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  • From: "Josh Greenman" <josh.greenman AT gmail.com>
  • To: "monkeywire AT lists.ibiblio.org" <monkeywire AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [monkeywire] Peaceful monkeys chill out before the feeding frenzy
  • Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2010 23:25:46 +0000

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627623.200-peaceful-monkeys-chill-out-before-the-feeding-frenzy.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

Peaceful monkeys chill out before the feeding frenzy

29 May 2010

IF YOU think a fight is about to kick off, you might try to calm everyone
down and defuse the tension. Some monkeys do the same thing.

Tufted capuchin monkeys can anticipate situations that are likely to cause
fights, and pre-emptively groom each other to prevent them.

Eugenia Polizzi di Sorrentino of Liverpool John Moores University, UK, and
colleagues studied a group of captive tufted capuchins. They were fed at the
same time every day, leading to squabbles over the food.

The team found that the monkeys groomed each other much more in the 30
minutes before feeding time, and that this led to fewer attacks during
feeding (Animal Behaviour, DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2010.04.008). Subordinate
monkeys groomed dominants to get permission to feed next to them, and
dominants groomed subordinates as a signal that they would tolerate them.

Phyllis Lee of the University of Stirling, UK, thinks the findings provide
evidence that the monkeys can plan for the future. "They're anticipating a
social stressor and taking action to prevent it," Lee says.

Polizzi di Sorrentino disagrees. The capuchins are anticipating a future
source of stress, becoming stressed about it in advance, and then grooming
each other to relieve the tension, she says.



  • [monkeywire] Peaceful monkeys chill out before the feeding frenzy, Josh Greenman, 06/06/2010

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