Determinants of male reproductive success in wild long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis)-male monopolisation, female mate choice or post-copulatory mechanisms?
Determinants of male reproductive success in wild long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis)-male monopolisation, female mate choice or post-copulatory mechanisms?
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DOI：
10.1007/s00265-005-0104-x
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发表时间：
2006-04-01
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
Niemitz, C
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Engelhardt, A;Heistermann, M;Niemitz, C
性选择的基本原则之一是，在异配生殖的物种中，雄性生殖成功应该偏向于强壮的雄性。然而，对灵长类动物多雄性群体的研究表明，除了雄性的战斗能力之外，其他因素也可能影响雄性的繁殖成功。在多雄性灵长类动物群体中，导致父系关系的近似机制仍然在很大程度上未知，因为在大多数灵长类动物研究中，测量的是交配而不是生殖成功。此外，很少有研究关注女性的生育阶段。本研究旨在探讨男性独占与女性直接择偶在亲子鉴定中的相对重要性。我们还调查了在何种程度上亲子关系是决定交配后，即在女性生殖道。我们使用了一种结合的方法，行为观察与粪便激素和遗传分析的女性周期阶段和亲子鉴定，分别进行评估。这项研究是在印度尼西亚Gunung Leuser国家公园Ketambe研究站附近的一群野生长尾猕猴身上进行的。我们的研究结果表明，男性垄断和交配后的机制是男性生殖成功的主要决定因素，而女性直接择偶和替代男性生殖策略似乎在这方面的重要性不大。然而，女性的合作可能促进了男性的垄断。由于父权仅限于阿尔法和β男性，即使女性在生育期与几个男性交配，似乎不仅男性垄断，而且交配后的机制可能有利于高级别的男性在长尾猕猴，从而加强了该物种的生殖偏斜。
One of the basic principles of sexual selection is that male reproductive success should be skewed towards strong males in species with anisogamous sex. Studies on primate multi-male groups, however, suggest that other factors than male fighting ability might also affect male reproductive success. The proximate mechanisms leading to paternity in multi-male primate groups still remain largely unknown since in most primate studies mating rather than reproductive success is measured. Furthermore, little research focuses on a female's fertile phase. The aim of this study was to investigate the relative importance of male monopolisation and female direct mate choice for paternity determination. We also investigated the extent to which paternity was decided post-copulatory, i.e. within the female reproductive tract. We used a combined approach of behavioural observations with faecal hormone and genetic analysis for assessment of female cycle stage and paternity, respectively. The study was carried out on a group of wild long-tailed macaques living around the Ketambe Research Station, Gunung Leuser National Park, Indonesia. Our results suggest that both male monopolisation and post-copulatory mechanisms are the main determinants of male reproductive success, whereas female direct mate choice and alternative male reproductive strategies appear to be of little importance in this respect. Female cooperation may, however, have facilitated male monopolisation. Since paternity was restricted to alpha and beta males even when females mated with several males during the fertile phase, it seems that not only male monopolisation but also post-copulatory mechanisms may operate in favour of high-ranking males in long-tailed macaques, thus reinforcing the reproductive skew in this species.