Assessing the Role of Maternal Social Network Inheritance in the Social Integration of Immature Vervet Monkeys (Chlorocebus Pygerythrus)

Abstract

Specific mechanisms of social network integration in juvenile animals are still largely obscure. However, much research indicates that mothers have a wide range of effects on their offspring, including on their sociality. Using a Bayesian framework, I investigated factors of social integration, such as maternal proximity, network influences (i.e., inheritance), age, dominance rank, and offspring traits from May-July 2025 in wild vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) at Lake Nabugabo, Uganda. My results suggest that maternal influences exist mainly in proximity but less in grooming networks. Older offspring were more distant from their mothers and less central in proximity networks than younger offspring. Notably, offspring sex was a strong predictor of social ontogeny in vervet monkeys, with daughters being more integrated in grooming networks than sons. Overall, these results provide insight into the importance of mothers in social ontogeny, while also highlighting the pivotal role of offspring sex on their social integration.