Assessment of female reproductive status by male longtailed macaques, Macaca fascicularis, under natural conditions

Engelhardt, Antje; Pfeifer, Jan-Boje; Heistermann, Michael; Niemitz, Carsten; Hooff, Jan A. R. A. M. van; Hodges, J. K.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.09.006

Cited by 78 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In many primate species, including baboons, females have exaggerated sexual swellings. Evidence from both captive and wild chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes (Emery & Whitten 2003;Deschner et al 2004) and from wild baboons (Gesquiere et al, in press) supports the hypothesis that changes in sexual swelling size and in sex hormone profiles provide potential cues for males about how likely it is that a given cycle will result in conception (see also Engelhardt et al 2004). Furthermore, two different studies of chacma baboons, Papio ursinus, in southern Africa, and one study of chimpanzees in West Africa, have indicated that high-ranking males may indeed discriminate conceptive from nonconceptive cycles; that is, that they are more likely to mate-guard females experiencing conceptive cycles than those experiencing nonconceptive cycles (Bulger 1993;Weingrill et al 2003;Deschner et al 2004).…”

Section: Male Mate Choicementioning

confidence: 76%

“…For at least three species with exaggerated sexual swellings, chimpanzees, longtailed macaques and baboons, evidence suggests that they do (Bulger 1993;Emery & Whitten 2003;Weingrill et al 2003;Deschner et al 2004;Engelhardt et al 2004;Gesquiere et al, in press); in all these studies, alpha males discriminated in favour of conceptive cycles. Our results support these observations and indicate that this discrimination translates in higher offspring production than expected based on time allocated to mate guarding.…”

Section: Stage 2: Allocating Mating Effortmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Sexual selection in wild baboons: from mating opportunities to paternity success

2006

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In mammals, high dominance rank among males is often associated with mating success. However, mating opportunities do not automatically translate into offspring production; observed mating success may be discordant with offspring production, for three reasons.(1) Observed mating may be nonrepresentative of actual mating if some mating is surreptitious (decreasing the chance that it will be observed), (2) mating may be nonrandom if some males allocate more mating effort to females with high fertility (i.e. if some males differentially invest in higher fertility mating) and (3) conception success may be nonrandom if sperm competition or sperm selection play a role in conception. We performed a genetic analysis of paternity in the well-studied savannah baboon, Papio cynocephalus, population in the Amboseli basin, eastern Africa, in order to measure the concordance between observed mating success and actual offspring production. We found that observed mating success was generally a good predictor of paternity success, that high-ranking males had higher paternity success than lower-ranking males, and that male density and male rank stability contributed to variance in male paternity success. We found little evidence for successful surreptitious mating (although subadult males did occasionally produce offspring, apparently using this strategy), and no clear evidence for differential sperm success or sperm depletion (although we could not rule them out). However, we found clear evidence that high-ranking males showed mate choice, concentrating their mating efforts on females experiencing conceptive rather than nonconceptive cycles.

show abstract

Section: Male Mate Choicementioning

confidence: 76%

Section: Stage 2: Allocating Mating Effortmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual selection in wild baboons: from mating opportunities to paternity success

2006

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These signals seem to be related to sexual hormones such as estrogen and progesterone levels though studies in several species have found that they do not accurately indicate the timing of ovulation [e.g., longtailed macaques: Engelhardt et al, 2004;Barbary macaques: Pfefferle et al, 2008], with the exception of a recent study on crested macaques [Higham et al, 2012] that reopens the question about the role of copulation calls in ovulatory signaling. Copulation calls provide information on female identities [Semple, 2001;Townsend et al, 2011] which could influence female mating success Pfefferle et al, 2008] or decrease the capacity for male monopolization [Engelhardt et al, 2012;Townsend et al, 2011].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…likely [Daspre et al, 2009;Deschner et al, 2004;Engelhardt et al, 2004;Garcia et al, 2009;Gesquiere et al, 2007;Higham et al, 2009a;Thompson and Wrangham, 2008] suggesting that they are able to make mating decisions based on the discrimination of fertility differences within female reproductive cycles. However, the signals and cues available to males for their mating decisions, and the relative reliability of these, are still poorly understood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Several studies have reported sniffing behaviors in a sexual context [Clarke et al, 2009;Engelhardt et al, 2004;Higham et al, 2009a;Matsumoto-Oda et al, 2003Van Belle et al, 2009] and olfactory cues are known to advertise reproductive state, dominance rank, and individual identity in species such as lemurs and mandrills [Palagi et al, 2003;Setchell et al, 2010]. Female odors are also suggested to elicit both behavioral and endocrinological responses in male primates [CerdaMolina et al, 2006a,b;Keverne and Michael, 1971;Michael and Zumpe, 1982], and studies of macaques [Engelhardt et al, 2004] and baboons [Clarke et al, 2009;Higham et al, 2009a] have suggested that olfactory cues may be critical elements in primate fertility signaling systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Multimodal Sexual Signaling and Mating Behavior in Olive Baboons (Papio anubis)

