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Mechanisms of Cohesion in Black Howler Monkeys

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Origins of Altruism and Cooperation

Part of the book series: Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects ((DIPR,volume 36))

Abstract

All diurnal primates live in social groups but with a great range of variation in the types of groups they form. Primate societies vary in group size, composition, dispersal patterns, levels of cohesion, and the extent of overt social interaction or differentiation of relationships within the group. They also vary in the flexibility seen in these aspects of social organization. For example, cross-population studies as well as diachronic studies suggest that black howlers are constrained to live in highly cohesive groups of no more than 10 individuals, despite considerable variation in group composition (Pavelka and Chapman, 2006; Van Belle and Estrada, 2006). Other species, such as Muriquis, reveal considerable flexibility in group size and cohesion; an increase in population size over a 25-year period produced significantly larger social groups and a shift from cohesive to flexible fission–fusion grouping pattern in which members regularly fission and fuse into parties of ever-changing size and composition (Dias and Strier, 2003).

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Bob Sussman for inviting me to be part of this very interesting project. Also many thanks to the graduate and undergraduate students who have worked on the Monkey River project, as well the people of Monkey River for their many years of support. In particular I acknowledge Travis Steffens and Tracy Wyman who are working with me on the hurricane to coastline study mentioned briefly in this paper, and Dr. Alison Behie of Australia National University, who spent several years in the forest observing the black howler monkeys. The Monkey River project was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC), The Province of Alberta, National Geographic, and the University of Calgary.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada

    Mary S. M. Pavelka

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  1. Mary S. M. Pavelka
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Correspondence to Mary S. M. Pavelka .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Anthropology, Washington University, St. Louis, 63130, Missouri, USA

    Robert W. Sussman

  2. School of Medicine, Dept. Psychiatry, University of Washington, S. Euclid Ave. 660, St. Louis, 63110, Missouri, USA

    C. Robert Cloninger

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Pavelka, M.S.M. (2011). Mechanisms of Cohesion in Black Howler Monkeys. In: Sussman, R., Cloninger, C. (eds) Origins of Altruism and Cooperation. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects, vol 36. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9520-9_9

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