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Supply and Demand Determine the Market Value of Access to Infants in the Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana)

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  • Wei Wei
  • XiaoGuang Qi
  • Paul A Garber
  • SongTao Guo
  • Pei Zhang
  • BaoGuo Li

Abstract

According to a biological market paradigm, trading decisions between partners will be influenced by the current ‘exchange rate’ of commodities (good and services), which is affected by supply and demand, and the trader’s ability to outbid competitors. In several species of nonhuman primates, newborn infants are attractive to female group members and may become a desired commodity that can be traded for grooming within a biological market place. We investigated whether grooming was interchanged for infant handling in female golden snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) inhabiting the Qinling Mountains of central China. R. roxellana exhibit a multilevel social organization characterized by over 100 troop members organized into 6–11 one-male units each composed one adult male and several adult females and their offspring. Behavioral data were collected over the course of 28 months on grooming patterns between mothers with infants less than 6 months old (N = 36) and other adult female troop members. Our results provide strong evidence for the interchange of grooming for access to infants. Grooming for infant access was more likely to be initiated by potential handlers (nonmothers) and less likely reciprocated by mothers. Moreover, grooming bout duration was inversely related to the number of infants per female present in each one-male unit indicating the possibility of a supply and demand market effect. The rank difference between mothers and handlers was negatively correlated with grooming duration. With increasing infant age, the duration of grooming provided by handlers was shorter suggesting that the ‘value’ of older infants had decreased. Finally, frequent grooming partners were allowed to handle and maintain access to infants longer than infrequent groomers. These results support the contention that grooming and infant handling may be traded in R. roxellana and that the price individuals paid for access to infants fluctuated with supply and demand.

Suggested Citation

  • Wei Wei & XiaoGuang Qi & Paul A Garber & SongTao Guo & Pei Zhang & BaoGuo Li, 2013. "Supply and Demand Determine the Market Value of Access to Infants in the Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(6), pages 1-9, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0065962
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0065962
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Fruteau, C. & Voelkl, B. & van Damme, E.E.C. & Noe, R., 2009. "Supply and demand determine the market value of food providers in wild vervet monkeys," Other publications TiSEM c108fa1a-6b92-4107-a1e6-6, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    2. Ivan Norscia & Daniela Antonacci & Elisabetta Palagi, 2009. "Mating First, Mating More: Biological Market Fluctuation in a Wild Prosimian," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 4(3), pages 1-6, March.
    3. Rebecca L. Chancellor & Lynne A. Isbell, 2009. "Female grooming markets in a population of gray-cheeked mangabeys (Lophocebus albigena)," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 20(1), pages 79-86.
    4. Gabriele Schino, 2007. "Grooming and agonistic support: a meta-analysis of primate reciprocal altruism," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 18(1), pages 115-120, January.
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    1. Noë, Ronald, 2016. "How do biological markets compare to the markets of economics?," MPRA Paper 72509, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 11 Jul 2016.

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