Archived Abstracts
Comparison of male conflict behavior in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus), with specific regard to coalition and post-conflict behavior
Authors: Martin Surbeck, Christophe Boesch, Cédric Girard-Buttoz, Catherine Crockford, Gottfried Hohmann, Roman M. Wittig
Coalitions among males during conflicts have a strong influence on the competitive and social environment within groups. Such political coalitions may represent an ancestral state in humans, impacting on the social evolution of our species. Here, we examine the potential social and environmental factors that may have influenced male coalitions in our evolutionary past. We compare patterns of conflict and post-conflict behavior in our two closest living relatives, chimpanzees and bonobos, under natural social and ecological conditions. We found higher frequencies of aggression and a greater likelihood to form coalitions during within-group conflicts among wild male chimpanzees, Taï Forest, Ivory Coast, compared to wild male bonobos, LuiKotale, Congo. Chimpanzee males were more likely to form coalitions with other males, whilst bonobo males were more likely to form coalitions with females. In terms of affiliative behavior, compared to male bonobos, male chimpanzees showed higher rates of grooming and tended to reconcile after more conflicts with other males. These findings add to the evidence that male cooperation and conflict resolution are potentially very different in bonobos and chimpanzees despite the fact that these two species are closely related, live in multi-male, multi-female communities with a high degree of fission-fusion dynamics and have female-biased migration patterns. Given chimpanzee males are characterized by having higher rates of aggression with more coalitions, more post-conflict affiliation and more grooming, in general, than bonobos, we hypothesize that the fitness benefits of maintaining male cooperative relationships are greater in chimpanzees compared to bonobos.
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