, 47–55.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, J., & Weisberg, S. (2011). An R companion to applied Rregression. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geissmann, T. (2000). Gibbon songs and human music from an evolutionary perspective. In N. L. Wallin, B. Merker, & S. Brown (Eds.), The origins of music (pp. 103–123). Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geissmann, T. (2002). Duet-splitting and the evolution of gibbon songs. Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 77, 57–76.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Geissmann, T., & Nijman, V. (2006). Calling in wild silvery gibbons (Hylobates moloch) in java (Indonesia): Behavior, phylogeny, and conservation. American Journal of Primatology, 68, 1–19.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Geissmann, T., & Orgeldinger, M. (2000). The relationship between duet songs and pair bonds in siamangs, Hylobates syndactylus. Animal Behaviour, 60, 805–809.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gittins, S. P. (1984). Territorial advertisement and defence in gibbons. In H. Preuschoft, D. J. Chivers, W. Y. Brockelman, & N. Creel (Eds.), The lesser apes: Evolutionary and behavioural biology (pp. 420–424). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gursky, S. (2000). Sociality in the spectral tarsier, Tarsius spectrum. American Journal of Primatology, 51, 89–101.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Haimoff, E. H. (1986). Convergence in the duetting of monogamous old world primates. Journal of Human Evolution, 15, 51–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ham, S., Hedwig, D., Lappan, S., & Choe, J. C. (2016). Song functions in nonduetting gibbons: Evidence from playback experiments on Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch). International Journal of Primatology, 37(2), 225–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hothorn, T., & Hornik, K. (2013). exactRankTests: Exact distributions for rank and permutation tests. R package version, 0.8–027. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=exactRankTests.

  • Kappeler, M. (1984). Vocal bouts and territorial maintenance in the moloch gibbon. In H. Preuschoft, D. J. Chivers, W. Y. Brockelman, & N. Creel (Eds.), The lesser apes: Evolutionary and behavioural biology (pp. 376–389). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, S., Lappan, S., & Choe, J. C. (2011). Diet and ranging behavior of the endangered Javan gibbon (Hylobates moloch) in a submontane tropical rainforest. American Journal of Primatology, 73, 270–280.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, S., Lappan, S., & Choe, J. C. (2012). Responses of Javan gibbon (Hylobates moloch) groups in submontane forest to monthly variation in food availability: Evidence for variation on a fine spatial scale. American Journal of Primatology, 74, 1154–1167.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kinnaird, M. F., & O’Brien, T. G. (2005). Fast foods of the forest: The influence of figs on primates and hornbills across Wallace's line. In J. L. dew & J. P. Boubli (Eds.), Tropical fruits and frugivores: The search for strong interactors (pp. 155–184). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer.

  • Kinzey, W. G., & Becker, M. (1983). Activity pattern of the masked titi monkey, Callicebus personatus. Primates, 24, 337–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kinzey, W. G., & Robinson, J. G. (1983). Intergroup loud calls, range size, and spacing in Callicebus torquatus. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 60, 539–544.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leighton, D. R. (1987). Gibbons: Territoriality and monogamy. In B. B. Smuts, D. L. Cheney, R. M. Seyfarth, R. W. Wrangham, & T. T. Struhsaker (Eds.), Primate societies (pp. 135–145). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacKinnon, J., & MacKinnon, K. (1980). The behavior of wild spectral tarsiers. International Journal of Primatology, 1, 361–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malone, N., & Fuentes, A. (2009). The ecology and evolution of hylobatid communities: Causal and contextual factors underlying inter-and intraspecific variation. In S. Lappan & D. J. Whittaker (Eds.), The gibbons: New perspectives on small ape socioecology and population biology (pp. 241–264). Developments in primatology progress and prospects. New York: Springer Science+Business media.

