Analyzing Communication Among Red Colobus Monkeys and Fitness Value

This essay delves into the communication methods of red colobus monkeys, highlighting how these strategies enhance their fitness and survival. It explains that while these primates lack a formal language, they utilize a well-organized communication system, particularly through vocalizations, to alert troop members to the presence of predators. Different sounds are used for various threats, such as snakes or eagles, prompting specific responses like climbing trees for safety. This communication is crucial for avoiding predation, a key factor in the competitive struggle for scarce resources within their ecosystem. The essay concludes that effective communication significantly boosts the monkeys' chances of survival and overall fitness, suggesting similar adaptations could benefit other primate species like chimpanzees.

Running head: COMMUNICATION AMONG THE RED COLOBUS MONKEYS
Communication among the Red Colobus Monkeys
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COMMUNICATION AMONG THE RED COLOBUS MONKEYS 2
Communication among Red Cobus Monkeys
Introduction
Human beings are the only social primates that are endowed with the ability to think
and communicate using a language. Although the other social primates such as monkeys do
not have a language for communication, they have several ways in which they communicate
(Zuberbühler, 2016). The communication increases the fitness of the primates. Fitness is used
here to refer to factors that increase the quality of life and ensure survival. Such include
feeding and mechanisms of avoiding predation. This assignment will discuss communication
among colobus monkeys and how the communication leads to fitness. Red colobus monkey is
a primate of the genus Procolobus.
Means of Communication
Although not endowed with the ability to communicate, the red colobus monkey has a
system of communication that could be referred to as well organized. There are different
forms of communication depending on the message that is intended. It is important to
indicate that the red colobus monkeys move in troops which makes the communication
effective (Hart, 2018). The communication is made effective in the sense that the monkey is
near each other and therefore encoding and decoding of information is easier. One of the
main means of communication is making of sounds to alert the others of a predator. If one
member of the troop notices a snake, they will make sound of a certain kind (shrill sound).
The others will quickly climb react, for instance climb up trees to avoid the predator. The
sounds made are varied for different predators. For instance, if the predator is an eagle, the
monkey that notices it will make a different shrill sound from that made after seeing a snake.

COMMUNICATION AMONG THE RED COLOBUS MONKEYS 3
In addition, the monkey will look up in the case of an eagle to direct the other members of the
troop towards the predator.
How Communication Enhances Fitness
The communication discussed above increases the fitness of the colobus monkeys.
This is through ensuring that the members of the troop avoid predation. If there were no way
of alerting the other members, a predator such as snake would have an easy time predating on
an unsuspecting member of the troop. As Darwin observed, organisms compete for the
available scarce resources in an ecosystem. Since the resources are scarce, only the fittest
survive. The communication discussed above is a survival tactic for the red colobus monkeys.
The means of communication explained above would potentially enhance the fitness
of baboons. If chimpanzees would make sounds to warn others of the danger of a predator,
their fitness (survival) would be greatly improved. As observed in the discussion, the
monkeys have different forms of sound for different predators. If this were the case for
chimpanzees, their lifespan would potentially increase due to less instances of predation.
Conclusion
Communication is key element of the non-human social primates. Most move in
troops to enhance the effectiveness of communication. The red colobus monkeys make
certain sounds to warn each other of predators. The sounds made are varied for different
predators. The communication plays a huge role in increasing survival by reducing predation.

COMMUNICATION AMONG THE RED COLOBUS MONKEYS 4
References
Hart, D. (2018). Man, the hunted: Primates, predators, and human evolution.
Routledge.
Zuberbühler, K. (2016). Social Concepts and Communication in Nonhuman Primates.
In Psychological Mechanisms in Animal Communication (pp. 251-270).
Springer, Cham.