The evolution of aggressive and amicable play fighting in primates: a phylogenetic perspective

ABSTRACT

Play fighting involves competing for an advantage, which can be derived from behavior typical of conspecific aggression, predation, sexual and other affinitive contexts. Here the phylogenetic distribution of aggressive play fighting (involving biting) and amicable play fighting (involving grooming and mounting) in juveniles of 48 species of primates was analyzed. Both aggressive and amicable play fighting were likely equally present in ancestral primates, and then some lineages either maintained that pattern or exaggerated the use of one type relative to the other. In species engaging in both types of play, the ancestral pattern is for them to remain distinct, with sequences of one type not transforming into sequences of the other type. In two genera, mixing types of play was exaggerated, with rapid bidirectional transitions between aggressive and amicable play. These findings suggest that different types of play evolved independently and their combination is a secondarily evolved, derived state.

KEYWORDS:

• Rough-and-tumble play
• evolutionary history
• haplorhini
• strepsirrhini

Acknowledgements

We thank all the research officers, curators and keepers for facilitating our collection of video from the zoos and research centers. We also thank colleagues who donated video clips of their animals, and Andrew Iwaniuk for his suggestions on the phylogenetic analyzes.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The most recent grant supporting data collection was one from the Natural Science & Engineering Research Council of Canada to SMP (grant #2018-03706).

Notes on contributors

S. M. Pellis

S. M. Pellis received his PhD in animal behavior/ethology in 1980 from Monash University, Australia. He spent 1982–1990 at the University of Illinois, Tel Aviv University, and University of Florida where he received post-doctoral training in behavioral neuroscience and movement analysis. In 1990 he joined the University of Lethbridge, where he is a professor of animal behavior and neuroscience. A central focus of his research is on the evolution, development, and neurobiology of play behavior.

V. C. Pellis

V. C. Pellis received her PhD in Philosophy and Religious Studies in 2001 from Deakin University, Australia. She has been a Research Associate with Philip Teitelbaum from 1982–1990 (University of Illinois, Tel Aviv University, and University of Florida) and with Sergio Pellis from 1990-present (University of Lethbridge). Her main contributions have been on animal models of Parkinson’s disease and the study of play in many different species.

J. R. Ham

J. R. Ham is a PhD student at the University of Lethbridge, Canada, under the supervision of Sergio Pellis. He is currently researching play in rats, focusing specifically on natural variation in play and its consequences on partner preferences, neural development, and socio-cognitive skills. He has a master’s degree in neuroscience that focused on beluga whale social and non-social play behavior under the supervision of Sergio Pellis and Heather Hill.