1
|
Schembari S, Miller C, Roberts SJ, Cords M. Female Mate Choice in Wild Kenyan Blue Monkeys ( Cercopithecus mitis). Animals (Basel) 2024; 14:1589. [PMID: 38891636 PMCID: PMC11171077 DOI: 10.3390/ani14111589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2024] [Revised: 05/23/2024] [Accepted: 05/23/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Female mate choice may drive sexual selection, but discerning whether female behaviors reflect free expression of choice or responses to constraints can be difficult. We investigated the efficacy of female choice in wild blue monkeys using 10 years of behavior and paternity data (N = 178 male-female dyads). Although blue monkeys live modally in one-male polygynous groups, where male-biased intersexual power is expected, females can access multiple potential mates during seasonal male influxes and occasional intergroup encounters. Additionally, extra-group males sire offspring. We examined female resistance rates to male-initiated sexual interactions, and unsolicited proceptive behavior that females directed to males (corrected for male availability). Females seldom resisted male solicitation, but initiated sexual interactions more than males. Females generally preferred residents. Those who preferred non-residents tended to have residents with longer tenures, but neither female parity nor rank influenced the tendency to prefer non-residents vs. residents. The male most solicited by a particular female fathered that female's infant 82% of the time; odds of siring were 26 times higher for most vs. nonpreferred males. Female preference predicted paternity even more strongly among non-resident males, with odds of siring 33 times higher for most vs. nonpreferred non-residents. Neither female rank nor parity influenced her likelihood of having her preferred partner as sire. Paternity by preferred males did not affect infant survival. While we cannot fully discount the effect of male-male competition on paternity, these results suggest that blue monkey females can exercise choice successfully, even in a polygynous mating system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sofia Schembari
- Department of Ecology, Evolution & Environmental Biology, Columbia University, 10th Floor, Schermerhorn Extension, 1200 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027, USA; (S.S.); (C.M.); (S.-J.R.)
| | - Caitlin Miller
- Department of Ecology, Evolution & Environmental Biology, Columbia University, 10th Floor, Schermerhorn Extension, 1200 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027, USA; (S.S.); (C.M.); (S.-J.R.)
| | - Su-Jen Roberts
- Department of Ecology, Evolution & Environmental Biology, Columbia University, 10th Floor, Schermerhorn Extension, 1200 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027, USA; (S.S.); (C.M.); (S.-J.R.)
- The New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Marina Cords
- Department of Ecology, Evolution & Environmental Biology, Columbia University, 10th Floor, Schermerhorn Extension, 1200 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027, USA; (S.S.); (C.M.); (S.-J.R.)
- The New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY 10065, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Clark KE, Rohrer KN, Ferkin MH. Outcomes of previous mating encounters influence mate preferences and memory in meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
|
3
|
Hayes-Puttfarcken AL, Kemmerly C, Keane B, Solomon NG. Do olfactory cues from males with different avpr1a genotypes affect female mate choice in prairie voles, Microtus ochrogaster? Behav Processes 2020; 180:104228. [PMID: 32882344 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2020.104228] [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: 06/12/2020] [Revised: 08/05/2020] [Accepted: 08/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Multiple hypotheses have been proposed to explain female mate choice and some of the mechanisms underlying these choices. Females prairie voles display social and mating preferences for males with longer avpr1a microsatellite alleles, which provide more paternal care and exhibit less interest in novel females compared to males with shorter avpr1a microsatellite alleles. The cues females use to differentiate among males with different avpr1a genotypes are unknown, so the objective of our study was to determine if females can discriminate among males with different avpr1a genotypes using only male olfactory cues. In a laboratory choice test, females simultaneously presented with soiled bedding from a male with short versus long avpr1a microsatellite alleles showed no significant difference in the total time spent investigating each type of bedding. Nor did a greater number of females spend more time investigating soiled bedding from males with short versus long avpr1a microsatellite alleles. These findings were not influenced by female estrous status or their own avpr1a genotype. Our results suggest olfactory cues alone are insufficient to explain a female's ability to discriminate between males with different avpr1a genotypes and future research should focus on different cues or a combination of cues.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Brian Keane
- Department of Biological Sciences, Miami University - Hamilton, Hamilton, OH 45011, USA.
