Reconciling conflicts in a one-male society: the case of geladas (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Theropithecus gelada</Emphasis>) |
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Authors: | Alessia Leone Elisabetta Palagi |
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Institution: | 1.Centro Interdipartimentale Museo di Storia Naturale e del Territorio,Università di Pisa,Calci, Pisa,Italy |
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Abstract: | Animals derive benefits from living in social groups but sociality also has its costs in that animals must compete with others
for resources and mating opportunities. To cope with the conflict aftermath and social damage caused by competitive aggression,
several group-living species use a variety of peace-keeping strategies. The affinitive post-conflict reunion of former opponents,
defined as reconciliation, is the primary peace-keeping mechanism. In this study, we provide evidence for the occurrence of
reconciliation and test some hypotheses on this post-conflict mechanism in geladas (Theropithecus gelada), a species often neglected in the study of post-conflict dynamics. The conciliatory contacts were uniformly distributed
across the different sex–class combinations. Different from baboons, geladas did not show any particular kind of affinitive
reconciliation behaviour. Notwithstanding the presence of a linear hierarchy, the dominance relationships did not affect the
reconciliation dynamics. According to the valuable relationship hypothesis, coalitionary support seems to be a good predictor
for a high level of conciliatory contacts. Finally, at an immediate level reconciliation plays a role in reducing renewed
attacks by aggressors, which sought conciliatory contact more frequently than victims. In conclusion, even though the study
of post-conflict behaviour in geladas needs to be continued, the patchy nature of their social network is a good model for
testing some of the theoretical assumptions about primate conflict resolution. |
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