Lee, SM, Hohmann, G, Lonsdorf, EV, Fruth, B and Murray, CM (2020) Gregariousness, foraging effort, and affiliative interactions in lactating bonobos and chimpanzees. Behavioral Ecology, 32 (1). pp. 188-198. ISSN 1045-2249

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Abstract

Fission-fusion dynamics have evolved in a broad range of animal taxa and are thought to allow individuals to mitigate feeding competition. While this is the principal benefit of fission-fusion, few studies have evaluated its costs. We compared gregariousness, foraging budgets, and social budgets between lactating bonobos and chimpanzees from wild populations to evaluate potential costs. Both species exhibit fission-fusion dynamics, but chimpanzees, particularly in East African populations, appear to experience higher feeding competition than bonobos. We expected lactating chimpanzees to be less gregarious than lactating bonobos; reduced gregariousness should allow lactating chimpanzees to mitigate the costs of higher feeding competition without requiring more foraging effort. However, we expected the reduced gregariousness of lactating chimpanzees to limit their time available for affiliative interactions. Using long-Term data from LuiKotale bonobos and Gombe chimpanzees, we found that lactating chimpanzees were indeed less gregarious than lactating bonobos, while feeding and travel time did not differ between species. Contrary to our predictions, lactating females did not differ in social interaction time, and lactating chimpanzees spent proportionately more time interacting with individuals other than their immature offspring. Our results indicate that lactating chimpanzees can maintain social budgets comparable to lactating bonobos despite reduced gregariousness and without incurring additional foraging costs. We discuss potential explanations for why lactating bonobos are more gregarious.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Behavioral Sciences; Biology; Ecology; Zoology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine - Other Topics; Environmental Sciences & Ecology; bonobos; chimpanzees; feeding competition; fission-fusion; predation risk; sociality; FISSION-FUSION DYNAMICS; GROUP-SIZE; PREDATION RISK; SOCIAL-ORGANIZATION; LEOPARD PREDATION; WILD CHIMPANZEES; ACTIVITY BUDGET; NATIONAL-PARK; PAN-PANISCUS; TRADE-OFFS; bonobos; chimpanzees; feeding competition; fission–fusion; predation risk; sociality; Behavioral Science & Comparative Psychology; 0602 Ecology; 0603 Evolutionary Biology; 0608 Zoology
Subjects:	Q Science > QH Natural history Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology Q Science > QL Zoology
Divisions:	Biological & Environmental Sciences (from Sep 19)
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
SWORD Depositor:	A Symplectic
Date Deposited:	20 Jul 2022 12:05
Last Modified:	20 Jul 2022 12:16
DOI or ID number:	10.1093/beheco/araa130
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16949

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