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The Effect of Crowding on the Social Behavior of the Cooperatively Breeding Cotton-Top Tamarins (Saguinus oedipus)

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Abstract

Several studies show that primates exhibit coping strategies to buffer the effect of increased social tension under crowded conditions. This is the first study to assess the effect of crowding on the social behavior of a cooperative breeding primate. We studied the effect of repeated short-term crowding on the social behavior of 20 cotton-top tamarins (10 breeders, 10 adult–subadult offspring) belonging to 2 large and 3 small groups. We compared scratching and rates of social behavior between 2 conditions: large-outdoor (42.0 m2 × 3.3 m) and small-indoor (3.5 m2 × 2.2 m) enclosures. Our results indicate that scratching increases in breeders and offspring during crowding. However, whereas the social behavior of breeders in small groups was not affected by crowding, breeders in large groups (n = 4) showed increased rates of severe aggression with their offspring during crowding. Offspring of large groups showed a nonsignificant trend to increase mild aggression, and an increased percentage of time in contact and grooming during crowding. This augmentation of grooming occurred in offspring–breeder dyads and also between offspring. These results suggest that helpers from large groups use coping strategies when social tension increases.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the primate breeding and husbandry staff of the UAM for their technical support. We thank Charles Snowdon, Joanna Setchell, and 2 anonymous reviewers for their valuable advice and comments. We also thank Antonio Pardo for his statistical advice and Amanda Davies for her helpful notes. Contract grant sponsors were Spanish MCINN-SGPI (contract grant no. PSI2009-08581PSIC).

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  1. Área de Psicobiología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    José Manuel Caperos, Susana Sánchez, Fernando Peláez, Ana Fidalgo & Ana Morcillo

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  1. José Manuel Caperos
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  2. Susana Sánchez
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  3. Fernando Peláez
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  4. Ana Fidalgo
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Correspondence to José Manuel Caperos.

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Caperos, J.M., Sánchez, S., Peláez, F. et al. The Effect of Crowding on the Social Behavior of the Cooperatively Breeding Cotton-Top Tamarins (Saguinus oedipus). Int J Primatol 32, 1179–1189 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-011-9534-7

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