Abstract
Following the injury and disability of the dominant male, the home range of a group of rhesus in a rural habitat in Aligarh district was significantly reduced from 40 acres to less than 10 acres. Throughout this injury and prior to his death, the male maintained his dominance in reference to a peripheral male who frequently attempted to enter the group. Upon the death of the dominant male, group leadership and dominance was assumed by a young subdominant male within the group and the peripheral male still remained outside the group. These observations indicate a strong social tradition in the maintenance of dominance within this wild rhesus group, and they emphasize the role of the dominant male in maintaining home range.
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This work was begun under grants from the U.S. Educational Foundation in India, and the U.S. Public Health Service (RG 6262 and RG-6262 S1), and has been continued since 1961 under the auspices of the Johns Hopkins Center for Medical Research and Training supported by USPHS Grant GM 11326. We are indebted to Mr. Mirza A. Beg and Dr. M. Farooq Siddiqi for assistance with field observations, and to Dr. F. B. Bang for administrative support.
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Southwick, C.H., Siddiqi, M.R. The role of social tradition in the maintenance of dominance in a wild rhesus group. Primates 8, 341–353 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01792019
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01792019