Abstract
We present a simple model of within-group leveling coalitions among male primates. The model assumes that the value of the coalition is the sum of the payoffs of its members, that the individual’s payoff is monotonically decreasing with its rank and that coalitions do not cause rank changes. It predicts that mainly mid- to low rankers engage in leveling coalitions, and that most coalition partners are of adjacent ranks. These predictions agree reasonably well with observations in nature. The model also makes the novel predictions that leveling coalitions are found where male mating competition has only a moderate contest component, and that male dominance ranks will become poorly differentiated where leveling coalitions are frequent. Both these predictions are consistent with observations on groups of macaques and baboons. The model also may account for leveling coalitions among egalitarian human foragers, without making additional assumptions about special human capabilities.
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Notes
In this model coalitions of size one are allowed, in agreement with standard usage in game theory, but unlike usage in animal behavior.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Becca Lewis, Gauri R. Pradhan and Maria van Noordwijk for careful reading of the manuscript, and Ronald Noë and an anonymous reviewer for valuable and thoughtful comments.
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Pandit, S.A., van Schaik, C.P. A model for leveling coalitions among primate males: toward a theory of egalitarianism. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 55, 161–168 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-003-0692-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-003-0692-2