ScienceDaily (July 31, 2012) — Behavioral scientists of the German Primate Center cooperating with colleagues of the Universities of Portsmouth and Bogor have found out that crested macaques react faster if threatened by predators when a group member they share close social bonds with calls for help. In order to study this behavior, the scientists led by Antje Engelhardt, head of the junior research group Primate Sexual Selection, recorded recruiting calls of the monkeys. The macaques utter them, when predators like pythons are in sight.
By these calls they attract group members, which cooperatively drive the snake away. Hereafter the scientists replayed the recordings to different individuals of the group in order to document their reactions. Calls of "friends" as well as calls of less close group members were played to the macaques. When they heard calls of befriended monkeys, they reacted substantially faster than to the other calls. The study also sheds light on the evolution of social relationships in humans, the researchers conclude.
Contiuned: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120731201210.htm
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