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Darmis F, Huchard É, Cowlishaw G, Carter AJ. Cycle length flexibility: is the duration of sexual receptivity associated with changes in social pressures? ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:231307. [PMID: 38034125 PMCID: PMC10685116 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.231307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023]
Abstract
Research in social mammals has revealed the complexity of strategies females use in response to female-female reproductive competition and sexual conflict. One point at which competition and conflict manifests acutely is during sexual receptivity, indicated by swellings in some primates. Whether females can adjust their sexual receptivity from cycle to cycle to decrease reproductive competition and sexual conflict in response to social pressures has not been tested. As a first step, this study explores whether sexual receptivity duration is predicted by social pressures in wild female chacma baboons (Papio ursinus). Given that female baboons face intense reproductive competition and sexual coercion, we predicted that: females could shorten the duration of their sexual receptive period to reduce female-female aggression and male coercion or increase it to access multiple or their preferred male(s). We quantified 157 ovulatory cycles from 46 wild females living in central Namibia recorded over 15 years. We found no support for our hypothesis; however, our analyses revealed a negative correlation between maximal-swelling duration and group size, a proxy of within-group competition. This study provides further evidence that swelling is costly as well as a testable framework for future investigations of 'cycle length manipulation'.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Élise Huchard
- Institut des Sciences de L'Evolution de Montpellier, UMR 5554, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Guy Cowlishaw
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, London, UK
| | - Alecia J. Carter
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK
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Respect for males amid suppression of females: Selective use of aggression and fitness correlates in the male-dominated society of hamadryas baboons. J Hum Evol 2022; 165:103151. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2021] [Revised: 01/07/2022] [Accepted: 01/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Ekanayake-Weber M, Swedell L. An agent-based model of coercive female transfer in a multilevel society. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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Contexts and consequences of takeovers in hamadryas baboons: Female parity, reproductive state, and observational evidence of pregnancy loss. Am J Primatol 2017; 79. [DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2015] [Revised: 01/30/2017] [Accepted: 01/31/2017] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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Breuer T, Robbins AM, Robbins MM. Sexual coercion and courtship by male western gorillas. Primates 2016; 57:29-38. [PMID: 26483073 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-015-0496-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2015] [Accepted: 10/06/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Sexual coercion and courtship are possible explanations for why male primates may direct agonistic behavior towards females. If so, then in species where females exhibit mate choice by transferring between males: (a) females who are not lactating (potential migrants) should receive more agonistic behavior than other females, (b) males should exhibit more agonistic behavior towards females during intergroup encounters than when no rival males are nearby, and (c) males should show more herding behavior when their group contains potential migrant females. We tested those hypotheses in a population of approximately 150 western gorillas at Mbeli Bai, northern Congo. We also tested whether difference in male phenotypic traits influenced their rates of agonistic behavior towards females. Of the 332 observed cases of male agonistic behavior towards females, 29% represented feeding competition, 7 % involved interventions in conflicts between females, and the remaining 64 % were considered potential evidence of sexual coercion and/or courtship. After excluding the cases of feeding competition and intervention, a multivariate analysis indicated that potential migrant females received agonistic behavior at a statistically significantly higher rate than other adult females. Females also received agonistic behavior at a significantly higher rate during intergroup encounters than at other times. Herding occurred during 22% of the 292 dyadic interunit encounters, and was significantly more likely to occur when the group contained a potential migrant female, but was not influenced by the number of adult females or the type of group encountered. Males with shorter body lengths had significantly higher rates of aggression, but phenotypic traits were not significantly correlated with herding. Collectively, our results are consistent with sexual coercion and/or courtship as an explanation for male-to-female agonistic behavior, but we are unable to distinguish between those two male mating strategies. Both types of behavior are likely due to a combination of perceived risks of female transfer and opportunity to advertise protector ability.
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Hiadlovská Z, Mikula O, Macholán M, Hamplová P, Vošlajerová Bímová B, Daniszová K. Shaking the myth: Body mass, aggression, steroid hormones, and social dominance in wild house mouse. Gen Comp Endocrinol 2015; 223:16-26. [PMID: 26433061 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2015.09.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2015] [Revised: 09/19/2015] [Accepted: 09/29/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
In social mammals, the position of a male in the group's hierarchy strongly affects his reproductive success. Since a high social rank is often gained through competition with other males, selection should favour bigger males over smaller ones. We may therefore predict faster growth and/or delayed sexual maturity in dominant males. Likewise, dominants should have higher levels of testosterone, hormone important in many aspects of male dominance. Less obvious is the relationship between dominance and levels of corticosterone but generally higher concentrations are expected in subordinate individuals. We studied body growth, sexual maturation and endocrinal changes in males of two house mouse subspecies, raised in fraternal pairs. Since Mus musculus domesticus is the subspecies which dominates mutual encounters with Mus musculus musculus we predicted higher growth rate, delayed puberty and aggression, and higher testosterone and corticosterone levels in domesticus males compared to musculus. In all comparisons, no differences were found between dominant and subordinate musculus brothers. On the other hand, in M. m. domesticus, dominant males revealed a different growth trajectory and lower corticosterone levels than subordinate males but not delayed puberty and higher testosterone concentrations, thus contradicting our predictions. In inter-subspecific comparisons, musculus males matured earlier but became aggressive at the same time as domesticus males. The musculus testosterone ontogeny suggests that social positions in this subspecies remain unfixed for an extended period and that the increasing levels probably reflect prolonged hierarchy contests. It appears that the ontogeny of behaviour and physiological traits diverge cryptically between the two subspecies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Z Hiadlovská
- Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Veveří 97, CZ-602 00 Brno, Czech Republic.
| | - O Mikula
- Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Veveří 97, CZ-602 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - M Macholán
- Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Veveří 97, CZ-602 00 Brno, Czech Republic; Institute of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, CZ-61137 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - P Hamplová
- Institute of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, CZ-61137 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - B Vošlajerová Bímová
- Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Veveří 97, CZ-602 00 Brno, Czech Republic; Institute of Vertebrate Biology, ASCR, Květná 8, CZ-603 65 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - K Daniszová
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, ASCR, Květná 8, CZ-603 65 Brno, Czech Republic; Biodiversity Research Group, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, 13 Viničná 7, CZ-128 44 Prague, Czech Republic
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Lankinen Å, Karlsson Green K. Using theories of sexual selection and sexual conflict to improve our understanding of plant ecology and evolution. AOB PLANTS 2015; 7:plv008. [PMID: 25613227 PMCID: PMC4344479 DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plv008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Today it is accepted that the theories of sexual selection and sexual conflict are general and can be applied to both animals and plants. However, potentially due to a controversial history, plant studies investigating sexual selection and sexual conflict are relatively rare. Moreover, these theories and concepts are seldom implemented in research fields investigating related aspects of plant ecology and evolution. Even though these theories are complex, and can be difficult to study, we suggest that several fields in plant biology would benefit from incorporating and testing the impact of selection pressures generated by sexual selection and sexual conflict. Here we give examples of three fields where we believe such incorporation would be particularly fruitful, including (i) mechanisms of pollen-pistil interactions, (ii) mating-system evolution in hermaphrodites and (iii) plant immune responses to pests and pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Åsa Lankinen
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Plant Protection Biology, PO Box 102, S-230 53 Alnarp, Sweden
| | - Kristina Karlsson Green
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Plant Protection Biology, PO Box 102, S-230 53 Alnarp, Sweden
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Pines M, Chowdhury S, Saunders J, Swedell L. The rise and fall of leader males in a multi-level society: Takeovers and tenures of male hamadryas baboons. Am J Primatol 2014; 77:44-55. [DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2014] [Revised: 05/21/2014] [Accepted: 05/21/2014] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Shahrina Chowdhury
- Filoha Hamadryas Project; Metahara Ethiopia
- Queens College; City University of New York; Queens New York
- Graduate Center; City University of New York; New York New York
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology; New York New York
| | | | - Larissa Swedell
- Filoha Hamadryas Project; Metahara Ethiopia
- Queens College; City University of New York; Queens New York
- Graduate Center; City University of New York; New York New York
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology; New York New York
- University of Cape Town; Rondebosch South Africa
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