Using individual attributes to predict hierarchical position in a Macaca sylvanus group at 'La forêt des singes', Rocamadour

The Macaca genus is a biological model for animal societies, known for its social structuration by age, sex, and kinship. We managed to establish a mathematical model, through multiple regression tests, that emphasizes the relationship between several individual attributes (sex, age, matrilineal belonging) with hierarchical rank among a Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus) group (N = 50) observed during 11 months at 'La forêt des singes' in Rocamdour, France. We established two models according to sex, one for males and one for females, explaining 99.1% and 99.4% of the hierarchical rank variance respectively. Our study is the first step in studying the weight of each attribute in hierarchical structuration among this species and consequently the individual hierarchical rank determination. Such a model could be used as the basis for future comparative studies among the Macaca genus.