Abstract
Field studies in various species ofMacaca (Cercopithecidae) provided evidence for specific visual displays that typically accompany playful interactions. The aim of our study was to examine whether and when playing individuals would use auditory displays, i.e. vocalizations that often occur during social play as well. The study was conducted on a population of semi-free Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) with a special focus on the composition and dynamics of playful wrestling (synonymous term: ‘rough-and-tumble play’). Analyses of dyadic encounters between subadult males allowed us to distinguish five types of playful behaviours and three types of vocalizations. The latter were clearly linked to encounters where effects of visual signals were impaired, e.g. during close body contact. During wrestling, vocalizations tended to increase in the beginning of an encounter, whereas the last seconds of wrestling often showed a decline in vocalization rate. Our results allowed us to conclude that these vocalizations may supplement or in many cases even substitute interactional effects of visual signals, e.g. the ‘play face.’
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Aldis, O. 1975.Play Fighting. Academic Press, New York.
Bekoff, M. 1974. Social play and play-soliciting by infant canids.Amer. Zool., 14: 323–340.
Bekoff, M. 1977. Social communication in canids: evidence for the evolution of a stereotyped mammalian display.Science, 197: 1097–1099.
Bekoff, M. 1995. Play signals as punctuation: the structure of social play in canids.Behaviour, 132: 419–429.
Bekoff, M.;Allen, C. 1998. Intentional communication and social play: how and why animals negotiate and agree to play. In:Animal Play: Evolutionary, Comparative, and Ecological Perspectives,Bekoff,M.;Byers,J. A. (eds.), Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, pp. 97–114.
Bekoff, M.;Byers, J. A. 1998.Animal Play: Evolutionary, Comparative, and Ecological Perspectives. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge.
Biben, M. 1998. Squirrel monkey play fighting: making the case for a cognitive training function for play. In:Animal Play: Evolutionary, Comparative, and Ecological Perspectives,Bekoff,M.;Byers,J. A. (eds.), Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, pp. 161–182.
Biben, M.;Symmes, D. 1986. Play vocalizations of squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus).Folia Primatol., 46: 173–182.
Biben, M.;Symmes, D.;Bernhards, D. 1989. Vigilance during play in squirrel monkeys.Amer. J. Primatol., 17: 41–49.
Burton, F. D. 1972. The integration of biology and behavior in the socialization ofMacaca sylvana of Gibraltar. In:Primate Socialization,Poirier,F. (ed.), Random House, New York, pp. 29–62.
Byers, J. A. 1998. Biological effects of locomotor play: getting into shape, or something more specific? In:Animal Play: Evolutionary, Comparative, and Ecological Perspectives,Bekoff,M.;Byers,J. A. (eds.), Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, pp. 205–220.
Caine, N.;Mitchell, G. 1979. A review of play in the genusMacaca: social correlates.Primates, 20: 535–546.
Chalmers, N. R. 1980. The ontogeny of play in feral olive baboons (Papio anubis).Anim. Behav., 28: 570–585.
Chevalier-Skolnikoff, S. 1974. The primate play face: a possible key to the determinants and evolution of play.Rice Univ. Studies, 60: 9–29.
Fagen, R. 1981.Animal Play Behavior. Oxford Univ. Press, New York & Oxford.
Fagen, R. 1993. Primate juveniles and primate play. In:Juvenile Primates: Life History, Development, and Behavior,Pereira,M. E.;Fairbanks,L. A. (eds.), Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, pp. 182–196.
Fischer, J.;Hammerschmidt, K.;Todt, D. 1995. Factors affecting acoustic variation in Barbary-macaque (Macaca sylvanus) disturbance calls.Ethology, 101: 51–66.
Freytag-Grunert, H. 1989. Sozialspiel bei Berberaffen (Macaca sylvanus). Ph.D. dis., Univ. Osnabrück, Osnabrück.
Goedeking, P. 1988. Vocal play behavior in cotton-top tamarins. In:Primate Vocal Communication,Todt,D.;Goedeking,P.;Symmes,D. (eds.), Springer-Verlag, Berlin & Heidelberg, pp. 133–141.
Goedeking, P.;Immelmann, K. 1986. Vocal cues in cotton-top tamarin play vocalizations.Ethology, 73: 219–224.
Hammerschmidt, K.;Fischer, J. 1997. The vocal repertoire of Barbary macaques: a quantitative analysis of a graded signal system.Ethology, 104: 203–216.
Hammerschmidt, K.;Todt, D. 1995. Individual differences in vocalizations of young Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus): a multi-parametric analysis to identify critical cues in acoustic signalling.Behaviour, 132: 381–399.
Hayaki, H. 1983. The social interactions of juvenile Japanese monkeys on Koshima Islet.Primates, 24: 139–153.
van Hooff, J. A. R. A. M. 1972. A comparative approach to the phylogeny of laughter and smile. In:Nonverbal Communication,Hinde,R. A. (ed.), Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, pp. 209–241.
