Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Coordination in Human and Primate Groups pp 263–281Cite as

Coordination in Primate Mixed-Species Groups

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

Groups formed by individuals from different species (mixed-species groups) are a widespread phenomenon amongst primates. Although the formation and maintenance of such mixed-species groups may incur costs to participating individuals, they render a net benefit, mainly through increased safety from predators and increased foraging efficiency. In contrast to the large number of studies that have examined the benefits and costs of primate mixed-species groups, there are still very few studies that have analysed the mechanisms of group coordination in mixed-species groups. Available evidence suggests that this coordination is mainly through vocal communication, but since the same vocalisations may be employed in intra-specific within-group and between-group communication as well as in inter-specific communication, it is difficult to analytically separate intra- and inter-specific coordination. The need for inter-specific coordination is likely to be highest when asymmetries in benefits from a mixed-species troop’s formation are strong. Thus, “goal-dependent management of interdependencies” is necessary to maintain the integrity of mixed-species groups.

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

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bicca-Marques JC, Garber PA (2003) Experimental field study of the relative costs and benefits to wild tamarins (Saguinus imperator and S. fuscicollis) of exploiting contestable food patches as single- and mixed-species troops. Am J Primatol 60:139–153

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Caro T (2005) Antipredator defenses in birds and mammals. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman CA, Chapman LJ (1996) Mixed-species primate groups in the Kibale forest: ecological constraints on association. Int J Primatol 17:31–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman CA, Chapman LJ (2000) Interdemic variation in mixed-species association patterns: common diurnal primates of Kibale National Park, Uganda. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 47:129–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cords M (1987) Mixed-species association Cercopithecus monkeys in the Kakamega Forest, Kenya. Univ Calif Publ Zool 117:1–109

    Google Scholar 

  • Cords M (1990) Mixed-species association of East African guenons: general patterns or specific examples? Am J Primatol 21:101–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cords M (2000) Mixed species association and group movement. In: Boinski S, Garber PA (eds) On the move: how and why animals travel in groups. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 73–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Danchin E, Giraldeau L-A, Cézilly F (2008) Behavioural ecology. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • DiFiore A, Suarez SA (2007) Route-based travel and shared routes in sympatric spider and woolly monkeys: cognitive and evolutionary implications. Anim Cogn 10:317–329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eckardt W, Zuberbühler K (2004) Cooperation and competition in two forest monkeys. Behav Ecol 15:400–411

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freed BZ (2006) Polyspecific associations of crowned lemurs and Sanford’s lemurs in Madagascar. In: Gould L, Sauther ML (eds) Lemurs: ecology and adaptation. Springer, New York, pp 111–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeland WJ (1977) Blood-sucking flies and primate polyspecific associations. Nature 269:80–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garber PA (2000) Evidence for the use of spatial, temporal, and social information by some primate foragers. In: Boinski S, Garber PA (eds) On the move: how and why animals travel in groups. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 261–298

    Google Scholar 

  • Gautier J-P, Gautier-Hion A (1983) Comportement vocal des mâles adultes et organisation supraspécifique dans les troupes polyspécifiques de cercopithèques [in French]. Folia Primatol 40:161–174

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gautier-Hion A (1988) Polyspecific associations among forest guenons: ecological, behavioural and evolutionary aspects. In: Gautier-Hion A, Bourlière F, Gautier J-P, Kingdon J (eds) A primate radiation: evolutionary biology of the African guenons. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 452–476

    Google Scholar 

  • Gautier-Hion A, Quris R, Gautier J-P (1983) Monospecific vs. polyspecific life: a comparative study of foraging and antipredatory tactics in a community of Cercopithecus monkeys. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 12:325–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodale E, Kotagama SW (2006) Vocal mimicry by a passerine bird attracts other species involved in mixed-species flocks. Anim Behav 72:471–477

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg R (2000) Birds of many feathers: the formation and structure of mixed-species flocks of forest birds. In: Boinski S, Garber PA (eds) On the move: how and why animals travel in groups. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 521–558

    Google Scholar 

  • Hardie SM, Buchanan-Smith HM (1997) Vigilance in single- and mixed-species groups of tamarins (Saguinus labiatus and Saguinus fuscicollis). Int J Primatol 18:217–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haugaasen T, Peres CA (2009) Interspecific primate associations in Amazonian flooded and unflooded forests. Primates 50:239–251

