Primates and their Societies

Abstract

Primates are among the most intensely social of all animals. This sociality forms an integral part of each individual’s attempts to survive and reproduce successfully in a world that is not always conducive to successful survival and reproduction. So it is that when we observe one monkey approach and groom another, we do not see an isolated event occurring in a social vacuum. Rather, it is the end-product of a long series of interactions that can be traced back through those two individuals’ past histories. That particular interaction is just one of a sequence of instances in which grooming is solicited and given, of requests that are granted or occasionally declined.