Washington, Dec 28 (ANI): Some monkey groups have greater chances of winning territorial disputes against larger groups as some members of the bigger side tend to stay away from aggressive encounters, a new study has revealed.
In their research, Margaret Crofoot and Ian Gilby of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the Max Planck Institute of Ornithology showed that individual monkeys that do not participate in conflicts prevent large groups from achieving their competitive potential.
The authors used recorded vocalizations to simulate territorial invasions into the ranges of wild white-faced capuchin monkey groups at the Smithsonian reasearch station on Barro Colorado Island in Panama.
Monkeys responded more vigorously to territorial challenges near the centre of their territories and were more likely to flee in encounters near the borders.
Defection by members of larger groups was more common than defection by members of smaller groups.
Groups that outnumbered their opponents could convert their numerical superiority to a competitive advantage when defending the centre of their own range against neighbouring intruders, but failed to do so when they attempted to invade the ranges of their neighbours, because more individuals in large groups chose not to participate.
According to the authors, these behaviour patterns even the balance of power among groups and create a 'home-field advantage', which may explain how large and small groups are able to coexist.
The study has been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (ANI)
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