Posted: Mar 11, 2016 3:24 pm
by DavidMcC
The_Piper wrote:
DavidMcC wrote:Piper, I did not claim that all chimp calls require audience, only that the kind of call you were talking of (the dominance display) required an audience.
OK. I was speaking about it because the article mentioned that it could be the reason for the rock throwing and placing behavior.
I don't know anything about chimp behavior, at all, which is why I said I don't want to speculate any further. But here I go. :lol:
If dominance displays are only produced by an alpha male, then how would the alpha be replaced when he dies? The runner-ups would only do the displays after becoming alpha-male? What do you mean by rivals, rivals in the same group or neighboring ones?
...

I answered that above - the rival(s) would step in, and they would start displaying in earnest once the existing alpha died. Fights would probably break out between rivals, unless there was a clear front runner. (The big difference with the Republican Party elections is that physical harm isn't as likely to occur in those elections, so that there is no physical deterent (only financial) to rivals standing against Trump.