Dissertation Research: The Assessment of Female Condition

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A new hypothesis has been proposed for the function of conspicuous sexual traits in female primates. The conventional view has been that certain female traits that occur in sexual contexts, such as sexual skin swellings, are designed to attract the attention of or incite competition between males in multi-male species. However, this view does not explain why females in these species would need to advertise their reproductive state so conspicuously or why conspicuous traits would incite more competition among males than would otherwise occur. In contrast, Pagel argues that conspicuous sexual males because they advertise the female's quality or condition. The signals evolve in response to male mate choice and competition among females to attract males (the mirror image of what has been normally accepted). While the female competition hypothesis is the most developed hypothesis to date for the function of conspicuous sexual advertisement in female primates, no tests have been made of its predictions. This dissertation project will examine variation in female sexual traits and their influence on female attractiveness to males in wild olive baboons at Gombe national Park in Tanzania. No study to date has been designed to test the hypothesis that male sexual interest is influenced by variation in any of these female traits in the wild, although it has been apparent that males mate selectively. This study will make a substantial first step towards understanding the evolutionary and social significance of female sexual signals and sexual attractiveness, a topic clearly of vital importance for understanding human evolution. It will also result in the training of young experts in the area of social behavior.