Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: Reproductive Competition in Female Sanje Mangabeys

本研究将调查坦桑尼亚乌宗瓦山脉野生桑杰白眉猴（Cercocebus sanjei）种群中雌性对配偶的竞争。这项研究将解决两个主要问题。首先，一些女性比其他女性更有能力制定自己的生殖目标，即在受孕时与首选男性交配，同时阻止其他女性这样做？第二，如果是这样，是通过什么方法实现的？为了回答这些问题，对性行为和社会行为的行为观察将与通过分析粪便样本收集的卵巢激素数据相结合。这种独特的双侧方法的行为和内分泌数据将提供必要的信息，以确定女性的差异，以及男性，行为在女性生殖状态的变化。公认的理论认为女性在性方面的竞争力不如男性。因此，大多数关于性竞争的研究都集中在男性行为上。然而，女性在生殖方面的投入最大（例如，妊娠和哺乳期），雄性通常只贡献精子，很少或根本不照顾后代。因此，对于雌性来说，要想繁殖成功，有后代存活到成熟;他们必须花费大量的精力来照顾后代或接受补充支持，例如，获得食物，从其他群体成员，如成年男性。为了确保提供这种支持，雌性可能不得不为获得首选配偶而竞争。据估计，雌性会更喜欢和竞争那些能为她和她的后代提供最大利益的雄性，同时滥交交配以混淆亲子关系，这已经被证明是鼓励帮助和阻止其他雄性的杀戮。然而，目前还不清楚雌性在多大程度上争夺配偶，以及这对雌性生殖有什么影响。该项目的智力价值包括更好地理解调节女性与女性和男性与女性社会关系的因素，并有助于更好地理解社会性背后的变量。这项研究的更广泛影响包括通过提供（a）关于生殖率的数据，这对制定适当的管理计划至关重要;（B）长期持续的研究存在，这是对偷猎和非法活动的重要威慑;（c）为坦桑尼亚实地助理人员提供就业和培训，从而帮助保护濒危的Sanje mangabey。 作为博士论文研究的一部分，这项研究还将有助于研究生的培训。

This research will investigate female competition over mates in a wild population of Sanje mangabeys (Cercocebus sanjei), in the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania. This study will address two major questions. First, are some females better able than others to enact their reproductive goals, i.e. mating with preferred males at times of conception while preventing other females from doing so? Second, if so, by what methods is this achieved? To answer these questions, behavioral observations on sexual and social behavior will be combined with data on ovarian hormones gathered through analysis of fecal samples. This unique double-sided approach of behavioral and endocrinological data will provide the information necessary to identify differences in female, as well as male, behavior in response to changes in female reproductive state. Established theory views females as less sexually competitive than males. As a result, most studies of sexual competition focus on male behavior. It is females, however, that invest most heavily in reproduction (e.g., gestation and lactation), with males generally contributing only sperm, providing little or no offspring care. Consequently, for females to be reproductively successful, i.e., have offspring survive to maturity; they must expend significant energy to care for offspring or receive supplemental support, e.g., access to food, from other group members, such as adult males. To ensure such support is provided, females may have to compete over access to preferred mates. It is expected that a female will prefer and compete over the male(s) that provide the greatest benefits to her and her offspring, while at the same time mating promiscuously to confuse paternity, which has been shown to encourage aid and discourage infanticide from other males. It remains unclear, however, to what degree females compete over access to mates, and what impact this has on female reproduction. The intellectual merits of this project include providing a better understanding of the factors regulating female-female and male-female social relationships, and contributing to a more refined understanding of the variables underlying sociality. The broader impacts of this study include aiding in the conservation of the endangered Sanje mangabey by providing (a) data on reproductive rates, essential to the development of appropriate management plans; (b) long-term continued research presence, an important deterrent to poaching and illegal activities; and (c) employment and training for Tanzanian field assistants. This study will also contribute to the training of a graduate student as part of his doctoral dissertation research.