Abstract
A group of agile gibbons (Hylobates agilis)was studied for 2 years in the Malay Peninsula. The behavior of the gibbons during territorial disputes is described, the relationships with neighbors are investigated, and the frequency and duration of disputes are analyzed. The nature of the territorial boundary and the type of territorial behavior exhibited by the gibbons are discussed. An attempt is made to identify the immediate precursors of disputes, and some suggestions are given to explain why disputes occur so frequently and are of such long duration.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Burt, W. H. (1943). Territoriality and home range concepts as applied to mammals.J. Mammal. 24(3): 346–352.
Carpenter, C. R. (1940). A field study in Siam of the behaviour and social relations of the gibbonHylobates lar. Comp. Psychol. Monogr. 16: 1–212 (reprinted in Carpenter, C. R. (1964).Naturalistic Behaviour of Nonhuman Primates, Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, pp: 145–271).
Chivers, D. J. (1969). On the daily behaviour and spacing of howling monkey groups.Folia Primatol. 10: 48–102.
Chivers, D. J. (1974). The siamang in Malaya: A field study of a primate in tropical rain forest.Contributions to Primatology, Vol. 4, Karger, Basel.
Chivers, D. J., Raemaekers, J. J., and Aldrich-Blake, F. P. G. (1975). Long-term observations of siamang behaviour.Folia Primatol. 23: 1–49.
Ellefson, J. O. (1968). Territorial behavior in the common white-handed gibbon,Hylobates lar Linn. In Jay, P. C. (ed.),Primates: Studies in Adaptation and Variability, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, pp. 180–199.
Ellefson, J. O. (1974). A natural history of the white-handed gibbon in the Malayan peninsula. In Rumbaugh, D. M. (ed.),Gibbon and Siamang, Karger, Basel, Vol. 3, pp. 1–136.
Gittins, S. P. (1979).The Behaviour and Ecology of the Agile Gibbon (Hylobates agilis), Doctoral dissertation, University of Cambridge, Cambridge.
Jolly, A. (1972).The Evolution of Primate Behavior, Macmillan, New York.
MaynardSmith, J., and Price, G. R. (1973). The logic of animal conflict.Nature (Lond.) 246: 15–18.
Nice, M. M. (1941). The role of territory in bird life.Am. Midl. Natur. 26(3): 441–487.
Parker, G. A. (1974). Assessment strategy and the evolution of fighting behaviour.J. Theor. Biol. 47: 223–243.
Pitelka, F. A. (1959). Numbers, breeding schedule and territoriality in the pectoral sandpiper of northern Alaska.Condor 61(4): 233–264.
Siegel, S. (1956).Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Southwick, C. H. (1962). Patterns of intergroup social behaviour in primates with special reference to rhesus and howling monkeys.Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 102(2): 436–454.
Southwick, C. H. (1963). Challenging aspects of the behavioural ecology of howling monkeys. InPrimate Social Behaviour, Van Nostrand, London, pp. 185–191.
Tinbergen, N. (1939). Field observations of East Greenland birds. II. The behavior of the snow bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis subnivalis [Brehm]) in spring.Trans. Linn. Soc. NY. 5: 1–94.
Waser, P. M. (1975). Experimental playbacks show vocal mediation in intergroup avoidance in a forest monkey.Nature (Lond.) 255: 56–58.
Wilson, E. O. (1975).Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, Belknap Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gittins, S.P. Territorial behavior in the Agile Gibbon. Int J Primatol 1, 381–399 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02692281
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02692281