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The Royal Society, Biology Letters, 2(3), p. 147-149, 2007

DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2007.0041

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Aggression and conflict management at fusion in spider monkeys

Journal article published in 2007 by Filippo Aureli ORCID, Colleen M. Schaffner
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

In social systems characterized by a high degree of fission–fusion dynamics, members of a large community are rarely all together, spending most of their time in smaller subgroups with flexible membership. Although fissioning into smaller subgroups is believed to reduce conflict among community members, fusions may create conflict among individuals from joining subgroups. Here, we present evidence for aggressive escalation at fusion and its mitigation by the use of embraces in wild spider monkeys ( Ateles geoffroyi ). Our findings provide the first systematic evidence for conflict management at fusion and may have implications for the function of human greetings.