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Yi Y, Mardiastuti A, Choe JC. How to be a good partner and father? The role of adult males in pair bond maintenance and parental care in Javan gibbons. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230950. [PMID: 37369349 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
In pair-living species, female and male pairs may maintain stable social bonds by adjusting spatial and social associations. Nevertheless, each sex invests differently to maintain the pair bond, and the investment can depend on the presence of paternal care or 'male services.' While most species live in pairs, the sex responsible for pair bond maintenance in gibbons is still controversial. We investigated pair bond maintenance and parental care in three pairs of wild Javan gibbons in Gunung Halimun-Salak National Park, Indonesia, for over 21 months. We found that Javan gibbon fathers groomed their offspring more than adult females, especially as offspring got older. While both parents increased playing time with offspring when offspring became older and more independent, fathers played with offspring 20 times more than mothers on average. Grooming within Javan gibbon pairs was male-biased, suggesting that pair bond maintenance was heavily the job of males. However, offspring age as a proxy for paternal care did not affect the pair bond maintenance. Our study highlights that adult male Javan gibbons may have an important role in pair bond maintenance and the care of juveniles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoonjung Yi
- Laboratory of Animal Behaviour and Conservation, College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, People's Republic of China
| | - Ani Mardiastuti
- Department of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecotourism, IPB University, Bogor, 16680, Indonesia
| | - Jae C Choe
- Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology, Division of EcoScience, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, 03760, Republic of Korea
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Ma H, Ma C, Fan P. Adult male-female social bond advertising: The primary function of coordinated singing intensity in a small ape. Am J Primatol 2021; 84:e23351. [PMID: 34855237 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Revised: 11/14/2021] [Accepted: 11/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Adult male and female coordinated singing occur in diverse animal taxa. Adult male-female social bond advertising and strengthening have been proposed as two important functional hypotheses of coordinated singing. Here we studied these two functions in four groups of cao vit gibbon (Nomascus nasutus), a small ape that lives in polygynous family groups and adult members coordinated their sex-specific songs to produce complex duets or trios (three members sing together), using 6-year field behavioral data. In this study, we used the number of successful great call sequences per bout or per minute, and latency period from start of the adult male call to the first successful great call sequence to represent singing intensity. We used the proportion of proximity, behavioral synchronization, and grooming between adult male and female to represent bond strength. We used linear mixed-effects model to investigate the correlation between singing intensity and adult male-female social bond strength. We found a negative correlation between all three bond strength indicators and female latency period (N = 209), and a positive correlation between the number of successful great call sequences per bout (N = 253) and per minute (N = 254) and proximity. We used paired Wilcoxon signed-rank test to investigate if adult gibbons increase bond strength after singing. We found proximity (hourly level: N = 45; daily level: N = 54), behavioral synchronization (hourly level: N = 57; daily level: N = 49), and grooming (daily level: N = 34) in most of the groups did not increase significantly after singing in an hourly or daily level. Together, these results indicate that cao vit gibbon coordinated singing serves primarily in adult male-female social bond advertising and distinct singing intensity indicators advertise different information on adult male-female social bond strength.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haigang Ma
- School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, P.R. China
| | - Changyong Ma
- School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, P.R. China
| | - Pengfei Fan
- School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, P.R. China
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Garcia de la Chica A, Wood DB, Rotundo M, Fernandez‐Duque E. Responses of a pair‐living, sexually monogamous primate to the simulated presence of solitary individuals: A field playback experiment. Ethology 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - David Bechtel Wood
- Owl Monkey Project‐ Fundación ECO Formosa Argentina
- Yale University New Haven Connecticut USA
| | | | - Eduardo Fernandez‐Duque
- Owl Monkey Project‐ Fundación ECO Formosa Argentina
- Yale University New Haven Connecticut USA
- Universidad de Formosa Formosa Argentina