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heymann EW (1990) Interspecific relations in a mixed-species troop of moustached tamarins, Saguinus mystax, and saddle-back tamarins, Saguinus fuscicollis (Primates: Callitrichidae), at the Rio Blanco, Peruvian Amazonia. Am J Primatol 21:115–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heymann EW (1997) The relationship between body size and mixed-species troops of tamarins (Saguinus sp.). Folia Primatol 68:287–295

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Heymann EW, Buchanan-Smith HM (2000) The behavioural ecology of mixed-species troops of callitrichine primates. Biol Rev 75:169–190

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Holenweg A-K, Noë R, Schabel M (1996) Waser’s gas model applied to associations between red colobus and Diana monkeys in the Taï National Park, Ivory Coast. Folia Primatol 67:125–136

    Google Scholar 

  • Janson CH (2000) Spatial movement strategies: theory, evidence, and challenges. In: Boinski S, Garber PA (eds) On the move: how and why animals travel in groups. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 165–203

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirchhof J, Hammerschmidt K (2006) Functionally referential alarm calls in tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis and Saguinus mystax) – evidence from playback experiments. Ethology 112:346–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koch C (2005) Re-establishment of interspecific associations after separation – interspecific communication in mixed species troops of Saguinus fuscicollis and S. mystax. Diploma thesis, University of Göttingen, Göttingen

    Google Scholar 

  • Kostan KM (2002) The evolution of mutualistic interspecific communication: assessment and management across species. J Comp Psychol 116:206–209

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Krause J, Butlin RK, Peuhkuri N, Pritchard VL (2000) The social organization of fish shoals: a test of the predictive power of laboratory experiments for the field. Biol Rev 75:477–501

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McGraw WS, Bshary R (2002) Association of terrestrial mangabeys (Cercocebus atys) with arboreal monkeys: experimental evidence for the effects of reduced ground predator pressure on habitat use. Int J Primatol 23:311–325

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moynihan M (1962) The organization and probable evolution of some mixed species flocks of neotropical birds. Smithson Misc Coll 143:1–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Munn CA (1985) Permanent canopy and understory flocks in Amazonia: species composition and population density. Ornithol Monogr 36:683–710

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Munn CA, Terborgh JW (1979) Multi-species territoriality in neotropical foraging flocks. Condor 81:338–347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noë R, Bshary R (1997) The formation of red colobus–diana monkey associations under predation pressure from chimpanzees. Proc Roy Soc Lond B 264:253–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parrish JK, Viscido SV, Grünbaum D (2002) Self-organized fish schools: an examination of emergent properties. Biol Bull 202:296–305

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Peres CA (1992a) Prey–capture benefits in a mixed-species group of Amazonian tamarins, Saguinus fuscicollis, and S. mystax. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 31:339–347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peres CA (1992b) Consequences of joint-territoriality in a mixed-species group of tamarin monkeys. Behaviour 123:220–246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peres CA (1993) Anti-predation benefits in a mixed-species group of Amazonian tamarins. Folia Primatol 61:61–76

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Peres CA (1996) Food patch structure and plant resource partitioning in interspecific associations of Amazonian tamarins. Int J Primatol 17:695–723

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Podolsky RD (1990) Effects of mixed-species association on resource use by Saimiri sciureus and Cebus apella. Am J Primatol 21:147–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pomara L, Cooper RJ, Petit LJ (2007) Modeling the flocking propensity of passerine birds in two neotropical habitats. Oecologia 153:121–133

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pook AG, Pook G (1982) Polyspecific association between Saguinus fuscicollis, Saguinus labiatus, Callimico goeldii and other primates in north-western Bolivia. Folia Primatol 38:196–216

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Porter LM (2001) Benefits of polyspecific associations for the Goeldi’s monkey (Callimico goeldii). Am J Primatol 54:143–158

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Porter LM, Garber PA (2007) Niche expansion of a cryptic primate, Callimico goeldii, while in mixed species troops. Am J Primatol 69:1340–1353

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Powell GVN (1979) Structure and dynamics of interspecific flocks in a mid-elevational neotropical forest. Auk 96:375–390

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell GVN (1985) Sociobiology and adaptive significance of interspecific foraging flocks in the neotropics. Ornithol Monogr 36:713–732

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quérouil S, Silva MA, Cascão I, Magalhães S, Seabra MI, Machete MA, Santos RS (2008) Why do dolphins form mixed-species associations in the Azores? Ethology 114:1183–1194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rehg JA (2006) Seasonal variation in polyspecific associations among Callimico goeldii, Saguinus labiatus, and S. fuscicollis in Acre, Brazil. Int J Primatol 27:1399–1428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith AC, Kelez S, Buchanan-Smith HM (2004) Factors affecting vigilance within wild mixed-species troops of saddleback (Saguinus fuscicollis) and moustached tamarins (S. mystax). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 56:18–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith AC, Buchanan-Smith HM, Surridge AK, Mundy NI (2005) Factors affecting group spread within wild mixed-species troops of saddleback and mustached tamarins. Int J Primatol 26:337–355

