Socio-Sexual Communication: A Review of the Sensory Modalities Used by Non-Human Primates

Moreira, Laís Alves Antonio; Pessoa, Daniel Marques Almeida; Sousa, Maria Bernardete Cordeiro de

doi:10.4257/oeco.2013.1702.10

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 119 publications

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“…Ziegler () associates parental care with the communication system existing between the dominant female and male. Accordingly, the male is hormonally prepared to take care of the infants at their birth (Ziegler, ; see also Snowdon et al, ; Moreira et al, , Fig. ).…”

Section: Reproduction and Parental Carementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Like all primates, common marmosets use four signaling channels for social interactions: acoustic, visual, olfactory (chemical), and tactile (Moreira et al, ). It seems clear that no one channel can be efficiently used in all circumstances because each has advantages and drawbacks according to its characteristics and to the situation in which it is used.…”

Section: Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are only a few studies on tactile communication in the non‐human primate literature (Moreira et al, ). The lack of research on this topic is clear, although Stevenson and Poole () have described 11 ways of communication through this channel (e.g., allogrooming, face nuzzling, licking, body rubbing, hugging, snap biting; for a more comprehensive list see also Stevenson and Rylands, ).…”

Section: Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The common marmoset: An overview of its natural history, ecology and behavior

Schiel

Souto

2016

Developmental Neurobiology

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Callithrix jacchus are small-bodied Neotropical primates popularly known as common marmosets. They are endemic to Northeast Brazil and occur in contrasting environments such as the humid Atlantic Forest and the dry scrub forest of the Caatinga. Common marmosets live in social groups, usually containing only one breeding pair. These primates have a parental care system in which individuals help by providing assistance to the infants even when they are not related to them. Free-ranging groups use relatively small home ranges (0.5-5 hectares) and have an omnivorous diet. Because of the shape of their teeth, they actively gouge tree bark to extract and consume exudates. When foraging for live prey, they adjust their strategy according to the type of prey. The successful use of appropriate hunting strategies depends not only on age but also on prey type and seems to be mediated by learning and experience. Indeed, common marmosets have shown unexpected cognitive abilities, such as true imitation. All these aspects seem to have contributed to the ecological success of this species. Callithrix jacchus has been widely studied, especially in captivity; even so, a number of questions remain to be answered about its biology, ecology, and behavior, both in captivity and the wild. A richer understanding of marmosets' natural behavior and ecology can have a significant impact on shaping ongoing and future neuroscience research. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 77: 244-262, 2017.

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Section: Reproduction and Parental Carementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The common marmoset: An overview of its natural history, ecology and behavior

Schiel

Souto

2016

Developmental Neurobiology

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“…As social animals, primates use different sensory modalities (e.g. acoustic, chemical, tactile and visual) to convey information about social and sexual status to conspecifics [ 1 , 2 ]. Among these modalities, visual signals are widely used, especially color signals, since primates are the mammalian group that displays the greatest variety of colors in their skin and fur [ 3 ] and carries the best color vision [ 4 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among mammals, primates exhibit striking examples of skin and pelage color variation [ 2 , 3 ]. The role of hormones in modifying hue, luminance, size and texture of external genitalia is well documented for Old World primates [ 38 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parturition Signaling by Visual Cues in Female Marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)

et al. 2015

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New World monkeys have polymorphic color vision, in which all males and some females are dichromats, while most females are trichromats. There is little consensus about which selective pressures fashioned primate color vision, although detection of food, mates and predators has been hypothesized. Behavioral evidence shows that males from different species of Neotropical primates seem to perceive the timing of female conception and gestation, although, no signals fulfilling this function have been identified. Therefore, we used visual models to test the hypothesis that female marmosets show chromatic and/or achromatic cues that may indicate the time of parturition for male and female conspecifics. By recording the reflectance spectra of female marmosets’ (Callithrix jacchus) sexual skin, and running chromatic and achromatic discrimination models, we found that both variables fluctuate during the weeks that precede and succeed parturition, forming “U” and inverted “U” patterns for chromatic and achromatic contrast, respectively. We suggest that variation in skin chroma and luminance might be used by female helpers and dominant females to identify the timing of birth, while achromatic variations may be used as clues by potential fathers to identify pregnancy stage in females and prepare for paternal burdens as well as to detect oestrus in the early post-partum period.

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Evaluating genital skin color as a putative sexual signal in wild saddleback (Leontocebus weddelli) and emperor (Saguinus imperator) tamarins

Moreira

Watsa

Erkenswick

et al. 2022

American J Primatol

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Coevolution between signalers and receivers has played a significant role in the diversity of animal signals and sensory systems. Platyrrhines (monkeys in the Americas) exhibit a remarkable color vision polymorphism that may have been selected by both natural and sexual selection, but sociosexual color signaling among platyrrhines has received almost no attention. Here, we study the color of reproductive skin among different reproductive classes in free-ranging female saddleback (Leontocebus weddelli) and emperor (Saguinus imperator) tamarins, modeling color spaces, and contrasts for the different visual systems. We find that the chromatic saturation and luminance of genital color vary between reproductive classes in saddleback tamarins. Chromatic contrast between the vulva and belly is lower in the parous females (PFs) relative to adult but not currently breeding females, while achromatic contrast is higher in PFs in saddleback tamarins relative to nonparous females. However, in emperor tamarins, genital color (saturation, hue, and luminance) does not vary between reproductive classes. Overall, genital skin color variation is present in tamarins and may play a role in sexual signaling. Nevertheless, the patterns are inconsistent between species, suggesting interspecific variation. Future studies should integrate the perceiver's behavioral responses and the physical and social signaling environments into comprehensive studies of communication as well as consider the role and interaction between multiple sensory modalities.

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Socio-Sexual Communication: A Review of the Sensory Modalities Used by Non-Human Primates

Abstract: Among the major modalities of communication used by vertebrates (acoustic, visual, chemical, tactile, electrical), primates can produce and receive signals from four of these: acoustic, chemical, visual and tactile (Maryanski 1997). Acoustic communication involves

Cited by 11 publications

References 119 publications

The common marmoset: An overview of its natural history, ecology and behavior

The common marmoset: An overview of its natural history, ecology and behavior

Parturition Signaling by Visual Cues in Female Marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)

Evaluating genital skin color as a putative sexual signal in wild saddleback (Leontocebus weddelli) and emperor (Saguinus imperator) tamarins

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