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Comparison of Social Behaviors

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The Chimpanzees of Bossou and Nimba

Part of the book series: Primatology Monographs

Abstract

As a short-term visiting researcher to Bossou, I describe the social behaviors of Bossou chimpanzees in comparison to those of my primary study population, the Mahale chimpanzees in East Africa. First, I briefly review past studies of social behavior at Bossou. I then report one case of a rise in social rank by an adolescent male and one possible case of boundary patrolling by three mature males that occurred during my stay. In addition to these anecdotes, I describe some behaviors of Bossou chimpanzees that are absent or rare in Mahale, such as mutual genital touch, heel tap, index to palm, and sputter. These behaviors occurred more frequently than tool-use during my stay, suggesting that rarity may not explain the lack of descriptions of these patterns. Finally, I argue the importance of the subtle social interactions of females, which may be critical to understanding the unique characteristics of the Bossou group.

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Acknowledgments

I thank COSTECH, TAWIRI, TANAPA, MMNP, and MMWRC of Tanzania and DNRST of Guinea for permission to conduct field research. I also thank G. Ohashi, G. Yamakoshi, and the entire staff of IREB for cooperation at Bossou, Y. Sugiyama and T. Matsuzawa for offering me the chance to visit Bossou, and T. Nishida for continuous guidance and support of my research. The field study was financially supported by grants from the Japanese MEXT (#12375003, #16255007, #19255008 to T. Nishida).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wildlife Research Center of Kyoto University, 2-24 Tanaka-Sekiden-cho, Sakyo, Kyoto, 606-8203, Japan

    Michio Nakamura

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  1. Michio Nakamura
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Correspondence to Michio Nakamura .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, 41-2 Kanrin, Inuyama, Aichi, 484-8506, Japan

    Tetsuro Matsuzawa Ph.D. (Professor Director) & Yukimaru Sugiyama Ph.D. (Professor Emeritus) (Professor Director) &  (Professor Emeritus)

  2. School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, The Marlowe Building, Canterbury, CT2 7NR, UK

    Tatyana Humle Ph.D.

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Nakamura, M. (2011). Comparison of Social Behaviors. In: Matsuzawa, T., Humle, T., Sugiyama, Y. (eds) The Chimpanzees of Bossou and Nimba. Primatology Monographs. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-53921-6_27

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