AJP November 2018

'''Brown, M., & Waser, P. M. (2018). Group movements in response to competitors’ calls indicate conflicts of interest between male and female grey‐cheeked mangabeys. American Journal of Primatology, 80, e22918.'''

Inter-group calling serves to exchange information between groups of neighboring nonhuman primates. Long-distance calling can inform on group composition, dominance, mate and food availability, and range. Groups may make navigational decisions based on these calls, using them to determine whether to approach or to avoid the calling group. Brown and Water (2018) analyzed the calling patterns of two groups of mangabeys and whether group density and/ or food availability influenced responses to callings. It was found that callings from a neighboring group had little impact on the direction of travel, though the monkeys did tend to reduce their pace for a time. In previous findings, groups containing females in estrous tended to avoid neighboring groups. However, the current study found the opposite was true for the mangabeys, suggesting that females may have exerted greater influence over the traveling direction of the group, leaving the males with little control over decisions to approach or avoid neighboring groups. The authors posit that while long-distance inter-group calling can influence travel direction of neighboring groups, it may be more complex than previously thought, with responses to such calls depending on differences in male and female preferences as well as context.