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Intergroup Transfer of Females and Social Relationships Between Immigrants and Residents in Bonobo (Pan paniscus) Societies

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Dispersing Primate Females

Part of the book series: Primatology Monographs ((PrimMono))

Abstract

This paper first reviews data collected from 1976 to 2013 regarding the life histories of members of the main E1 study group of bonobos (Pan paniscus) in Wamba. The E1 group exhibited strong tendencies toward female dispersal and male residence during the entire study period, thereby exemplifying the typical characteristics of a male-philopatric and female-dispersal society. This pattern did not change after the abandonment of artificial provisioning. We then present two new cases of immigrant females, focusing especially on social association patterns, dominance relationships, and affiliative interactions during the approximate 2.5 years from the time of their immigration to their first birth. These females began engaging in social grooming with resident females immediately after their arrival but rarely did so with adult males, suggesting that they regard social bonding with females as more important than that with males. They also emigrated at a young age and frequently engaged in social play. Indeed, social bonding established through frequent social play may be related to the development of socially symmetrical relationships, which are the basis for the egalitarian bonobo society. Intragroup competition for food and mates was unlikely explanations for the tendency toward female dispersal. However, male residence and the risk of father–daughter incest may encourage female transfer among bonobos.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by the Japan Ministry of the Environment Global Environment Research Fund (F-061 to Nishida; D-1007 to Furuichi), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (21255006 to Ihobe; 22255007 to Furuichi), JSPS Asia–Africa Science Platform Program (2009–2011, 2012–2014 to Furuichi), JSPS HOPE project of the Primate Research Institute (PRI) of Kyoto University (to Matsuzawa), US Fish and Wildlife Service Assistance Award (96200-0-G017 to the African Wildlife Foundation), Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology in Japan special grant (“Human Evolution”), and JSPS Grants-in-Aid for Strategic Young Researcher Overseas Visits Program for Accelerating Brain Circulation (to PRI, Kyoto University). We thank Mr. I. Monkengo and Dr. N. Mwanza of the Research Center for Ecology and Forestry; Mr. F. Bukasa of the Ministry of Scientific Research and Technology in the DRC for research permits and logistical support; Mrs. B. Luunga, B. Bokamba, I. Bafanande, B. Likombe, N. Isoluka, E. Besao, and other workers and villagers at Wamba for collecting data and cooperating with our study; members of the Department of Biology of Meiji Gakuin University and PRI of Kyoto University; and the late Drs. T. Nishida, T. Matsuzawa, S. Kuroda, G. Idani, H. Ihobe, D. Kimura, C. Hashimoto, Y. Tashiro, and Y. Tsuji for support and encouragement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Social Behavior, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, 41-2 Kanrin, Inuyama, Aichi, 484-8506, Japan

    Tetsuya Sakamaki, Heungjin Ryu, Hiroyuki Takemoto, Nahoko Tokuyama & Takeshi Furuichi

  2. Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Isabel Behncke

  3. Laboratoire EthoS Ethologie Animale et Humaine, UMR 6552, Université de Rennes 1, Rennes, France

    Marion Laporte

  4. Research Center for Ecology and Forestry, Ministry of Scientific Research and Technology, Mabali, Equateur, Democratic Republic of the Congo

    Mbangi Mulavwa

  5. Graduate School of Intercultural Studies, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan

    Shinya Yamamoto

  6. Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Shinya Yamamoto

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  1. Tetsuya Sakamaki
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  2. Isabel Behncke
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  3. Marion Laporte
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  4. Mbangi Mulavwa
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  6. Hiroyuki Takemoto
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  7. Nahoko Tokuyama
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  8. Shinya Yamamoto
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  9. Takeshi Furuichi
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Correspondence to Tetsuya Sakamaki .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Social Behavior, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan

    Takeshi Furuichi

  2. Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Juichi Yamagiwa

  3. Instituto de Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico

    Filippo Aureli

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Sakamaki, T. et al. (2015). Intergroup Transfer of Females and Social Relationships Between Immigrants and Residents in Bonobo (Pan paniscus) Societies. In: Furuichi, T., Yamagiwa, J., Aureli, F. (eds) Dispersing Primate Females. Primatology Monographs. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55480-6_6

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