Assessing variation in the social behavior of stumptail macaques using thermal criteria

Abstract

This paper reports a method for comparing the environments of nonhuman primates based on biophysical, thermal criteria. The method is applied to an analysis of behaviors exhibited by group‐living stumptail macaques (Macaca arctoides), documented by a group‐scan observation technique, to test the hypothesis that the expression of social behavior is dependent on thermal conditions. Thermal conditions are identified by considering sky cover and the relative cooling power of the environment. The results show that the rates of occurrence of affiliative, play, and solitary behaviors are altered significantly at a relative cooling power at or above 550 kcal/m²/hr under cloudy conditions and at or above 600 kcal/m²/hr under sunny conditions. In addition, the rates of occurrence of play, sexual, aggressive, and submissive behavioral states are also significantly different under cloudy, rather than sunny, conditions over particular ranges of cooling. It is possible to conclude that thermal criteria affect the expression of social behaviors by stumptail macaques. This is consistent with studies of huddling behavior exhibited by stumptail macaques and rhesus macaques (M. mulatta), and suggests that (1) certain changes in the expression of social behaviors may be thermoregulatory in at least some nonhuman primate species and (2) thermal criteria are likely to be useful tools when conducting comparative analyses of behavioral data collected on animals in outdoor environments.