Primate social organizations can generally be categorized into two types: 1) solitary foragers or dispersed polygyny where females forage alone and males monopolize access to females, and 2) where females forage together in female-bonded groups that are larger and contain multiple males. Group structures range from one-male harems to multi-male/multi-female groups. The type of social structure adopted depends on factors like the nature of resources and how defendable or monopolizable they are.

2. PRIMATE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

3. ‘ Most primates spend their life in a social group. Primate social groups are often complex and permanent and group members perform most of their activities within the confines of their group. They depend on the group for survival in terms of protection from predators, conspecifics, and/or other group members, as well as for finding resources and mates. Group life does not come without its share of constraints, primarily competition for resources. Group size and structure vary from species to species but within a species, are somewhat stable, i.e. one type of social structure is seen in each species and group size remains stable over time under natural conditions via emigration, predation, and group fission.’ (Berman)

5. Strier: Primate social organization “reflects the compromises between female and male strategies to gain access to mates, food, and other resources that they and their offspring need to survive. These compromises are constrained by life history and physiology, and vary with ecological and demographic conditions”

6. TYPES OF SOCIAL STRUCTURES

8. Solitary foragers / dispersed polygyny orang, galago, potto, loris, nocturnal lemurs

10. Monogamous or territoreal pairs indri, night monkey, gibbon, siamang

12. Community / Fission-fusion chimps, bonobos, spiders, muriquis

15. One-male groups / harem all non-savanna baboons, patas, some colobines, lowland gorillas Hamadryas Langurs and leaf monkeys Patas Mandrill Gelada

17. Age-graded multi-male Mountain gorilla (red howler, hanuman langur)

19. Multi-male/multi-female macaques, savanna baboons, capuchins, squirrel monkey, vervets… Mine!

21. Polyandry Tamarins and Marmosets