A social network of apes caring for each other at Cayo Santiago.
Nationalgeographic.co.id—The new study, by an international team led by the University of Exeter finds social connection and cohesion is declining in the aging population. This conclusion is known to researchers after observing the social life of primates on ‘Monkey Island’.
They observed rhesus monkeys in Cayo Santiago, known as Monkey Island in Puerto Rico. Their findings have been published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
Their research showed that female monkeys “actively reduced” the size of their social networks and prioritized existing connections as they got older, something that was also seen in humans.
They also analyzed how this affected the overall cohesion and relationships of the older monkey groups.
While the observed populations of monkeys (which had no more than 20 percent of “old” individuals) were not affected at the group level, computer simulations showed a higher proportion of old monkeys would reduce cohesion and connections.
“For both humans and monkeys, focusing on close friends and family later in life can have multiple benefits,” said Erin Siracusa, of the Center for Animal Behavior Research in Exeter.
“Our study aims to find out what is the direct effect of these individual age-related changes on how well connected society as a whole is.”
“We have information on six groups of monkeys collected over eight years, representing a total of 19 social networks.”
The first thing they discovered, he said, was that older female monkeys were bad influencers, having fewer friends.
Older females are less able to pass on knowledge and experience outside their immediate social circle.
The researchers tested whether the monkey network with more older females (over 18 years) was less cohesive and connected.
Two female macaques hugging each other at Cayo Santiago.
