Abstracts of Presentations, Twenty-Second Annual Meeting, The American Society of Primatologists

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 158 KB
• Volume: 49
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0275-2565
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-2345(1999)49:1<71::aid-ajp5>3.0.co;2-n

✦ Synopsis

An experimental test of dominance was performed in wild golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia). A prized food item in a small container was placed in contention among group members. After group members approached the container, the individual that obtained the item and maintained it was considered the winner. Any aggression or food sharing was also recorded. Three hypotheses were forwarded: that within the reproductive pair, the animal that first settled on the territory would win more often; that females would win more often after the birth of infants, because of increased motivation due to the energetic burden of lactation; and that dominance between same-sexed animals would correspond to their reproductive dominance statuses. The animal that first settled on the territory did dominate in this experiment, regardless of whether it was male or female (n=6 groups, 60 observations, p<.05). Females did not win more often after the birth of infants. Dominance between same-sexed animals did not necessarily correspond to their reproductive statuses within the group. In males, dominance patterns corresponded to which animal had settled first on the territory, while reproductive status appeared to be more important than other factors in determining dominance among females. The idea of territory ownership in relationship to dominance may be important in the study of mammals living in small groups.