DOMINANCE STYLE OF JAPANESE MACAQUES COMPARED WITH RHESUS AND STUMPTAIL MACAQUES

In the present study, we seek to relate dominance style with group coh esion in a captive group of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). Social data were gathered on approach rate, result, and direction, aggressio n rate and intensity, grooming rate and direction, and conciliatory te ndency. Data were collected using focal animal sampling and instantane ous scan sampling. Reconciliation data were collected using ad libitum observations of aggression with ten-minute post-conflict and matched- control focal observations. Data were compared to prior studies on rhe sus (M. mulatta) and stumptail macaques (M. arctoides) living in simil ar environments. Each species demonstrated the presence of a formalize d dominance hierarchy based on the teeth-baring display. The Japanese macaque group showed a lower rate of approach with a higher proportion of negative outcomes than either of the other species. Rates of aggre ssion and reconciliation were also lower in the study troop, suggestin g a strict hierarchy while maintaining an optimal nearest-neighbor dis tance. Overall, this group of Japanese macaques was less sociable than other groups of the same species, perhaps due to a history of individ ual removals. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.