Male bimaturism and reproductive success in Sumatran orang-utans

Utami, Sri; Goossens, Benoît; Bruford, Michael William; Ruiter, Jan R. de; Hooff, Jan A. R. A. M. van

doi:10.1093/beheco/13.5.643

Cited by 200 publications

(173 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…In a cross-sectional genetic study of gentle lemur (Hapalemur griseus) population, 91% of infants were also sired by a single resident male (Nievergelt et al 2002), whereas dominant males reaped 67% of all paternities in redfronted lemurs (Wimmer and Kappeler 2002), suggesting the existence of similar processes in other lemur taxa. Because the degree of male reproductive skew observed in this sifaka population equals or exceeds that of highly sexually dimorphic anthropoids living in highly polygynous systems, such as mountain gorillas (Bradley et al 2005), orang-utans (Utami et al 2002), mandrills (Charpentier et al 2005), patas monkeys (Ohsawa et al 1993), and red howler monkeys (Pope 1990), mechanisms other than exclusion and physical superiority are primary determinants of reproductive success of male sifaka. Perhaps dominant males are particularly effective at mate guarding at crucial times during the females' estrus (Clutton-Brock and Isvaran 2006) because their testes are clearly not adapted to intense sperm competition when examined from a comparative perspective (Kappeler 1997).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

The lemur syndrome unresolved: extreme male reproductive skew in sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi), a sexually monomorphic primate with female dominance

Kappeler

Schäffler

2007

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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The primates of Madagascar (Lemuriformes) are unusual among mammals in that polygynous species lack sexual dimorphism, and females dominate males socially in most species. Moreover, lemur groups are relatively small and characterized by even adult sex ratios despite the fact that one male should be able to exclude other males from the group. One hypothesis to explain this combination of behavioral, morphological, and demographic traits (the "lemur syndrome") postulates that male-male competition is relaxed and, hence, variance in male reproductive success is low. Reproductive skew theory provides a framework for testing this and several related predictions about lemur social evolution. Specifically, low reproductive skew is also predicted if dominant males or adult females make reproductive concessions to subordinates or if the latter group successfully pursues alternative reproductive tactics. However, suitable data on paternity, demography, and behavior for a conclusive test of these predictions have not been available in the past. In this paper, we show that male reproductive success in ten groups of Verreaux's sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi) was extremely skewed in favor of the dominant male over 9 years. Our genetic analyses also revealed that more than a third of all groups are effectively harem groups because only one male was unrelated to the resident female(s). In groups with two or more non-natal males, the dominant sired 91% of 33 infants. Together, males pursuing one of several alternative reproductive tactics, such as roaming among several groups or immigrating peacefully, sired only 11% of infants. Thus, female sifakas do not control group composition by offering reproductive opportunities to subordinate males as staying incentives, intrasexual selection is not relaxed, and dominant males prevail in a tug-of-war over subordinate males. Because male reproductive skew in sifakas is even more pronounced than in harem-living anthropoids studied to date, intrasexual selection is clearly not relaxed, and the lemur syndrome is more puzzling than ever.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

The lemur syndrome unresolved: extreme male reproductive skew in sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi), a sexually monomorphic primate with female dominance

Kappeler

Schäffler

2007

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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“…The absence of tigers on Borneo allows flanged adult males (defined in Utami et al [25]) to travel on the ground there, but not on Sumatra. Similarly, ground nests, invariably built by flanged males, are found only on Borneo.…”

Section: Geographical Variation In Orang-utan Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

The costs and benefits of flexibility as an expression of behavioural plasticity: a primate perspective

Schaik

2013

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Traditional neo-Darwinism ascribes geographical variation in morphology or in behaviour to varying selection on local genotypes. However, mobile and long-lived organisms cannot achieve local adaptation this way, leading to a renewed interest in plasticity. I examined geographical variation in orang-utan subsistence and social behaviour, and found this to be largely owing to behavioural plasticity, here called flexibility, both in the form of flexible individual decisions and of socially transmitted (cultural) innovations. Although comparison with other species is difficult, the extent of such flexibility is almost certainly limited by brain size. It is shown that brains can only increase relative to body size where the cognitive benefits they produce are reliably translated into improved survival rate. This means that organisms that are very small, face many predators, live in highly seasonal environments, or lack opportunities for social learning cannot evolve greater flexibility, and must achieve local adaptation through selection on specific genotypes. On the other hand, as body and brain size increase, local adaptation is increasingly achieved through selection on plasticity. The species involved are also generally those that most need it, being more mobile and longer-lived. Although high plasticity buffers against environmental change, the most flexible organisms face a clear limit because they respond slowly to selection. Thus, paradoxically, the largest-brained animals may actually be vulnerable to the more drastic forms of environmental change, such as those induced by human actions.

