Ecological constraints on the behaviour of mother long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis)

Summary

The ecological consequence of the effects of different social conditions on the behaviour of females with infants were examined in two different-sized groups of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) that inhabited adjacent home ranges in Gunung Leuser National Park in Indonesia. This study aims to test predictions of the “within-group competition/predation avoidance” hypothesis of social organization. Females, particularly those carrying an infant, are considered to experience the most direct effects of environmental constraints on fitness prospects. Data on maintenance behaviour, height in canopy and spatial position were collected for five mothers in a small group and eight mothers in a large group. Comparisons were made on the basis of group size and dominance rank. Mothers from the large group spent less time “feeding” on clumped fruits and more time “foraging” on dispersed food items. Lower-ranking mothers, undergoing the highest rate of within-group competition, foraged most. For macaques in the study area, predation risk is considered to decrease with height in the canopy. Mothers in the small group, assumed to be more susceptible to predation, remained substantially higher in the canopy than mothers in the large group. In both groups, mothers adjusted their height to their spatial position in the group. Lower-ranking mothers were more often found without neighbours, presumably to avoid feeding competition. As a result they stay higher in the canopy than higher-ranking mothers. The results clearly demonstrate that individual females in the same reproductive state and living in the same area, but in different social environments, adapted their behaviour according to the hypothesis.