The finding of an inverse relationship between social dominance and feeding priority among pairs of unfamiliar adult male vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus) |
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Authors: | Gerald Melissa S |
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Institution: | (1) National Institutes of Health, USA;(2) Cayo Santiago, Caribbean Primate Research Center, P. O. Box 906, 00741 Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico, U.S.A. |
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Abstract: | Dominance is often presumed to confer priority of access to resources. This study evaluated the relationship between two assessments
of dominance: (1) social dominance, based on agonistic interactions and (2) feeding priority among pairs of unfamiliar adult
vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus) differing in scrotal colour, but matched for height, weight and testicular volume, during paired introduction experiments.
Results of this investigation showed that neither size differences nor scrotal colour were predictive of feeding priority,
and social dominance was inversely related to feeding priority. This finding demonstrates that different assessments of dominance
can yield different outcomes even within the same primate taxon. I propose that male dominance rank may best predict access
to resources when there is direct contest competition over a resource, which is not immediately exhaustible, whereas highly
impulsive low ranking males may gain a competitive edge in scramble competitions for ephemeral and small resources. |
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Keywords: | Social dominance Feeding priority Scrotal colour Vervet monkeys |
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