Grooming as a reward? Social function of grooming between females in cooperatively breeding marmosets

• Published in: Animal behaviour Vol. 67; no. 4; pp. 627 - 636
• Main Authors: Lazaro-Perea, Cristina, Arruda, Maria de Fátima, Snowdon, Charles T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kent Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2004; Elsevier; Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Ltd
• Subjects: Animal behavior; Animal ethology; Biological and medical sciences; Callithrix jacchus; Females; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Mammalia; Monkeys & apes; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Vertebrata; South America; Brazil; America; Grooming behavior; Callithrix jacchus; Social structure; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Social behavior; Social dominance; Cooperative breeding; Social interaction; Primates; Simioidea; Reward; Aggressiveness; Field study
• ISSN: 0003-3472; 1095-8282
• DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.06.004

Classical models of grooming predict that subordinate primates will direct grooming towards dominants to receive coalitionary support from them. In contrast, recent reviews suggest that grooming asymmetries can change with social system and ecological conditions and should reflect asymmetries in services provided by different members of the dyad. We studied grooming patterns between females in six wild groups of common marmosets, Callithrix jacchus, to investigate the relation between social structure and grooming between females in a cooperatively breeding species. We observed grooming frequently and consistently in all study groups. Breeding females groomed nonbreeding females more than vice versa, and grooming between breeding and nonbreeding females was not related to agonistic behaviour. Our results provide some support to the hypothesis that grooming asymmetries are related to differences in services provided by different group members. We suggest that, in cooperatively breeding systems, breeding females may use grooming as an incentive for helper females to stay in the group.