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Nadell JA, Elton S, Kovarovic K. Ontogenetic and morphological variation in primate long bones reflects signals of size and behavior. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2020; 174:327-351. [PMID: 33368154 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2019] [Revised: 11/08/2020] [Accepted: 11/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Many primates change their locomotor behavior as they mature from infancy to adulthood. Here we investigate how long bone cross-sectional geometry in Pan, Gorilla, Pongo, Hylobatidae, and Macaca varies in shape and form over ontogeny, including whether specific diaphyseal cross sections exhibit signals of periosteal adaptation or canalization. MATERIALS AND METHODS Diaphyseal cross sections were analyzed in an ontogenetic series across infant, juvenile, and adult subgroups. Three-dimensional laser-scanned long bone models were sectioned at midshaft (50% of biomechanical length) and distally (20%) along the humerus and femur. Traditional axis ratios acted as indices of cross-sectional circularity, while geometric morphometric techniques were used to study cross-sectional allometry and ontogenetic trajectory. RESULTS The humeral midshaft is a strong indicator of posture and locomotor profile in the sample across development, while the mid-femur appears more reflective of shifts in size. By comparison, the distal diaphyses of both limb elements are more ontogenetically constrained, where periosteal shape is largely static across development relative to size, irrespective of a given taxon's behavior or ecology. DISCUSSION Primate limb shape is not only highly variable between taxa over development, but at discrete humeral and femoral diaphyseal locations. Overall, periosteal shape of the humeral and femoral midshaft cross sections closely reflects ontogenetic transitions in behavior and size, respectively, while distal shape in both bones appears more genetically constrained across intraspecific development, regardless of posture or size. These findings support prior research on tradeoffs between function and safety along the limbs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason A Nadell
- Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Sarah Elton
- Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Kris Kovarovic
- Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
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Van de Walle J, Zedrosser A, Swenson JE, Pelletier F. Disentangling direct and indirect determinants of the duration of maternal care in brown bears: Environmental context matters. J Anim Ecol 2020; 90:376-386. [PMID: 33064848 PMCID: PMC7894530 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2020] [Accepted: 09/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The duration of maternal care, an important life‐history trait affecting population dynamics, varies greatly within species. Yet, our understanding of its predictors is limited, mostly correlative and subject to misinterpretations, due to difficulties to disentangle the role of maternal‐ and offspring‐related characteristics. We conducted path analysis on a dataset including 217 brown bear litters captured over a 29‐year period in two populations in Sweden (‘North’ and ‘South’) facing contrasting environmental conditions to identify and quantify the causes of variation in the duration of maternal care (1.5 or 2.5 years). We showed that the causal determinants of the duration of maternal care were context‐dependent. Contrary to their expected central role in the determination of the duration of maternal care, yearling mass and its direct determinants (i.e. litter size and maternal mass) were only important in the North population, where environmental conditions are harsher and the cost of extended maternal care presumably higher. In the South, the duration of maternal care was not caused by yearling mass nor any maternal or litter characteristics. Extension of maternal care may thus result from factors independent from maternal and offspring condition in the South, such as an artificial hunting‐induced selection for longer maternal care through the legal protection of family groups. Our results provide an important contribution to our very limited knowledge of the direct and indirect determinants of the duration of maternal care and highlight the importance of accounting for the environmental context when assessing maternal reproductive tactics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanie Van de Walle
- Département de biologie & Centre for Northern Studies, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
| | - Andreas Zedrosser
- Department of Natural Sciences and Environmental Health, University of South-Eastern Norway, Bø, Norway.,Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Jon E Swenson
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | - Fanie Pelletier
- Département de biologie & Centre for Northern Studies, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
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Proximity to humans is associated with longer maternal care in brown bears. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-019-2764-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Ma CY, Brockelman WY, Light LEO, Bartlett TQ, Fan PF. Infant loss during and after male replacement in gibbons. Am J Primatol 2019; 81:e23036. [PMID: 31338860 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2019] [Revised: 06/10/2019] [Accepted: 07/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
