Study On Social Relationships Of Adult Males In Taihangshan Macaques(Macaca Mulatta Tcheliensis)

Most species of non-human primates are social-living,and the complex social relationship are based on various social behaviors such as social grooming and agonistic behaviors.Given the reproductive costs for males in most non-human primates are lower than that of the females,therefore,study on the social relationships of adult males is a hot topic in primatological socioecology.In this study,a free-ranging group of Taihangshan macaques(Wulongkou-1 A group,WLK-1 A)was assigned as the objectives,and then 1)the activity time budget of WLK-lA was investigated using scan-sampling and instantaneous recording method,and 2)social networks between adult males and adult females and immatures were constructed and analyzed.The main results were as follows:1.Time budget of major social behaviors of adult male Taihangshan macaquesFrom October 2017 to November 2019,the analyses of time budget of adult males'major social behaviors in WLK-1 A group demonstrated that:1)There was no significant bias in sampling efforts between 2017.10-2018.09 and 2018.12-2019.11 which could mislead the analyses,suggesting the combinative analyses would be workable;2)the time of higher proportion for grooming and agonistic behaviors was November 2017 during 2017-2018 period and August and November 2019 during 2018-2019 period,and October and November 2017 during 2017-2018 period and May and October 2019 during 2018-2019 period,while the proportion for mating/mounting behaviors was very low and distributed dyring early winter of 2018 and autumn of 2019,but no regular pattern was detected for playing behavior;3)the proportion of agonistic behavior in autumn was higher thant that of the other seasons,but there were no obvious pattern for grooming,mating/mounting and playing behaviors.2.Relationship between adult males and adult females in Taihangshan MacaquesFrom November 2018 to November 2019,the social network between adult males and females in WLK-1A group was analyzed,and the main findings included that:1)The social rank of adult males was relatively stable,which could show rank changes between mating and non-mating periods,and social rank increased with male's age;2)There were no significant correlation between social rank and degree centrality based on agonistic behavior;3)After the mating period,adult male would groom the corresponding adult female during the following non-mating period,while the frequency of agonistic behavior was not lower than that of previous mating behavior,suggesting‘benefit first,then compensate';4)The grooming initiated by adult males during non-mating period could benefit males to increase the mating chance,indicating'invest first,then harvest';5)The grooming investment of adult males during non-mating period may reduce the risk accompanied with agonistic behavior;6)The adult male during the non-mating period groomed more to the adult female,then this female would most likely prefered by the male during mating season.3.Relationship between adult males and immatures in Taihangshan macaquesFrom November 2018 to November 2019,the social network between adult males and immatures based on grooming and affiliative behaviors were investigated,and the main findings included that:1)The grooming frequency initiated by adult males to immatures during mating period was significantly lower than that of the it during non-mating period(p<0.05);2)There was no obvious bias for adult male to specific immatures during the three divided periods;3)There were no significant difference in the frequency of affiliative behaviors between adult males and immatures between non-mating period and mating period(p>0.05).In summary,this study demonstrated that the social network of adult male and female Taihangshan macaques was driven by reproduction,while the social network of adult males and immatures may indicate 'paternal care'.