Imakawa, S. 1990. Playmate relationships of immature free-ranging Japanese monkeys at Katsuyama.Primates, 31: 509–521.
Kipper, S.;Kaemmerer, R.;Todt, D. 1999. Experimental access to acoustic features in human laughter perception.Adv. Ethol. (Suppl.Ethol.), 34: 38.
Kipper, S.;Todt, D. 2001. Variation of sound parameters affects the evaluation of human laughter.Behaviour, 138: 1161–1178.
Martin, P.;Bateson, P. 1986.Measuring Behaviour: An Introductory Guide. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge.
Masataka, N.;Kohda, M. 1988. Primate play vocalizations and their functional significance.Folia Primatol., 50: 152–156.
Mendoza-Granados, D.;Sommer, V. 1995. Play in chimpanzees of the Arnhem Zoo: self-serving compromises.Primates, 36: 57–68.
Pellis, S. M.;Pellis, V. C. 1996. On knowing it’s only play: the role of play signals in play fighting.Aggr. Viol. Behav., 1: 249–268.
Pereira, M. E.;Preisser, M. C. 1998. Do strong primate players ‘self-handicap’ during competitive social play?Folia Primatol., 69: 177–180.
Poirier, F. E.;Smith, E. O. 1974. Socializing functions of primate play behavior.Amer. Zoologist, 14: 275–287.
Preuschoft, S. 1992. “Laughter” and “smile” in Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus).Ethology, 91: 220–236.
Provine, R.;Yong, Y. L. 1991. Laughter: a stereotyped human vocalization.Ethology, 89: 115–124.
Riechelmann, C.;Hultsch, H.;Todt, D. 1994. Early development of social relationships in Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus): trajectories of alloparental behaviour during an infant’s first three months of life. In:Current Primatology, Vol. 2,Roeder,J. J.;Thierry,B.;Anderson,J. R.;Herrenschmidt,N. (eds.), Univ. Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, pp. 279–286.
Schrader, L.;Hammerschmidt, K. 1997. Computer-aided analysis of acoustic parameters in animal vocalizations: a multi-parametric approach.Bioacoustics, 7: 247–265.
Siegel, S.;Castellan, N. J. 1988.Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences. McGraw-Hill, New York.
Smith, E. O. 1982. Does play matter? Functional and evolutionary aspects of animal and human play.Behav. Brain Sci., 5: 139–184.
Symons, D. 1978.Play and Aggression: A Study of Rhesus Monkeys. Columbia Univ. Press, New York.
Todt, D. 1986. Hinweis-Charakter und Mittlerfunktion von Verhalten.Z. Semiotik, 8/3: 183–232.
Todt, D. 1988. Serial calling as a mediator of interaction processes: crying in primates. In:Primate Vocal Communication,Todt,D.;Goedeking,P.;Symmes,D. (eds.), Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 88–107.
Todt, D. 1997. The codex of social play: a system of rules that can prevent ingroup violence.Schriften zur Rechtspsychologie, 3: 305–315.
Todt, D.;Hammerschmidt, K.;Ansorge, V.;Fischer, J. 1995. The vocal behaviour of Barbary macaques: call features and their performance in infants and adults. In:Current Topics in Primate Vocal Communication,Zimmermann,E.;Newman,J. D.;Jürgens,U. (eds.), Plenum Press, New York, pp. 141–160.
Todt, D.;Hammerschmidt, K.;Hultsch, H. 1992. The behaviour of Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus L. 1758): perspective and projects of a long-term study.Primate Report, 32: 19–30.
Todt, D.; Kipper, S. in press. Der Begriff Kommunikation in den Biowissenschaften. In:Signifikation: Beiträge zur Kommunikationswissenschaft, Nodus Publ., Münster.
Todt, D.;Naguib, M. 2000. Vocal interactions in birds: the use of song as a model of communication.Adv. Study Behav., 29: 247–296.
de Turckheim, G.;Merz, E. 1984. Breeding Barbary macaques in outdoor open enclosures. In:The Barbary Macaque: A Case Study in Conservation,Fa,J. F. (ed.), Plenum Press, New York, pp. 241–261.
Vettin, J.;Skirl, J.;Todt, D. 1999. From social play to tickling and laughter: a comparative approach.Adv. Ethol. (Suppl.Ethol.) 34: 37.
Will, A.;Todt, D. 1997. Exploration and social use of handy objects in Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus).Primate Report, 47: 65–72.
Zeller, A. C. 1986. A comparison of component patterns in threatening and friendly gestures inMacaca sylvanus of Gibraltar. In:Current Perspectives in Primate Social Dynamics,Taub,D. M. (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, pp. 487–504.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
About this article
Cite this article
Kipper, S., Todt, D. The use of vocal signals in the social play of barbary macaques. Primates 43, 3–17 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02629572
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02629572