Female rhesus macaques “actively reduce” their social networks and prioritise friends and family as they get older, new research shows.
Having fewer friends in later life has been seen as harmful, including among humans.
But the new study shows female macaques become increasingly selective, focussing more on relatives and long-standing friendships.
The results show females aren’t shunned in later life — the changes are driven by the females themselves.
The research — by the University of Exeter, Arizona State University, New York University and the University of Pennsylvania — was carried out on Cayo Santiago, also known as Monkey Island, off Puerto Rico.
“This pattern of narrowing social networks with age is common in humans,” said Professor Lauren Brent, from Exeter’s Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour.
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