Embracing in a Wild Group of Yakushima Macaques (Macaca fuscata yakui) as an Example of Social Customs

Research on wild Yakushima macaques (Macaca fuscata yakui) reveals embracing behaviors as potential social customs, distinct from those observed in Kinkazan macaques. Embracing occurred post-stressful interactions like allogrooming pauses or aggression, suggesting a stress-reduction function. Unlike Kinkazan, Yakushima embraces included ventro-lateral and ventro-dorsal positions alongside kneading fur with rhythmic palm movements, differing from the body-rocking seen elsewhere. These subtle variations defy ecological or genetic explanations, marking embracing as possible evidence of social customs in wild macaques. The study analyzed 64 embracing instances over 543.8 hours of focal sampling on adult females.

Nakagawa, N., Matsubara, M., Shimooka, Y., & Nishikawa, M. (2015). Embracing in a Wild Group of Yakushima Macaques (Macaca fuscata yakui) as an Example of Social Customs. Current Anthropology, 56(1), 104–120. https://doi.org/10.1086/679448