| Embracing behavior is a widespread social behavior in most species,which from arthropods,amphibians and primates.Embracing behavior is a special and important greeting in non-human primates,it is usually manifested by showing individuals'abdomens each other,arms around each other's body and head close to each other.It is also considered as an important way of post-conflict reconciliation.However,recent studies suggest that the types,the influencing factors and the functions of embracing behaviors are different between intraspecific and interspecific.We studied one group of free-ranging Tibetan macaque(Macaca thibetana)from August 2017 to May 2018 at Mt.Huangshan.In this study,we recorded embracing behavior by the focal animal sampling,behavioral sampling and continuous recording methods.We analyzed the influencing factors and explored the social function of embracing behavior.Our research can provide basic data for functional differentiation of embracing behavior in primates and important theoretical basis for the maintenance mechanism of social relationships.It also can provide a new perspective on how to effectively maintain social relationships in human society.Our research suggest that there were three types of embracing behavior:Embrace without touching genital(EWG),Embrace with touching genital(ETG)and Embrace with licking genital(ELG),The EWG occurred 115 times,the ETG was the most frequent type(N?139),while genital licking was the least one(N=14).There were significant differences in the distribution of three types of embracing behavior during mating and non-mating seasons(x2?4.301,df?1,P=0.038).There was no significant difference between EWG(P=0.388)and ELG(P?0.958)across mating and non-mating seasons.There was a significant difference in the type of ETG between mating and non-mating seasons(P?0.022).The distribution of three types of embrace behavior in thecontext was significantly different(x2?25.501,df=2,P<0.001).The EWG(P<0.001)and ETG(P=0.01)were significantly higher in non-conflict context than in the conflict.The type of E LG was only found in non-conflict context.Three types of embrace behavior were significantly difl"erenct in the distribution of individual states after occurrence(x2 = 61.329,df=3,P<0.001).After the occurrence of the EWG,the participants preferred to social grooming(P=0.036).The ETG after the occurrence of the co-feeding between participants but no significant preference(P=0.075).After the type of ELG occurred,they engaged proximity most frequently,but there was no significant difference(P=0.672).Embracing behavior was related to age-class.The EWG mainly occurred in the sub-adult age class,the ETG mainly occurred in the adult individuals,and the ELG was only found in the individuals whose age from 4 to 8 years.As age increased,the EWG decreased(r?-0.844,P= 0.035)and the ETG increased(r=0.910,P= 0.012).Embracing behavior was also related to individual's social rank.Among the adult individuals,the embracing behavior showed the direction from high rank to low rank.The higher the rank was,the more embraces were accepted(r=0.791,P?0.001).The increase of individual rank could significantly increase the frequency of receiving embraces(Z=-2.654,P=0.009).Embraces also were occured frequently among those similar rank individuals.Embracing behavior was related to the social relationship between individuals.This study showed that the more frequent embraces between individuals,the closer the social relationship was(r=0.738,P?0.003).The results of this study supported that embracing has the function of post-conflict reconciliatory,and confirm the function of the expression of social rank recognization and the enhancement of social bonds. |
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