An analysis of adult social spacing tendencies and related social interactions in a colony of spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) at the San Francisco zoo.
Observations on adult interindividual spacing and social interactions for 13 spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) of an approximately 48 animal captive colony were made from mid-June through August 1972. In this analysis the interanimal distances, general activities, and social interactions per minute observation for each subject were compared for a sample of 7 sexually mature males and 6 sexually mature females. Association tendencies between members of the same sex were significantly high as were exchanges of the taxon-specific 'pectoral sniff and embrane" interactions and grooming. The direction and nature of agonistic interactions was predominantly intersexual and involved frequent attacks by single or multiple males against females. Comparisons with a feral population of spider monkeys (Ateles belzebuth) revealed marked similarities in spatial affinities and patterns of social interaction.
D000378:Agonistic Behavior; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D005260:Female; D006120:Grooming; D000882:Haplorhini; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D012919:Social Behavior; D013037:Spatial Behavior