Social communication about unpalatable foods in tamarins (Saguinus oedipus)
Publication Type: |
Journal Article |
Year of Publication: |
2003 |
Authors: |
Snowdon, Charles T.,Boe, Carla Y. |
Publication/Journal: |
Journal of Comparative Psychology |
Keywords: |
aversion, cotton-top tamarins (saguinus oedipus), unpalatable foods |
ISBN: |
0735-7036 |
Abstract:
Many monkeys show social facilitation in sampling novel, palatable foods but not in avoiding unpalatable foods. Cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) socially learned to avoid a preferred food when it was made unpalatable but showed no aversion toward a food not made unpalatable. Only 33% sampled unpalatable tuna, and few sampled it again. In 3 of 8 groups, the socially induced aversion was long lasting, at least 15 weeks after food was made palatable again. Potential cues include facial reactions of disgust, alarm-call vocalizations, and reduction in food-associated calls. Behavioral coordination in cooperative infant care, communication about food, and well-established social relationships may explain social avoidance of unpalatable foods in tamarins and the absence of social avoidance in less cooperative species.