Data from: Genetic, maternal, and environmental influences on sociality in a pedigreed primate population

Various aspects of sociality in mammals (e.g., dyadic connectedness) are
linked with measures of biological fitness (e.g., longevity). How within-
and between-individual variation in relevant social traits arises in
uncontrolled wild populations is challenging to determine but is crucial
for understanding constraints on the evolution of sociality. We use an
advanced statistical method, known as the ‘animal model’, which
incorporates pedigree information, to look at social, genetic, and
environmental influences on sociality in a long-lived wild primate. We
leverage a longitudinal database spanning 20 years of observation on
individually recognized white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus
imitator), with a multi-generational pedigree. We analyze two measures of
spatial association, using repeat sampling of 376 individuals (mean: 53.5
months per subject, range: 6-185 months per subject). Conditioned on the
effects of age, sex, group size, seasonality , and El Niño–Southern
Oscillation phases, we show low to moderate long-term repeatability
(across years) of the proportion of time spent social (posterior mode [95%
Highest Posterior Density interval]: 0.207 [0.169, 0.265]) and of average
number of partners (0.144 [0.113, 0.181]) (latent scale). Most of this
long-term repeatability could be explained by modest heritability
(h2social: 0.152 [0.094, 0.207]; h2partners: 0.113 [0.076, 0.149]) with
small long-term maternal effects (m2social: 0.000 [0.000, 0.045];
m2partners: 0.000 [0.000, 0.041]). Our models capture the majority of
variance in our behavioral traits, with much of the variance explained by
temporally changing factors, such as group of residence, highlighting
potential limits to the evolvability of our trait due to social and
environmental constraints.