Golden Lion Tamarins

1
Golden Lion Tamarins

• Richard
• Edgar

2
Literature Review

• Knox (1989) who has also shown that agonistic
  interactions are much more frequent within dyads
  of individuals close in age (15).
• Hutchens and Barashs (1976) research on captive
  lion-tailed macaques, ring-tailed lemurs and
  Celebes black apes indicated that these animals
  performed more social grooming of areas which are
  inaccessible to self-grooming (147).
• The healthier the individuals in a group are, the
  stronger the group and its increased likelihood
  of survival. (Henzi Barratt, 1999, 50).
• Schino (2007) noted that while allogrooming might
  not necessarily confer a fitness advantage to an
  individual it would confer a fitness advantage
  to the entire family (117).

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Hypothesis

• It is hypothesized that grooming behaviors will
  occur most in the golden lion tamarins.
• Furthermore it is believed that more aggressive
  behaviors will be exhibited to the other animals
  in the enclosure compared to other golden lion
  tamarins.

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Methods

• Subjects
• Subjects consisted of four Golden Lion Tamarins
  from the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington
  D.C. The family of subjects included an adult
  male, an adult female, and two juvenile males.
• Procedure
• Subjects were observed via a web cam during two
  separate occasions for an hour each. The animals
  were then observed at the zoo for three hours.
  During this three-hour time period, aggressive
  and grooming behaviors were closely monitored and
  recorded using the ethogram.

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Results

• Grooming behavior was seen on average seven times
  per hour during the observation period
• Aggressive behaviors only occurred on average
  four times per hour
• On average the golden lion tamarins engaged in
  aggressive behaviors to other species three times
  per hour while only engaging in aggressive
  behaviors to con-specifics once per hour.

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Grooming Versus Aggression
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Discussion

• Research by Hoage (1982), who found that grooming
  rates were the highest, most recurrent, and most
  sustained relative to all other behaviors
  exhibited by primates.
• Less aggression between members of the group
  could be explained because of the amount of time
  the animals have spent in the zoo
• Research should be done to explain whether
  aggressive behavior in captive golden lion
  tamarins is passive or active aggression.
• Might allow researchers to understand which
  situations provoke a more aggression response.

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References

• Henzi, S Barrett, L. (1999). The value of
  grooming to primates. Primates, 40(1), 47-59.
• Hoage, R. (1982). Social and Physical Maturation
  in Captive Lion tamarins, Leontopithecus rosalia
  rosalia (Primates Callitrichidae). (Vol. 354,).
  City of Washington Smithsonian Institution
  Press.
• Hutchins, M. Barash, D. (1976). Grooming in
  primates Implications for its utilitarian
  function. Primates, 17(2), 145-150.
• Knox, I. (1989). Observations on Dominance
  Relations Among Saguinus imperator, the Emperor
  Tamarin (Family Callitrichidae) (Doctoral
  dissertation, Northwestern University, Feb. 22,
  1989). Dissertation Abstracts International, 1,
  1-23.
• Melfi, V. Feistner, A. (2002). , A comparison
  of the activity budgets of wild and captive
  Sulawesi crested black macaques. Animal Welfare,
  11, 212-213.
• Schino, G. (2007). Grooming and agonistic
  support A meta-analysis of primate reciprocal
  altruism. Behavioral Ecology, 18(1), 115-120.