Patterns of play behavior in white-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar) — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

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Patterns of play behavior in white-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar)

Name: Azniv Khaligian
Major: Neuroscience/Music
Hometown: Kenosha
Faculty Sponsor: Angela Dassow
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research
Funding: Carthage SURE

Abstract

Previously, the gestural behavior of white-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar) has not been well-defined. This is partly due to limitations in studying gestural behavior in a wild, arboreal species. In addition, play behaviors have only been observed between family members, who do not usually remain together after adolescence. From June-August 2019, audio and visual data of play behavior were collected from an adult father-daughter pair in captivity. Twenty-four behaviors associated with play have been catalogued and defined, including a recently discovered “bleat” vocalization. The focus of this research is to determine the bleat’s function and position within the play sequence. Behavioral bigrams consisting of the two behaviors preceding and following bleats were annotated. Preliminary results show that bleats are typically preceded and followed by sparring, wrestling, or two to three simultaneous behaviors. Sparring and wrestling behaviors consist of consecutive offense-defense actions between individuals that occur without pause. Simultaneous behaviors typically consist of sparring or wrestling in addition to grasping feet or other behaviors. These results suggest that bleats appear during higher-risk behaviors as a moderating signal to prevent injury. Future plans include analyzing the audio and video data together to distinguish which gibbon is producing the bleat and discern if there are recurrent play behaviors performed by one gibbon that evoke bleat vocalizations in the other.