Children of divorce: effects of adult replacements on previous offspring in Argentinean owl monkeys |
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Authors: | Email author" target="_blank">Maren?HuckEmail author Eduardo?Fernandez-Duque |
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Institution: | 1.Department of Anthropology,University of Pennsylvania,Philadelphia,USA;2.Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral,CONICET,Corrientes,Argentina |
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Abstract: | According to the Evolutionary Theory of the Family, the replacement of one pair-member by an intruder may have profound consequences
for the existing offspring. Step-parents are expected to provide less care towards unrelated immatures than to genetic offspring,
unless caring also serves as a mating strategy. Furthermore, because an intruder will be a potential mate for opposite-sexed
offspring, relationships between offspring and same-sex parents are predicted to deteriorate. To test these predictions, we
studied an Azara’s owl monkey (Aotus azarai) population in Argentina exhibiting serial monogamy and bi-parental care. Since 1997, we have collected demographic data
from ca. 25 groups and inter-individual distance data from ca. 150 marked individuals. First, we compared survival and dispersal
age of immatures in groups with and without replacements to investigate whether parental care serves as a mating strategy.
Second, we compared sex-specific age at dispersal for groups with replacement of opposite-sex parents, same-sex parents, or
in stable groups in order to test whether relationships between offspring and same-sex parents deteriorated after the replacement
of the other parent. Survival and dispersal ages were not negatively associated with replacements, suggesting that male care
might serve, at least partly, as a mating strategy. The time lag between a replacement and the subsequent dispersal of female
offspring was greater if the intruder was a male, while the offspring and same-sex parents were less often nearest neighbors
after replacements than before. Our results suggest that family disruption through the replacement of a parent is not associated
with decreased offspring survival or early dispersion of juveniles, but deteriorates parent–offspring relationships. |
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