page_title: Primate sociality
section_title: Primate social organisation
hierarchical_section_title: Primate sociality / Primate social organisation
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Saguinus fuscicollis - Braunrückentamarine im Zoo Halle (Saale)
context_page_description: Primate sociality is an area of primatology that aims to study the interactions between three main elements of a primate social network: the social organisation, the social structure and the mating system. The intersection of these three structures describe the socially complex behaviours and relationships occurring among adult males and females of a particular species. Cohesion and stability of groups are maintained through a confluence of factors, including: kinship, willingness to cooperate, frequency of agonistic behaviours, or varying intensities of dominance structures.
  Primate social organisation exists along a spectrum, with networks ranging from the solitary neighbourhood systems to the multi-individual units to the complex multilevel societies that are composed of hierarchically-organised social units. The evolution of diverse primate social systems is considered to be a naturally selected anti-predation response. Increased resource detection, cooperation and social learning are also considered as co-benefits of group living.
context_section_description: Social organisation refers to the size (number of individuals), composition (variation between the sexes), and cohesion (relating to proximity and bond strengths among individuals) of the society in consideration. The synchronisation of  individuals, or lack thereof, also provides insight into relationships among individuals. There are seven types of primate social organisations identified in the literature (discussed below), including: solitary primate systems, pair-bonded systems, one-male-multi-female systems, one-female-multi-male systems, multi-male-multi-female systems, fission fusion societies, and multilevel societies. Interestingly, primate social organisation is not necessarily species-specific. For instance, an example of within species (intra-species) variation would be tamarins and marmosets. These two primates are part of the callitrichidae family and have been observed to demonstrate pair-bonding systems in some populations while others have one-male unit (OMU) systems.
  Solitary primate systems, sometimes referred to as neighbourhood systems, occur when an adult male's territory overlaps with one (or more) adult female's territory and individuals conduct activities (most often foraging or offspring care) independently from one another. In this system, solitary does not imply antisocial, but rather behaviour is characterised by this lack of synchronisation among the individuals. In fact, many solitary primates maintain social networks by using vocal or olfactory signals to communicate.
  Examples of solitary primates: orangutans, galagos, lorises, some species of lemurs, some tarsiers
  Pair-bonded systems, or pair-living primates, are small social units consisting of one adult male and one adult female, and their immature offspring. There are factors of time and space that define this type social system.  Firstly, pair-bonds must demonstrate a long-term affiliative partnership for at least one year or one seasonal cycle. Secondly, there must also be a higher frequency of association (spatial proximity) between the bonded-pair individuals than there is with other individuals.
  Paternal care of offspring is a relatively uncommon trait in primate social systems; however, the monogamous mating system often observed (though it should not be assumed) in pair-bonding generates an equal variance for offspring success for both pair members. Thus, paternal involvement in off-spring rearing is much likelier to be observed in primate species where pair-living occurs.
  Examples of pair-bonded primate species: titi monkeys, owl monkeys, some species of marmosets and tamarins, many species of siamangs and gibbons
  One-female-multi-male groups are composed of one reproductive adult female and two or more adult male partners in the group. If there are other associated females within the group, they will likely have their reproductivity suppressed either via agonistic behaviours (aggressive and submissive interactions) or olfactory signals (such as pheromones). This social system promotes cooperative breeding (or alloparenting), where the non-breeding individuals assist in providing care for the off-spring produced by the main breeding female.
  Examples of one-female-multi-male structured primate species: many species of tamarin and marmoset
  One-male-multi-female groups are usually characterised by a single resident male who defends a group of (often related) adult females against males from outside the group. While tenure ship is held, this form of social organisation allows a male exclusive access to reproductive females for breeding purposes. A resident male often suffers challenges from extra-group males (perhaps belonging to all-male bachelor groups) whereby these males may attempt takeovers with the goal of gaining sole access to the reproductive females. A takeover by a new resident male could lead to infanticide (infant killing). This behaviour is interpreted as a strategic attempt to bring females back into estrous, which allows mating opportunities to occur sooner for the new resident male.
  Examples of one-male-multi-fema
caption: Group of saddle-back tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis).
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