| | - Nancy G Solomon
- Department of Biology, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Bedoya-Pérez MA, Herrera EA, Congdon ER. Potential female mate choice in a male dominated system: the female capybara, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris. J Mammal 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyaa032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Capybaras, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris (Rodentia: Caviidae: Hydrochoerinae), show a strict social hierarchy among males, wherein the top-ranking male gains preferential access to females. Despite minimal sexual size dimorphism, males have a prominent scent gland on their snouts that is greatly reduced in the females. Top-ranking males have a larger gland and mark more frequently than subordinate males. This species also shows a moderately complex courtship that seems to be modulated by female behavior. In this study, we evaluated several components of courtship, as well as the females’ interactions with males during and outside courtship, in relation to the hierarchy rank of males. We found that subordinate males engaged in longer courtships than top-ranking males. However, there was no difference in the number of mount attempts or the success rate of these mounts as a function of the social status of the male, despite the longer courtship performed by subordinate males in comparison to top-ranking males. Outside courtship, females directed the same number of social interactions to males regardless of status. However, during courtship, females avoided copulation by subordinate males both directly and indirectly by encouraging courtship disruption by higher-ranking males. Females’ avoidance of subordinates may force these males to invest a higher amount of effort in courtships, thus engaging in longer courtships, yet achieving similar mount success as top-ranking males. We show that the original assumption of male hierarchy as the main mechanism of reproductive distribution is incomplete, and female mate choice plays an important role in determining which males reproduce.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miguel A Bedoya-Pérez
- Departamento de Estudios Ambientales, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Apartado, Caracas, Venezuela
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Emilio A Herrera
- Departamento de Estudios Ambientales, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Apartado, Caracas, Venezuela
| | - Elizabeth R Congdon
- Department of Natural Sciences, Bethune-Cookman University, Daytona Beach, FL, USA
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Fanjul MS, Zenuto RR. Personality underground: evidence of behavioral types in the solitary subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum. PeerJ 2020; 8:e8490. [PMID: 32110481 PMCID: PMC7034374 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.8490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2019] [Accepted: 12/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Animal personalities have been studied in a wide variety of taxa, but among rodents, available studies are relatively scarce and have focused mainly on social species. In this study, we evaluated the existence of personality in the solitary subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum. Specifically, we aimed to test individual differences in behavior that are stable over time and context in males of C. talarum captured in the wild. METHODS Our experimental design included two series of three behavioral tests each, carried out with a 35 day time interval. Each series included an Open Field test, a Social Encounter test, and an Open Field test with a predator stimulus. RESULTS Of the total recorded behaviors, 55.55% showed temporal consistency. Principal component analysis of consistent behaviors grouped them into four dimensions that explain inter individual behavioral variability, in order of importance: activity, socioaversion, boldness and exploration. Therefore, our results suggest that the concept of animal personality is applicable to C. talarum and the dimensions found are in accordance with the ecological and behavioral characteristics of this species.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- María Sol Fanjul
- Grupo ‘Ecología Fisiológica y del Comportamiento’, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Roxana R. Zenuto
- Grupo ‘Ecología Fisiológica y del Comportamiento’, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Fanjul MS, Varas MF, Zenuto RR. Female preference for males that have exclusively marked or invaded territories depends on male presence and its identity in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum. Ethology 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- María Sol Fanjul
- Grupo ‘Ecología Fisiológica y del Comportamiento’; Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC); Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); Mar del Plata Argentina
| | - María Florencia Varas
- Grupo ‘Ecología Fisiológica y del Comportamiento’; Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC); Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); Mar del Plata Argentina
| | - Roxana Rita Zenuto
- Grupo ‘Ecología Fisiológica y del Comportamiento’; Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC); Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); Mar del Plata Argentina
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Sexual and non-sexual social preferences in male and female white-eyed bulbuls. Sci Rep 2017; 7:5847. [PMID: 28724892 PMCID: PMC5517633 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-06239-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2016] [Accepted: 06/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
While the function of ornaments shaped by sexual selection is to attract mates or drive off rivals, these signals may also evolve through social selection, in which the social context affects the fitness of signallers and receivers. Classical ‘mate choice’ experiments often reveal preferences for ornaments, but few studies have considered whether these are strictly sexual or reflect general social preferences. Indeed, an alternative possibility is that ornaments evolve through ‘non-sexual social selection’ (hereafter ‘social selection’). We examined the role of ornamentation (yellow ventral patch) and familiarity (individuals recognize group mates with which they have had previous interactions) on mate choice (opposite-sex stimuli preference) and social choice (same-sex stimuli preference) in both male and female white-eyed bulbuls (Pycnonotus xanthopygos). In the mate choice test, females preferred unfamiliar males with increased yellow. There were no biologically important differences in male preferences based on familiarity or intensity of patch colour. In the social choice test, females preferred to associate with familiar females. Males preferred to associate with familiar males but also preferred to associate with less ornamented males. Our results suggest that ornamentation and familiarity are important features, playing different roles in males and females, in both social and sexual selection processes.
Collapse
|
8
|
Fanjul MS, Zenuto RR. Female choice, male dominance and condition-related traits in the polygynous subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum. Behav Processes 2017; 142:46-55. [PMID: 28591643 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2017.05.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2016] [Revised: 03/31/2017] [Accepted: 05/27/2017] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Ctenomys talarum is a solitary and highly territorial species in which dominant males aggressively deter other males and monopolize reproductive activity. Female preference for dominant males is not easy to assess due to coercive mating by males. Hence, we aimed to answer if behavioural dominance and several condition-related traits like testosterone and cortisol levels, endoparasite load, and hematocrit volume may affect female preference when they have the opportunity to exert it. We designed a laboratory experiment using wild-caught C. talarum and employed a combined approach involving behavioural observations and the measurements of parameters of physical condition. We staged dyadic encounters between males to determine dominance index and then analyzed female preference towards tethered males (n=15) or their odours (n=18). Male dominance did not affect female preferences when odours were presented. When two tethered males were offered, females preferred those with higher dominance index. Preference of females for dominant males would mainly represent indirect benefits. Females did not show preference for males in relation to any physiological trait evaluated. Dominance was found negatively related to cortisol levels, probably avoiding the glucocorticoids-related costs, and positively related to parasite diversity, since they could tolerate it without impairing their health.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- M S Fanjul
- Grupo 'Ecología Fisiológica y del Comportamiento', Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Box 1260, CP 7600, Mar del Plata, Argentina.
| | - R R Zenuto
- Grupo 'Ecología Fisiológica y del Comportamiento', Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Box 1260, CP 7600, Mar del Plata, Argentina
| |
Collapse
|