Male monkeys use punishment and coercion to de-escalate costly intergroup fights.

ABSTRACT: In numerous social species, males direct aggression towards female group members during intergroup fights, and this behaviour is commonly thought to function as mate guarding, even though males often target non-receptive females. In studying intergroup fights in a wild population of vervet monkeys, we found that male intragroup aggression was primarily directed towards individuals who had either just finished exhibiting, or were currently attempting to instigate intergroup aggression. Targeted females were less likely to instigate intergroup aggression in the future, indicating that male intragroup aggression functioned as coercion (when directed towards those who were currently trying to instigate a fight) and punishment (when directed towards those who had recently fought). These manipul

SUBMITTER: Arseneau-Robar TJM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6015864 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature