Age-related differences in social grooming among adult female Japanese monkeys ( Macaca fuscata)

The present study investigated the influence of dominance rank in combination with kinship on age-related differences in social grooming among adult females in a free-ranging group of Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata). Eighty-three adult females were divided into six sub-groups according to age-class (younger: 5–9 years old; middle: 10–14 years old; older: 15–22 years old) and dominance rank (high and low rank). The ratio of the number of unrelated females that each female groomed to the total number of available unrelated females and grooming bouts which she gave to unrelated females decreased with increasing age for both high- and low-ranking females, whereas age did not appear to affect corresponding values for related females. On the other hand, compared with low-ranking females, high-ranking females of all age-classes received grooming more often from a larger number of unrelated females. Moreover, older females of low rank received grooming less often from a smaller number of unrelated females than younger females of low rank. These results indicate that with increasing age females are more likely to concentrate on related females when they have grooming interactions with other females. This tendency seems to be more apparent for low-ranking females. Moreover, the present findings also indicate that older high-ranking females could maintain their social attractiveness as high as younger high-ranking females.