Differential Use of contact and Non-Contact Affiliation during Reconciliation in Mandrills

Group living animals employ various strategies to deal with the costs and conflicts of interests associated with social life. In nonhuman primates, the most common behaviour following aggressive conflicts is reconciliation. In this study we analysed the postconflict behaviour of a captive group of mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx), a species whose social behaviour is still poorly known. Mandrills showed a differential use of contact and noncontact postconflict affiliation: the former was more frequent between kin and when the original aggressor was lower ranking than the victim, that is, with easily accessible individuals. Noncontact affiliation was preferred to reconcile with opponents having a high probability to renew aggression, that is, with the most dangerous ones. Both types of affiliation reduced the probability of renewed aggression. These results suggest mandrills are able to adopt flexible strategies according to the varying characteristics of their antagonists.