Endocrine assessment of ovarian cycle activity in wild female mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei)

Habumuremyi, Sosthene; Stephens, Colleen R.; Fawcett, Katie A.; Deschner, Tobias; Robbins, Martha M.

doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.02.017

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 144 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…34,137,138 Political conflict broke out in Rwanda in 1990, leading to a decade of civil unrest that restricted the ability for foreign researchers to work at Karisoke, but routine monitoring of the Karisoke study groups continued by Rwandan field staff. 139 Since 2000, studies have been conducted on a variety of topics including, but not limited to, male relationships, 40,120,140,141 social ontogeny and personality, 142,143 feeding ecology and ranging patterns, 42,144 feeding competition, 145 behavioral endocrinology, [146][147][148] body size and growth patterns, 149 and reproductive success. 55,71,90,150 Fossey's legacy lives on with 2017 marking 50 years of research at the Karisoke Research Center.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in the social organization of gorillas: Life history and socioecological perspectives

Robbins

2018

Evolutionary Anthropology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A focus of socioecological research is to understand how ecological, social, and life history factors influence the variability of social organization within and between species. The genus Gorilla exhibits variability in social organization with western gorilla groups being almost exclusively one‐male, yet approximately 40% of mountain gorilla groups are multimale. We review five ultimate causes for the variability in social organization within and among gorilla populations: human disturbance, ecological constraints on group size, risk of infanticide, life history patterns, and population density. We find the most evidence for the ecological constraints and life history hypotheses, but an over‐riding explanation remains elusive. The variability may hinge on variation in female dispersal patterns, as females seek a group of optimal size and with a good protector male. Our review illustrates the challenges of understanding why the social organization of closely related species may deviate from predictions based on socioecological and life history theory.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in the social organization of gorillas: Life history and socioecological perspectives

Robbins

2018

Evolutionary Anthropology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Going beyond previous studies, we showed that the proximity time was higher for parous than nulliparous females. Males may invest less in developing social relationships with nulliparous females because of their lower fecundity (Anderson, ; Habumuremyi et al, ; Watts, ) and, in the case of females still in their natal group, to avoid inbreeding (Robbins, Stoinski, Fawcett, & Robbins, ). Our observation that high‐ranking males spent more time than low‐ranking males in proximity to females reflects their ability to obtain a large proportion of sirings (Vigilant et al, ) and/or receptive females choosing to be in closer proximity to high‐ranking males (Van Belle, Estrada, Ziegler, & Strier, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We considered a female to be sexually receptive on any day when she was observed mating (Robbins, ). Females typcially mate on only 1–2 days per estrous cycle and gaps between days were rare (Habumuremyi et al, ). Male aggressive behaviors included chest beating, strutting displays, hitting, kicking, dragging, biting, and high volume screams (Schaller, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As part of EIA measurement validation, we used Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LC‐MS) as a reference method (Preis, Mugisha, Hauser, Weltring, & Deschner, ). For details of the validation see Habumuremyi et al ().…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sicotte () suggested that alpha and beta silverbacks in multimale groups maintained proximity to and followed sexually receptive females in a manner similar to consortship in other species. Comparisons of male relationships with nulliparous versus parous females have not been made, but nulliparous females are less attractive to alpha males as mates, presumably because they are less fecund (Habumuremyi, Stephens, Fawcett, Deschner, & Robbins, ; Watts, ). Grooming among adults most commonly occurs from adult females to silverbacks, with wide variation in the amount of grooming performed by silverbacks (Harcourt, ; Watts, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Male–female interactions in multimale groups of mountain gorillas

Habumuremyi

Deschner

Fawcett

et al. 2018

American J Primatol

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Male-female social interactions may vary according to female receptivity, female parity, and male dominance rank. Such variation may be less apparent in species with one-male mating systems than those with multimale mating systems, as within-group male-male competition and female mate choice are absent. Examining variation in male-female interactions in multimale groups in species with a predominantly onemale mating system may help to shed light on plasticity in behavioral patterns and the evolution of mating systems. In this study, we investigated the effect of female receptivity (i.e., days when mating occurred), female parity, and male dominance rank on the patterns of spatial proximity, grooming, following, and aggression among 34 male-female dyads in four multi-male groups of Virunga mountain gorillas. In addition, as a preliminary investigation of potential physiological costs incurred by females in a mating context (coercion), we tested whether female receptivity and female parity explained variation in immunoreactive glucocorticoid (iGC) levels of females. The amount of time male-female dyads spent in close proximity was significantly higher for parous versus nulliparous females and for high-versus low-ranking males. The rate of male aggression to females did not vary significantly with female parity, male rank, or female receptivity. However, post hoc analysis showed that both proximity and aggression increased for the males that participated in the matings on days that females were receptive. Grooming and following by males occurred infrequently. Neither female receptivity nor parity influenced iGC levels in females, a finding that is more consistent with courtship than coercion of females by males. Overall, our results suggest that males advertise their ability to provide protection to females and their offspring, and females seek out males that can do so.

show abstract

Chemical contraceptive impacts on cyclic progesterone and sexual behavior in zoo‐housed Western lowland gorillas

LeFauve

Margulis

2022

American J Primatol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

For regularly cycling primates in captivity, chemical contraceptives can be used to reduce the likelihood of unintentional offspring, but the effects on cyclic progesterone and sexual behavior have not been well studied in gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). As zoos are invested in maintaining naturalistic behaviors and physiology, this is an important aspect of gorilla physical and mental health. We examined how exposure to combination and progestin-only oral birth control pills altered cyclic progesterone and timing of sexual behaviors in four female gorillas at four institutions compared to cycling controls. Hormonal data were collected using fecal steroid metabolites as detected by enzyme immunoassay. Behavioral data were collected via one-zero sampling done by keeper staff. All methods of oral contraceptive eliminated the ovarian cycle, with fecal progestogens being maintained below baselines in cycling control individuals. There was also no evidence of any cyclic patterning in endogenous progesterone, suggesting that the methods tested do not allow for detection of a recovery of endogenous progesterone during a short no-pill period. We also found that the oral contraceptives altered the timing of behavioral displays when compared to cycling control individuals but was not directly related to any fluctuations in endogenous progesterone. This study reveals a need for additional research on contraceptive use in gorillas and reinforces that sexual behavior in gorillas is both hormonally and socially mediated.

show abstract

Endocrine assessment of ovarian cycle activity in wild female mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei)

Cited by 11 publications

References 144 publications

Variation in the social organization of gorillas: Life history and socioecological perspectives

Variation in the social organization of gorillas: Life history and socioecological perspectives

Male–female interactions in multimale groups of mountain gorillas

Chemical contraceptive impacts on cyclic progesterone and sexual behavior in zoo‐housed Western lowland gorillas

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About