According to the sexual selection hypothesis, infanticide during resident male replacement is an adaptive strategy that has evolved because the killing of unweaned offspring sired by previous males shortens the inter-birth intervals of the mothers whose infants are targeted and thereby increases the reproductive fitness of the perpetrator. To test this hypothesis, we describe previously unreported cases of primary male replacement for two gibbon species (Hylobates lar and Nomascus nasutus), and review all other reported cases of primary male replacement in gibbons. Overall, infants were present in nearly half of all cases (16/33, 48%) and of the 18 infants present during replacement, 50% (N = 9) disappeared within 2 months of the event. In four of the five cases where there was sufficient demographic information to identify the likely sire of the subsequent offspring of females that lost infants, the new male was believed to be the sire. Infants were also less likely to die or disappear if the new male and original resident male were possible kin. However, there was no significant difference in the age of infants between those that died or disappeared following replacement and those that survived to weaning (p = .630). Our review of takeover-related infant loss in gibbons confirms that periods of male instability are risky for unweaned infants and that replacing males benefit from infant loss. Nevertheless, variability in the context of infant loss and difficulties related to data collection in the field make it difficult to test competing hypotheses concerning the mechanisms and functions of infanticide in the small apes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chang-Yong Ma
- School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, P. R. China
| | - Warren Y Brockelman
- Ecology Laboratory, BIOTEC, National Science and Technology Development Agency, Khlong Luang, Pathum Thani, Thailand.,Conservation Genetics Ecology Group, Mahidol University, Salaya, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
| | - Lydia E O Light
- Department of Anthropology, The University of North Carolina at Chbarlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina
| | - Thad Q Bartlett
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas
| | - Peng-Fei Fan
- School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, P. R. China.,Institute of Eastern-Himalaya Biodiversity Research, Dali University, Dali, P. R. China
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Tinsley Johnson E, Snyder-Mackler N, Lu A, Bergman TJ, Beehner JC. Social and ecological drivers of reproductive seasonality in geladas. Behav Ecol 2018; 29:574-588. [PMID: 29769792 PMCID: PMC5946938 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/ary008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2017] [Revised: 12/30/2017] [Accepted: 01/19/2018] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Many nonseasonally breeding mammals demonstrate some degree of synchrony in births, which is generally associated with ecological factors that mediate fecundity. However, disruptive social events, such as alpha male replacements, also have the potential to affect the timing of female reproduction. Here, we examined reproductive seasonality in a wild population of geladas (Theropithecus gelada) living at high altitudes in an afro-alpine ecosystem in Ethiopia. Using 9 years of demographic data (2006-2014), we determined that, while females gave birth year-round, a seasonal peak in births coincided with peak green grass availability (their staple food source). This post-rainy season "ecological peak" in births meant that estimated conceptions for these births occurred when temperatures were at their highest and mean female fecal glucocorticoid concentrations were at their lowest. In addition to this ecological birth peak, we also found a separate birth peak that occurred only for females in groups that had experienced a recent replacement of the dominant male (i.e., a takeover). Because new dominant males cause abortions in pregnant females and kill the infants of lactating females, takeovers effectively "reset" the reproductive cycles of females in the group. This "social birth peak" was distinct from the ecological peak and was associated with higher rates of cycling and conceptions overall and higher glucocorticoid levels immediately following a takeover as compared to females that did not experience a takeover. These data demonstrate that social factors (in this case, male takeovers) can contribute to population-level reproductive seasonality above and beyond group-level reproductive synchrony.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth Tinsley Johnson
- Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, S. University Ave., West Hall, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Noah Snyder-Mackler
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology, University of Washington, WA, USA
| | - Amy Lu
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Circle Rd., SBS Building, Stony Brook, NY, USA
| | - Thore J Bergman
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, North University, Kraus Natural Science Building, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jacinta C Beehner
- Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, S. University Ave., West Hall, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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