  • McCullagh, P., & Nelder, J. A. (1989). Generalized linear models. New York: Chapman & Hall.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mendez-Cardenas, M. G., & Zimmermann, E. (2009). Duetting: A mechanism to strengthen pair bonds in a dispersed pair-living primate (Lepilemur edwardsi)? American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 139, 523–532.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mennill, D. J., & Vehrencamp, S. L. (2008). Context-dependent functions of avian duets revealed by microphone-array recordings and multispeaker playback. Current Biology, 18, 1314–1319.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mitani, J. C. (1984). The behavioral regulation of monogamy in gibbons (Hylobates muelleri). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 15, 225–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitani, J. C. (1985a). Gibbon song duets and inter-group spacing. Behaviour, 92, 59–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitani, J. C. (1985b). Location-specific responses of gibbons (Hylobates muelleri) to male songs. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 70, 219–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitani, J. C. (1987). Territoriality and monogamy among agile gibbons (Hylobates agilis). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 20, 265–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitani, J. C., & Rodman, P. S. (1979). Territoriality: The relation of ranging pattern and home range size to defendability, with an analysis of territoriality among primate species. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 5, 241–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Müller, A. E., & Anzenberger, G. (2002). Duetting in the titi monkey Callicebus cupreus: Structure, pair specificity and development of duets. Folia Primatologica, 73, 104–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pebesma, E. J., & Bivand, R. S. (2005). Classes and methods for spatial data in R. R News, 5, 9–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team (2013). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. http://www.R-project.org.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raemaekers, P. M., & Raemaekers, J. J. (1985). Long-range vocal interactions between groups of gibbons (Hylobates lar). Behaviour, 95, 26–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasoloharijaona, S., Randrianambinina, B., Braune, P., & Zimmermann, E. (2006). Loud calling, spacing, and cohesiveness in a nocturnal primate, the Milne Edwards’ sportive lemur (Lepilemur edwardsi). American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 129, 591–600.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Riley, E. P. (2005). The loud call of the Sulawesi Tonkean macaque, Macaca tonkeana. Tropical Biodiversity, 8, 199–209.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, J. G. (1979). Vocal regulation of use of space by groups of titi monkeys Callicebus moloch. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 5, 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, M. J., & Kime, N. M. (2003). Selection on long-distance acoustic signals. In A. M. Simmons, A. N. Popper, & R. R. Fay (Eds.), Acoustic communication (pp. 225–274). New York: Springer Science+Business Media.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Schielzeth, H., & Forstmeier, W. (2009). Conclusions beyond support: Overconfident estimates in mixed models. Behavioral Ecology, 20, 416–420.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tenaza, R. R. (1976). Songs, choruses and countersinging of Kloss’ gibbons (Hylobates klossii) in Siberut Island, Indonesia. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 40, 37–52.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Waser, P. M. (1977). Individual recognition, intragroup cohesion and intergroup spacing: Evidence from sound playback to forest monkeys. Behaviour, 60, 28–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitten, A. J. (1982). The ecology of singing in Kloss gibbons (Hylobates klossii) on Siberut Island, Indonesia. International Journal of Primatology, 3, 33–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wich, S. A., Assink, P. R., Becher, F., & Sterck, E. H. M. (2002). Playbacks of loud calls to wild Thomas langurs (primates; Presbytis thomasi): The effect of location. Behaviour, 139, 65–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This project was conducted in collaboration with the Department of Natural Resource Conservation and Ecotourism at the Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB). We thank the Indonesian Ministry of Research and Technology (RISTEK), the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry’s Department for the Protection and Conservation of Nature (PHKA), and the Gunung Halimun-Salak National Park (GHSNP) for granting us research permissions. We thank Rinekso Soekmadi, Agus Hikmat, Dones Rinaldi, Bambang Supriyanto, and GHSNP staff for their assistance and cooperation. We are grateful to Christophe Boesch, Catherine Crockford and Kurt Hammerschmidt for their advice on the discussion of this manuscript, to Roger Mundry and Colleen Stephens for their help with statistical analysis, and to Joanna Setchell and two anonymous reviewers for many helpful comments on the manuscript. Thanks to Sanha Kim for contributions to the establishment of the field site and advice on the progress of this study and the manuscript; Sunyoung Ahn for administrative support and coordination; and Aris, Nui, Sahri, Ami, and Jaya for assistance in the field. The authors declare that none of us have any conflict of interest in this research. This research was financially supported by the Amore Pacific Academic and Cultural Foundation (AACF), Ewha Womans University, National Institute of Ecology (NIE), German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Max Planck Society (MPG), and Appalachian State University.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Daniela Hedwig

    Present address: Elephant Listening Project, Bioacoustics Research Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14850, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Behavior and Ecology, Division of EcoScience, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, 03760, Republic of Korea

    Soojung Ham & Jae Chun Choe

  2. Anthropology Department, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, 28608, USA

    Susan Lappan

  3. Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany

    Daniela Hedwig

  4. National Institute of Ecology, Seocheon, Chungcheongnam-do, 33657, Republic of Korea

    Jae Chun Choe

Authors
  1. Soojung Ham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Susan Lappan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Daniela Hedwig
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jae Chun Choe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jae Chun Choe.

Additional information

Handling Editor: Joanna M. Setchell

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(PDF 25.3 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ham, S., Lappan, S., Hedwig, D. et al. Female Songs of the Nonduetting Javan Gibbons (Hylobates moloch) Function for Territorial Defense. Int J Primatol 38, 533–552 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-017-9964-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-017-9964-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation