The Behavioral Ecology of Chimpanzees.

这项研究是根据1987年主要在坦桑尼亚马哈尔进行的实地工作进行的。野生黑猩猩行为的性别和年龄差异是我们主要关注的问题。(1)女婴比男婴断奶更早。男婴比女婴更频繁、更强烈地抗议母亲的交配行为。当前代为雌性时，生育间隔往往较短。这些差异可以用性选择假说来解释。(2)不同年龄雄性的取食行为存在差异：年长雄性比年轻雄性和青春期雄性更频繁地采摘掉落的果实。成年雄蚁很少吃蚂蚁。相比之下，年轻的男性经常这样做。该群体的雄性首领表现出非常高的摄食率。代谢效率和营养需求可能是解释年龄差异的主要原因。老年黑猩猩被梳理毛发的频率往往远高于其他黑猩猩。这显示了老年黑猩猩在黑猩猩社会中的独特地位。

This study is based on the field work conducted mainly in Mahale, Tanzania in 1987. Sex and age differences in the behaviors of wild chimpanzees were our major concerns. (1) Female infants tended to be weaned earlier than male infants. Male infants protested against the copulations of their mothers more frequently and more strongly than did their female counterparts. Birth interval tended to be shorter when the previous offspring was female. These differences can be explained by sexual selection hypothesis. (2) Feeding behavior differed across ages: Older adult males picked fallen fruits more often than young adult or adolescent males. Full adult males rarely fed on ants. In contrast younger males often did so. The alpha male of the group showed remarkably high feeding rate. Metabolic efficiency and nutritional needs may mostly explain the age differences. (3) Old aged chimpanzees tended to be groomed far more frequently than to groom others. This shows the unique status of aged chimpanzees in the chimpanzee society.