ABS 2023
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Social Predictors of Cortisol in Tufted Capuchin Monkeys (Sapajus apella)
Aiko Amano1, Z M. Benowitz-Fredericks1,2, Andrew N. DeSana1,4, Reggie P. Gazes1,3. 1Bucknell University Animal Behavior Program, Lewisburg, PA, United States; 2Bucknell University Department of Biology, Lewisburg, PA, United States; 3Bucknell University Department of Psychology, Lewisburg, PA, ; 4University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

Glucocorticoids (GCs) play a vital role in navigating physiological and psychological challenges in vertebrates. Generally, social stressors such as received aggression elicit GC release, while social buffers such as social support reduce GC release. In a previous study we explored how hair cortisol (a measure of GC exposure over the period of hair growth) related to animals’ experienced social stressors (dominance rank, rank uncertainty, aggression received) and social buffers (social network centrality, grooming rate) in our captive socially housed brown capuchin monkey group. Hair cortisol was predicted by aggression received (+) and social support (-). In the present study, we measured cortisol in saliva samples collected over consecutive weeks in the same capuchin group. Over two separate years, we examined how median and variability in salivary cortisol related to their experienced social stressors and buffers. Variability in cortisol levels was predicted by the same variables as hair cortisol in one of the two years. Despite some consistency in the relationship between cortisol and social factors, relationships between social experience and GCs are dynamic.