Reproductive strategy of bachelors in a snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti) all-male unit
Autor: | Alicia Krzton, Zuofu Xiang, Cheng Guo, Ming Li, Xiangdong Ruan |
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Rok vydání: | 2019 |
Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Male China 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Sexual Behavior Animal Snub-nosed monkey Rhinopithecus bieti Seasonal breeder Animals 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences 050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology Mating Social Behavior biology Reproductive success Reproduction 05 social sciences Sire Presbytini biology.organism_classification Animal ecology Omus Animal Science and Zoology Female Seasons Demography |
Zdroj: | Primates; journal of primatology. 61(2) |
ISSN: | 1610-7365 |
Popis: | Snub-nosed monkeys exhibit a rare multilevel social system composed of several one-male units (OMU) and at least one all-male unit (AMU). The AMU comprises males who are blocked from access to females by resident males in the OMUs, and how these satellite males achieve reproductive success is still unclear. To investigate their reproductive strategies, we focused on the AMU in a band of provisioned black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti) in Yunnan, China. Behaviors that AMU males use to gain access to females (i.e. immigration, male takeover, and sexual interaction with females) were recorded and compared with resident OMU males to explore how AMU bachelors achieve reproductive success when they are denied stable access to females. We found that in response to solicitation from females, adult and sub-adult members of the AMU responded more actively than resident males, and the bachelors actively initiated mating with females when the latter's resident male was temporarily absent. These mating opportunities mostly coincided with the peak mating season in OMUs, and probably allowed bachelors to sire some offspring. We also found that for some AMU adults, taking over an OMU is the main strategy used to gain stable access to females, and these males repeatedly migrate between bands. AMU members therefore show multiple strategies that allow them to gain some degree of reproductive success. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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