An Evaluation of the Roles of Predation Rate and Predation Risk as Selective Pressures on Primate Grouping Behaviour

Abstract

AN EVALUATION OF THE ROLES OF PREDATION RATE AND PREDATION RISK AS SELECTIVE PRESSURES ON PRIMATE GROUPING BEHAVIOUR by R.A. HILL 1 ) and R.I.M. DUNBAR 2 ,3) (Population Biology Research Group, School of Biological Sciences, Nicholson Building, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, England, UK) (Acc. 18-IX-1997) Summary Establishing the importance of predation pressure in determining primate social structure has generated a great deal of discussion. However, the substantive issues in this debate have been obscured by a conflation of the respective roles of predation risk and predation rate as selective forces. In addition, the reported relationships between predation