Loading...
Publication
Exploring greetings and leave-takings: communication during arrivals and departures by chimpanzees of the Bossou community, Guinea
| Name: | Description: | Size: | Format: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.43 MB | Adobe PDF |
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
In human fission–fusion societies, ritualized non-linguistic signal exchanges that include gestures, vocalizations, and facial
expressions are regularly observed at both arrivals (greetings) and departures (leave-takings). These communicative events
play an important role in the formation and maintenance of social relationships. Wild chimpanzees also form large communities
that split into smaller fluid parties during daily activities, with individuals moving freely between them. However,
in chimpanzees only greetings have been reported. This study explores signal exchanges in the Bossou chimpanzee community
during fissions (departures) and fusions (arrivals) given an individual’s social rank, kinship, position as traveller or
party-member, the level of potential threat, and the party size and presence of mature males. We analysed three time periods
(1993–1994; 2003–2004; 2013–2014) during which the composition and social hierarchy of the community varied. We show
that the occurrence and form of communication during fission and fusion events are mediated by social factors, including
rank, kinship, and party size and composition. Individuals were more likely to communicate during fusions than during fissions,
communication was more likely to be produced towards a higher-ranking individual and to non-kin individuals, but
the tendency to communicate in general increased with an increase in social rank. The presence of more individuals, and
in particular mature males, decreased the likelihood of communication. Communication during fusions supported patterns
reported in previous studies on greetings, and our results support the argument that, if present, leave-takings are not a common
feature of chimpanzee social interactions. Current methodological difficulties regarding the function of declarative signals
hinder our ability to discriminate potential parting rituals within communication before departures. Given similar methodological
difficulties, we also provide a note of caution in the interpretation of all signals produced during fusions as ‘greetings’.
Description
Keywords
Pan troglodytes Communication Greetings Leave-takings Fission–fusion
Citation
Rodrigues, E. D., Santos, A. J., Hayashi, M., Matsuzawa, T., & Hobaiter, C. (2021). Exploring greetings and leave-takings: communication during arrivals and departures by chimpanzees of the Bossou community, Guinea. Primates; Journal of Primatology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-021-00957-z
Publisher
Springer Verlag