Rigaill

Higham

Lee

et al. 2013

American J Primatol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In primate species, mating decisions seem to be based on multiple signal elements with different roles in the signaling of female reproductive status. Whereas some primate signals are relatively well described (e.g., sexual swellings and copulation calls), studies that simultaneously assess visual, auditory, behavioral, and olfactory cues as signals of reproductive state are rarely undertaken. We used data on variation in sexual behaviors and sexual swellings in relation to the fertile period (estimated from the date of swelling detumescence) from a troop of semi-free ranging olive baboons (Papio anubis) to assess how different signals influence patterns of mate choice. Using an objective and quantitative measure of swelling size and color, along with detailed data on sexual behaviors from 13 cycles of nine adult females, we found that fine-scale variation in sexual swelling size, female behavior and copulation call rates could advertise the beginning of the fertile phase whereas swelling color did not. Rates of olfactory inspections by males also increased during the fertile phase, suggesting that olfactory signals were of interest to males and may contain information about ovulation. There was no relationship between female characteristics (age and rank) and the expression of sexual signals, except for proceptive behaviors which increased with female rank. Males displayed more sexual behaviors such as approaches and holding and tended to direct more ejaculatory mounts during the fertile phase. All together, we suggest that whereas all males could have information concerning the timing of ovulation through female proceptive behaviors and swelling size, consorting males may have access to additional signals (olfactory cues). Sexual communication in olive baboons is consistent with a multimodal framework for fertility signaling, potentially allowing males and females to establish different mating strategies. The possible selective pressures leading to multi-modal signaling are discussed.

show abstract

Macaque Fertility Signals

Higham

Dubuc

2015

Encyclopedia of Life Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Females of many animal species exhibit signals of fertility, but few animal groups do so with such prevalence, diversity of signal types, and variability between closely related species, as anthropoid primates. An excellent group for studying the evolution of such signals is the macaques, a group of some 22 species of Old World monkey. The macaques exhibit the same general mating system, but a great amount of inter‐specific variation in the type and number of different signals they display. In this article, we discuss the evolution of these traits, including the types of variation in fertility that they may indicate and the hormonal mechanisms that underlie them. We discuss the different signals that macaques exhibit, and review the distribution and abundance of these signals across species. Even closely related species differ in the type and number of signals displayed, as well as in their apparent accuracy in reflecting the timing of female ovulation. We offer some potential explanations for this variation, though much is still poorly understood. We finish by discussing future directions for research that are likely to prove fruitful. Key Concepts Females of many anthropoid primates, including macaques, exhibit signals of fertility. Macaque signals of fertility include swellings of the hindquarters, changes in facial colour, olfactory signals, and auditory oestrus and copulation calls. Three types of variation in fertility might potentially be communicated to others: intra‐cycle variation in the probability of ovulation; inter‐cycle, intra‐female variation in the probability of conception in that cycle, and inter‐female differences in overall fecundity. The expression of intra‐cycle signals of the probability of ovulation is linked to the hormones oestrogen (positively) and progesterone (negatively). There is a great deal of inter‐specific variation in the presence and type of fertility signals shown, as well as in their apparent accuracy in reflecting ovulatory function. Though we understand some of the evolutionary pressures that may have led to inter‐specific variation, the sources of much of the variation remain unclear.

show abstract

Assessment of female reproductive status by male longtailed macaques, Macaca fascicularis, under natural conditions

Cited by 78 publications

References 39 publications

Sexual selection in wild baboons: from mating opportunities to paternity success

Sexual selection in wild baboons: from mating opportunities to paternity success

Multimodal Sexual Signaling and Mating Behavior in Olive Baboons (Papio anubis)

Macaque Fertility Signals

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About