The lemur syndrome unresolved: extreme male reproductive skew in sifakas (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Propithecus verreauxi</Emphasis>), a sexually monomorphic primate with female dominance |
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Authors: | Peter M Kappeler Livia Schäffler |
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Institution: | 1.Department of Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology,German Primate Center,G?ttingen,Germany |
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Abstract: | The primates of Madagascar (Lemuriformes) are unusual among mammals in that polygynous species lack sexual dimorphism, and
females dominate males socially in most species. Moreover, lemur groups are relatively small and characterized by even adult
sex ratios despite the fact that one male should be able to exclude other males from the group. One hypothesis to explain
this combination of behavioral, morphological, and demographic traits (the “lemur syndrome”) postulates that male–male competition
is relaxed and, hence, variance in male reproductive success is low. Reproductive skew theory provides a framework for testing
this and several related predictions about lemur social evolution. Specifically, low reproductive skew is also predicted if
dominant males or adult females make reproductive concessions to subordinates or if the latter group successfully pursues
alternative reproductive tactics. However, suitable data on paternity, demography, and behavior for a conclusive test of these
predictions have not been available in the past. In this paper, we show that male reproductive success in ten groups of Verreaux’s
sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi) was extremely skewed in favor of the dominant male over 9 years. Our genetic analyses also revealed that more than a third
of all groups are effectively harem groups because only one male was unrelated to the resident female(s). In groups with two
or more non-natal males, the dominant sired 91% of 33 infants. Together, males pursuing one of several alternative reproductive
tactics, such as roaming among several groups or immigrating peacefully, sired only 11% of infants. Thus, female sifakas do
not control group composition by offering reproductive opportunities to subordinate males as staying incentives, intrasexual
selection is not relaxed, and dominant males prevail in a tug-of-war over subordinate males. Because male reproductive skew
in sifakas is even more pronounced than in harem-living anthropoids studied to date, intrasexual selection is clearly not
relaxed, and the lemur syndrome is more puzzling than ever. |
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Keywords: | Reproductive skew Sexual selection Paternity Sexual conflict Propithecus verreauxi |
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