The effects of kinship on structuring complex social networks: a cross-sectional study in mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx)
Final Report Abstract
Kinship is one of the major driving forces influencing social relationships and social networks in animal societies, and understanding its impact upon the evolution of sociality is one of the central goals in behavioural ecology. Our main objectives were to illuminate how kin selection shaped the society of wild mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) and to determine the fitness consequences of kin-related behaviour. As a result of widespread female philopatry and male natal dispersal, most studies of kin selection in primates have been restricted to relationships occurring between familiar maternal kin. However, there are numerous individuals related through the paternal line that are unfamiliar with each other because they are raised in different matrilineal families. Kin selection should, however, also affect social relationships that occur between paternal kin. In this project, we first examined the evidence for behavioural biases between unfamiliar paternal kin. Using a combination of long-term behavioural observations on a natural population of mandrills and up-to-date techniques (proximity data loggers), we are currently analysing the generated data to show that paternal kin do exhibit differentiated relationships compared to non-kin, in various socio-sexual contexts. Second, we have studied the proximate mechanisms responsible for kin discrimination. We could show that several phenotypes contain information about genetic relatedness between individuals (kin look more alike than nonkin) and that mandrills are capable of recognizing unfamiliar kin based on phenotypic cues alone, suggesting phenotype matching mechanisms. Finally, we are currently analysing the ultimate consequences of interacting with kin using a large panel of fitness proxies. With this project, we have contributed to the clarification of the role of kin selection in shaping complex animal societies and social networks.
Publications
- 2014. Age-related tooth wear differs between forest and savanna primates. PlosOne 9: e94938
Galbany J, Romero A, Mayo-Alesón M, Itsoma F, Gamarra B, Pérez-Pérez A, Willaume E, Kappeler PM, Charpentier MJE
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0094938) - 2014. The oxidative cost of unstable social dominance. Journal of Experimental Biology 217: 2629-2632
Beaulieu M, Mboumba S, Willaume E, Kappeler PM, Charpentier MJE
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.104851) - 2015. Environmental and individual determinants of parasite richness across seasons in a wild population of mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx). American Journal of Physical Anthropology 159: 442-456
Poirotte C, Basset D, Willaume E, Makaba F, Kappeler PM, Charpentier MJE
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.22888) - 2015. Social organization and space use of a wild mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) group. American Journal of Primatology 77:1036-1048
Brockmeyer T, Kappeler PM, Willaume E, Benoit L, Mboumba S, Charpentier MJE
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.22439) - 2015. Social shaping of voices does not impair phenotype matching of kinship in mandrills. Nature Communications 6: 7609
Levréro F, Carrete-Vega G, Herbert A, Lawabi I, Courtiol A, Willaume E, Kappeler PM, Charpentier MJE
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8609) - 2016. Morbid attraction to leopard urine in Toxoplasma-infected chimpanzees. Current Biology 26:98-99
Poirotte C, Kappeler PM, Ngoubangoye B, Bourgeois S, Moussodji M, Charpentier MJE
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.12.020)