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“…Such DNA has successfully been analysed from a variety of animals including primates (Constable et al 1995;Gerloff et al 1999;Utami et al 2002), mountain lions (Ernest et al 2000), coyotes (Kohn et al 1999), bears (Taberlet et al 1997), ungulates (Flagstad et al 1999), dolphins (Parsons et al 1999), bats (Vege and McCracken 2001), common wombats (Banks et al 2002a) and black rhinos (Garnier et al 2001). More unusual sources of DNA have been wolf urine in snow (Valiere and Taberlet 2000), chimpanzee buccal cells from chewed food remnants (wadges) (Sugiyama et al 1993;Takenaka et al 1993;Hashimoto et al 1996;Morin and Woodruff 1996), sloughed skin from cetaceans (Bricker et al 1996;Valsecchi et al 1998) and for birds, nest materials, feathers, eggshells and urine (Morin et al 1994a;Pearce et al 1997;Nota and Takenaka 1999).…”

Section: Potential Dna Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Instead, DNA obtained from wadges, faeces, plucked hairs and shed hairs collected from night nests has provided a wealth of data on phylogeography, gene flow, social structure and kinship in wild chimpanzees (Constable et al 2001;Vigilant et al 2001), gorillas (Jensen-Seaman and Kidd 2001), bonobos (Gerloff et al 1999), Hanuman langurs (Launhardt et al 2001), orangutans (Utami et al 2002) and lemurs (Nievergelt et al 2002). Microsatellite genotyping was performed on faecal samples from an Indonesian orangutan (Pongo pygameus abelii) population that has been the subject of a long-term behavioural study with an emphasis on male reproductive strategies (Utami et al 2002). Paternity analysis using faecal samples showed that males with cheek flanges (a secondary sexual characteristic associated with 'sitting, calling and waiting') enjoyed a similar degree of reproductive success to those without flanges (who employed a 'going, searching and finding' strategy) (Utami et al 2002).…”

Section: Non-invasive Samples As a Novel Source Of Phylogenetic Popumentioning

confidence: 99%

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Remote collection of animal DNA and its applications in conservation management and understanding the population biology of rare and cryptic species

Piggott¹,

Taylor²

2003

Wildl. Res.

155

127

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Abstract.Obtaining useful information about elusive or endangered species can be logistically difficult, particularly if relying entirely on field signs such as hair, feathers or faeces. However, recent developments in molecular technology add substantially to the utility of such 'non-invasive' samples, which provide a source of DNA that can be used to identify not only species but also individuals and their gender. This provides great potential to improve the accuracy of abundance estimates and determine behavioural parameters, such as home-range size, individual habitat and dietary preferences, and even some forms of social interaction. Non-invasive samples can also be a useful alternative to blood or tissue samples (the collection of which traditionally has required trapping of animals) as genetic material for applications such as relatedness, population genetic and phylogenetic analyses. Despite the huge potential of non-invasive genetic sampling, the current technology does have limitations. The low quantity and quality of DNA often obtained from such sources results in an increased risk of genotyping errors, which may lead to incorrect inferences, particularly false identification of individuals. Appropriate precautions and pilot studies are required to minimise these risks, and in some cases it may be wise to employ traditional methods when they are adequate.

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Male bimaturism and reproductive success in Sumatran orang-utans

Cited by 200 publications

References 70 publications

The lemur syndrome unresolved: extreme male reproductive skew in sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi), a sexually monomorphic primate with female dominance

The lemur syndrome unresolved: extreme male reproductive skew in sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi), a sexually monomorphic primate with female dominance

The costs and benefits of flexibility as an expression of behavioural plasticity: a primate perspective

Remote collection of animal DNA and its applications in conservation management and understanding the population biology of rare and cryptic species

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