Vocal recognition of individuals and kin in free-ranging rhesus monkeys

Vocal recognition of individuals and kin in free-ranging rhesus monkeys

The social behaviour of many species of non-human primates suggests a capacity for both individual and kin recognition. In these species, the ability to signal and perceive identity at a distance may be an important adaptation facilitating intra-group social communication. Variation in vocalizations...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Animal behaviour Vol. 51; no. 5; pp. 1007 - 1015
Main Authors: RENDALL, DREW, RODMAN, PETER S., EMOND, ROGER E.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Kent Elsevier Ltd 01-05-1996
Elsevier
Subjects:
Animal ethology
Biological and medical sciences
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Macaca mulatta
Mammalia
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Vertebrata
Central America
Puerto Rico
America
West Indies
Acoustic communication
Animal communication
Sound production
Kin recognition
Macaca mulatta
Vertebrata
Mammalia
Social behavior
Social interaction
Individual recognition
Primates
Simioidea
Female
Field study
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Summary:The social behaviour of many species of non-human primates suggests a capacity for both individual and kin recognition. In these species, the ability to signal and perceive identity at a distance may be an important adaptation facilitating intra-group social communication. Variation in vocalizations is hypothesized to provide a basis for this ability. Playback experiments were conducted to test for vocal recognition of contact calls between adult female rhesus macaques, Macaca mulatta. Single-trial playbacks of the contact call of either a matrilineal relative or a familiar, non-relative group member were used to test for discrimination of kin from non-kin. Females responded significantly faster and longer to the contact calls of matrilineal relatives. A habituation–discrimination paradigm was then used to test for individual recognition. Females habituated to successive presentations of different exemplars of the contact calls of one matrilineal relative, then showed a significant rebound in response to the subsequent presentation of a contact call from a second matrilineal relative. These results indicate an ability for vocal recognition of both individuals and kin. Females' responses to playbacks suggested the additional possibility for categorical recognition of matrilineal kinship, or its correlates.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
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ISSN:0003-3472
1095-8282
DOI:10.1006/anbe.1996.0103