Structural Architecture of the Social Network of a Non-Human Primate (Macaca sylvanus): A Study of Its Topology in La Forêt des Singes, Rocamadour

Abstract

For a decade, technological or natural networks have appeared to have a common mathematical architecture. This type of architecture has a node connectivity which follows a power law distribution. This architecture confers to these networks a resistance property to the loss of nodes. Such properties are advantageous for evolutional networks through time. Thus, this architecture can be expected in animal social networks. Another characteristic commonly met concerns the structuration of the network into communities by the mechanism of assortative mixing by vertex degree (i.e. by the number of ties individuals have). Such a structure is a reflection of evolutional mechanisms: the preferential attachment and the triadic closure processes. Using recent analytical techniques on an affiliative social network in a non-human primate species (Macaca sylvanus), we analysed the mathematical architecture and its properties. We demonstrate that in spite of the use of a recent protocol supposed to permit this type of analysis, the type of distribution cannot be clearly determined, encouraging us to carefully interpret the results obtained until then. Nevertheless, we observed interesting properties of the network at an ecological and evolutional level with network resilience that allows a cohesive society to be maintained even when faced with a catastrophe (high predation, epidemic).

The Influence of Gender, Age, Matriline and Hierarchical Rank on Individual Social Position, Role and Interactional Patterns in Macaca sylvanus at ‘La Forêt des Singes’: A Multilevel Social Network Approach

“…In addition, female matriline homophily results emphasize the relevance of kinship bonds among females in affiliative behaviors. Individuals with high centrality and activity thus preferentially contribute to the establishment of the global network structure ( Lusseau and Newman, 2004 ; Sosa, 2014 ) and cohesion of the group. In M. sylvanus , these key individuals are unquestionably the females.…”

A longitudinal network analysis of social dynamics in rookscorvus frugilegus: repeated group modifications do not affect social network in captive rooks

“…However, if numerous studies have investigated the variability of the social features according to internal and external pressures, very few examined the processes that stabilize the structures. To fully understand the diversity of forms taken by sociality, we must not only consider the processes that challenge social structures, but also those that ensure their coherence and continuity across time, group composition, generations, and environments ( Thierry 2007 ; Jacobs and Petit 2011 ; Sosa 2014 ).…”

“…This heterogeneity probably has two main consequences: firstly, all individuals will contribute differently to the network cohesion, and secondly, it should ensure the assimilation of new individuals within the network without damaging its global cohesion ( Barabási and Albert 1999 ; Lusseau 2003 ). In addition, such structures are also expected to be highly resilient to the random removal of group members ( Lusseau 2003 ; Manno 2008 ; Sosa 2014 ). PA and TC could thus be particularly interesting to investigate in highly social species facing constant perturbations or modifications of the group composition.…”

Social networks dynamics revealed by temporal analysis: An example in a non‐human primate (Macaca sylvanus) in “La Forêt des Singes”

“…These include tolerance behaviors (which allow conspecific to gather), agonistic behaviors (used for the management of conflicts), and affiliative behaviors, which enable the construction of a cohesive social structure (Aureli & de Waal, ). Several authors have already underlined the crucial importance of gaining an understanding of the evolutionary processes and adaptive mechanisms via which social cohesion in animal societies is maintained (Kanngiesser, Sueur, Riedl, Grossmann, & Call, ; Lusseau, ; Manno, ; Sosa, ). Affiliative behaviors are known to allow group cohesion (i.e., reciprocal mutualism) (Clutton‐Brock, ), and also to enable the creation of coalition relationships between individuals (e.g., allogrooming behavior) (De Waal, ; De Waal & van Roosmalen, ; Seyfarth & Cheney, ), consequently influencing rank acquisition (De Waal, ; De Waal & Roosmalen, ; Flack, Girvan, De Waal, & Krakauer, ; Seyfarth & Cheney, ).…”

“…This makes the temporal study of animal social networks an essential step in understanding how these complex social systems handle such dynamic processes. For example, through the study of the overall network structure, we can understand how it influences the transmission of information and/or diseases (Romano et al, ), revealing how evolution may shape animal societies to optimize species resilience (Kanngiesser et al, ; Lusseau, ; Sosa, ). Other studies aimed to understand how animal groups handle environmental variations such as meteorological changes and prey density variations over several years (Ilany, Booms, & Holekamp, ).…”