Social System (Social Structure)

Primates live in dynamic, complex societies and exhibit a wide breadth of grouping patterns, mating systems, and inter‐ and intragroup social relationships. Traditionally, the social structures of primates have been placed in three broad categories consisting of pair‐living, group‐living, and solitary primates. Understanding primate social structures from ecological and evolutionary perspectives is of primary importance to the field of primatology. As such, a number of socioecological models have been developed to explain and understand primate social structures. These models have met with varying degrees of success, but have undoubtedly pushed the discipline of primatology significantly forward by providing testable frameworks by which primatologists can understand primate social organizations and behavior.