Monkey See, Monkey Do...
It seems that we are more similar to our primate counterparts than we think - This study suggest that humans are not alone in our sneaky nature
It seems that we are more similar to our primate counterparts than we think - This study suggest that humans are not alone in our sneaky nature
Monkey business is not confined to humans, a study at the University of Free State (UFS) in South Africa has found. Research on gelada monkeys from Ethiopia found that, not only do they cheat on their partners, but they try to cover their tracks to avoid getting beaten up by an angry boyfriend. The gelada monkey, also known as the "bleeding-heart baboon," has now given us the first concrete proof that humans are not unique in sneaky infidelity.
“Cheating is not a uniquely human behaviour,” says researcher Dr Aliza le Roux from the Department of Zoology and Entomology at the QwaQwa Campus of the UFS. Together with a group of researchers from the Universities of Michigan and Pennsylvania, she studied the behaviour of a group of these Ethiopian simians. “We also found the first solid evidence that monkeys tried to disguise their cheating, and that there was punishment if they were caught,” she said.
This study formed a small part of Dr le Roux's postdoctoral research at the University of Michigan, where researchers have established a long-term field project investigating gelada behaviour, hormones, communication and cognition. Geladas are quite unusual in the primate world, not only for their enormous group sizes (over 700 individuals forage together), but also for a certain lack of social intelligence. Males appear to only recognize their closest partners and nobody else. “It was therefore a surprise to discover that geladas hide their misdemeanours from others,” says le Roux. “To not only cheat, but to time your cheating so that the dominant male won't see you, AND then to surpress your cries of joy... all of this takes a bit of brain power.”
“We found that the low ranking follower males often try to mate with females outside the natural pecking order of a troop,” continues le Roux. “This is not so unusual. What is unusual, is that the monkeys changed their behaviour in order to escape the consequences of discovery by the dominant male. The problem for these monkeys is that their living space is open and treeless, so they can't simply duck behind a bush. The sneaky males and females would try to deceive the leader males by waiting until just the right moment -- when he's far away -- to get it on. Then they would suppress their natural mating cries (which are loud, unmistakeable calls) and try to get it all over and done with in under 30 seconds.”
On top of this discovery of deception, the research team also noticed that leader males punished cheaters -- in almost 20% of the cases, cheaters were attacked by the dominant monkey.
“This is something that we, as humans, fully understand,” says le Roux, “because cheating, deception and punishment is common in human society. Surprisingly, punishment is almost never found in non-human animals. Most aggression is simply competition, instead of punishment. This study was therefore highly unusual in describing not only sneaky sex in monkeys, but the severe consequences of being caught.”
According to le Roux, is it likely that deception and punishment are common across the animal kingdom -- it is just very difficult to find solid proof of their existence. "For us, the open habitat was a bonus, because we could see everything that was happening. In other primate species, cheaters can easily hide behind a bush, out of sight of the dominants as well as the researchers."
“This study suggest that humans are not alone in our sneaky nature. And it is probably only a matter of time before we prove that fish, birds, bees, and even the cutest little otter probably all love to monkey around this way.”
- University of the Free State