Introduction

The objective of the project is to study the links between sociality and reproduction in crested macaques, a highly social primate species.

Despite its cost in terms of competition for resources and transmission of parasites/pathogens, sociality (social interactions and relationships between individuals) is beneficial to individuals. In both human and animal societies, individuals who have strong, balanced or enduring social relationships are generally healthier, live longer or have more children. These special social relationships are formed especially between individuals who are related or have similar characteristics in age or social status. However, cultivating a broad social network, not just with relatives, is also beneficial.
These variations in sociality are related to variations in reproductive success at the individual level, but reproductive success is also transmitted socially: individuals with high social status produce more offspring that have a fitness advantage. The role of individuals in their social network (hierarchical rank, social status) is transgenerational and heritable, but also strongly dependent on social support from peers. There are thus 2 non-independent components – genetic and social – in primate social networks. In species with heightened sociality, such as humans or crested macaques, where kinship is not the only factor structuring social relationships, these 2 components are highly intertwined. Distinguishing between them requires long-term, high-resolution data.
We study monkeys in the wild, we must establish kinship genetically (no pedigree) and observe the behavior of monkeys on site. The data are therefore characterized by a low resolution. Analytical protocols exist, or have been under development by our teams for several years, to overcome this, e.g., fecal DNA capture-enrichment and whole genome sequencing, or Bayesian dynamic analysis of social networks.

Proposed actions:
Action 1: establish genetic relatedness from whole genome sequencing (WGS).
Action 2 : study the relationship between sociality and reproduction
Action 3: maintain and strengthen collaboration

Academic partners

France

UMR7206 Eco-anthropologie (CNRS / MNHN)

Indonesia

Biosystematics and Animal Ecology Unit, Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB) University, Bogor, Indonesia

Germany

Institute of Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Leipzig, Leipzig

German Primate Centre, Göttingen

Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig