GENITAL SWELLING IN FEMALES OF THE MONOGAMOUS GIBBON, HYLOBATES (H) LAR
GENITAL SWELLING IN FEMALES OF THE MONOGAMOUS GIBBON, HYLOBATES (H) LAR
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DOI：
10.1002/ajpa.1330890109
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发表时间：
1992-09-01
影响因子：
2.8
通讯作者：
NADLER, RD
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
DAHL, JF;NADLER, RD
研究人员研究了五只成年长臂猿（Hylobates [H.] lar）外阴的周期性变化，并与八只低地大猩猩的外阴周期性变化进行了比较。结果表明，长臂猿具有相对明显且专门的性肿胀，会在卵巢周期期间改变形状和外观。在最大程度上，大猩猩的生殖器肿胀相对且绝对小于长臂猿，并且缺乏小型猿类生殖器肿胀中所见的独特颜色。我们得出的结论是，雌性长臂猿的性肿胀是比大猩猩更明显和更有效的发情状态信号，并且这无法用异速生长来解释。先前的研究人员指出，单雄性交配系统、一夫一妻制或树栖栖息地是某些灵长类动物发情信号不如其他灵长类动物明显的原因。我们对长臂猿的研究结果与这些预测相反，表明除了雄性之间对发情雌性的竞争之外的性选择也与长臂猿肿胀的最终原因有关。然而，雌性长臂猿性信号的适应价值和意义仍不清楚。
Cyclical changes in the vulvae of five adult lar gibbons (Hylobates [H.] lar) were studied and compared with those of eight lowland gorillas. The results reveal that the gibbons have relatively conspicuous and specialized sexual swellings that alter shape and appearance during the ovarian cycle. At maximum extent, the genital swellings of gorillas are relatively and absolutely smaller than those of gibbons, and lack the distinctive coloration seen in the genital swellings of the smaller apes. We conclude that the female gibbon's sexual swelling is a far more conspicuous and effective signal of estrus status than that of the gorilla, and that this is not explicable in terms of allometry. Previous investigators have pointed to one-male mating systems, monogamous pair-bonding, or an arboreal habitat as reasons that some primates should have less conspicuous signals of estrus than others. Our findings for the gibbon are the reverse of these predictions, and indicate that sexual selection other than by intermale competition for estrous females is implicated in the ultimate causation of the gibbon's swelling. The adaptive value and significance of the female gibbon's sexual signals remain unclear, however.