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith AC, Knogge C, Huck M, Löttker P, Buchanan-Smith HM, Heymann EW (2007) Long term patterns of sleeping site use in wild saddleback (Saguinus fuscicollis) and mustached tamarins (S. mystax). Am J Phys Anthropol 134:340–353

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stensland E, Angerbjörn A, Berggren P (2003) Mixed species groups in mammals. Mamm Rev 33:205–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stojan-Dolar M, Heymann EW (2010) Vigilance of mustached tamarins in single-species and mixed-species groups – the influence of group composition. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 62:325–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Struhsaker TT (1981) Polyspecific associations among tropical rain-forest primates. Z Tierpsychol 57:268–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teelen S (2007) Influence of chimpanzee predation on associations between red colobus and red-tailed monkeys at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. Int J Primatol 28:593–606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terborgh J (1983) Five new world primates. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Terborgh J (1990) Mixed flocks and polyspecific associations: costs and benefits of mixed groups to birds and monkeys. Am J Primatol 21:87–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wachter B, Schabel M, Noë R (1997) Diet overlap and polyspecific associations of red colobus and Diana monkeys in the Taï National Park, Ivory Coast. Ethology 103:514–526

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waser PM (1982) Polyspecific associations: do they occur by chance? Anim Behav 30:1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waser PM (1987) Interactions among primate species. In: Smuts BB, Cheney DL, Seyfarth RM, Wrangham RW, Struhsaker TT (eds) Primate societies. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 210–226

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitesides GH (1989) Interspecific associations of Diana monkeys, Cercopithecus diana, in Sierra Leone, West Africa: biological significance or chance? Anim Behav 37:760–776

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Windfelder TL (1997) Polyspecific association and interspecific communication between two neotropical primates: saddle-back tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis) and emperor tamarins (Saguinus imperator). PhD thesis, Duke University, Durham, NC

    Google Scholar 

  • Windfelder TL (2001) Interspecific communication in mixed-species groups of tamarins: evidence from playback experiments. Anim Behav 61:1193–1201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolters S, Zuberbühler K (2003) Mixed-species associations of Diana and Campbell’s monkeys: the costs and benefits of a forest phenomenon. Behaviour 140:371–385

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zuberbühler K (2000) Interspecies semantic communication in two forest primates. Proc Roy Soc Lond B 267:713–718

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Eckhard W. Heymann

Authors
  1. Eckhard W. Heymann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eckhard W. Heymann .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Georg-Elias-Müller-Institute for Psychol, University of Göttingen, Goßlerstr. 14, Göttingen, 37073, Germany

    Margarete Boos

  2. , Dept. of Management, Technology, and Eco, ETH Zürich, Kreuzplatz 5, Zürich, 8032, Switzerland

    Michaela Kolbe

  3. , Dept. of Behavioral Ecology, University of Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, Göttingen, 37077, Germany

    Peter M. Kappeler

  4. , Dept. of Economic Psychology, University of Trier, Campus 1, Trier, 54286, Germany

    Thomas Ellwart

Appendix: Index of Scientific and Common Names of Primates Mentioned in the Text

Appendix: Index of Scientific and Common Names of Primates Mentioned in the Text

Scientific name

Common name

Callimico goeldii

Goeldi’s monkey

Cebus albifrons

White-fronted capuchin

Cebus apella

Brown capuchin

Cercopithecus ascanius

Red-tailed guenon

Cercopithecus campbelli

Campbell’s monkey

Cercopithecus diana

Diana monkey

Cercopithecus nictitans

Putty-nosed monkey

Cercopithecus pogonias

Crowned guenon

Procolobus badius

Red colobus

Saguinus fuscicollis

Saddleback tamarin

Saguinus imperator

Emperor tamarin

Saguinus labiatus

Red-bellied tamarin

Saguinus mystax

Moustached tamarin

Saimiri boliviensis

Bolivian squirrel monkey

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Heymann, E.W. (2011). Coordination in Primate Mixed-Species Groups. In: Boos, M., Kolbe, M., Kappeler, P., Ellwart, T. (eds) Coordination in Human and Primate Groups. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-15355-6_15

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation