Sexual swellings advertise female quality in wild baboons

Domb, Leah G.; Pagel, Mark

doi:10.1038/35065597

Cited by 185 publications

(155 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…In females, swelling size may advertise genetic diversity. A controversial study of baboons found that males preferred to mate with females possessing larger sexual swellings, which signaled increased female reproductive success (62,63). However, we were not able to replicate these findings for this colony of mandrills, where male mate choice is unrelated to the size of female sexual swellings and swelling size is unrelated to female reproductive quality (64).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 55%

Genetic diversity and reproductive success in mandrills ( Mandrillus sphinx )

Charpentier

Setchell

Prugnolle

et al. 2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Recent studies of wild animal populations have shown that estimators of neutral genetic diversity, such as mean heterozygosity, are often correlated with various fitness traits, such as survival, disease susceptibility, or reproductive success. We used two estimators of genetic diversity to explore the relationship between heterozygosity and reproductive success in male and female mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) living in a semifree ranging setting in Gabon. Because social rank is known to influence reproductive success in both sexes, we also examined the correlation between genetic diversity and social rank in females, and acquisition of alpha status in males, as well as length of alpha male tenure. We found that heterozygous individuals showed greater reproductive success, with both females and males producing more offspring. However, heterozygosity influenced reproductive success only in dominant males, not in subordinates. Neither the acquisition of alpha status in males, nor social rank in females, was significantly correlated with heterozygosity, although more heterozygous alpha males showed longer tenure than homozygous ones. We also tested whether the benefits of greater genetic diversity were due mainly to a genome-wide effect of inbreeding depression or to heterosis at one or a few loci. Multilocus effects best explained the correlation between heterozygosity and reproductive success and tenure, indicating the occurrence of inbreeding depression in this mandrill colony.correlation heterozygosity-fitness ͉ genome-wide inbreeding ͉ primate ͉ social rank ͉ reproduction O ffspring born to closely related parents often show reduced fitness, a phenomenon known as inbreeding depression (1); this is typically due to increased homozygosity at loci affecting fitness, either by permitting the expression of recessive deleterious alleles or by reducing heterozygote advantage (2). Inbreeding avoidance is thought to underlie the evolution of sex-biased dispersal (3, 4) and has important implications for conservation (5).Most studies of the relationship between inbreeding and fitness have been carried out using domestic or captive animals (reviewed in refs. 6-8). Studies of the influence of inbreeding on overall fitness in natural, or seminatural, populations remain relatively rare because accumulating the generations of pedigree information necessary to calculate inbreeding coefficients requires long-term study, particularly for long-lived organisms. Moreover, studies using inbreeding coefficients are limited where mating between close relatives is infrequent in a population (9). An alternative approach to the use of inbreeding coefficients is to exploit the fact that inbreeding reduces heterozygosity (10).The development of new genetic techniques (e.g., microsatellite analysis), and of estimators of genetic diversity which improve on simple single-locus measures of heterozygosity, has led to increasing numbers of studies of inbreeding depression in wild populations over the past 10 years. For example, Coulson et al. (...

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 55%

Genetic diversity and reproductive success in mandrills ( Mandrillus sphinx )

Charpentier

Setchell

Prugnolle

et al. 2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Although reddening and slight swelling of genitalia can be found in all primate radiations, only Old World monkeys and apes have exaggerated swellings that can be seen from a distance. Exaggerated swellings are indicative of female genetic quality and instigate male-male competition [ (Domb and Pagel, 2001), but see Nunn et al (2001)]. Thus, sexual swellings do appear to have the same effect on catarrhine males as female odorants have on some strepsirrhine males (e.g., Microcebus) (Perret, 1995), but there have not been any formal tests of the trade-off hypothesis specifically analyzing sexual swelling data.…”

Section: Trade-off Hypothesis Of Olfactory and Visual Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative analysis of the role of olfaction and the neocortex in primate intrasexual competition

Alport

2004

Anat. Rec.

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In strepsirrhine primates, the accessory olfactory system plays an important role in intrasexual competition. However, it does not play the same role in most haplorhines. In these primates, the main olfactory system and neocortex may have evolved to serve similar functions as the accessory olfactory system in strepsirrhines. To test these hypotheses, the relative size of the main olfactory bulb and neocortex were analyzed for associations with male and female competition frequency and intensity (categorized as low or high). Because neocortex size and competition intensity are associated with diet, only frugivorous species were analyzed (catarrhines, n ϭ 7; platyrrhines, n ϭ 8). Neither the size of the main olfactory bulb nor the neocortex was significantly associated with intrasexual competition among males. However, neocortex size was related to the frequency of female competition. Because the main olfactory system and neocortex both serve multiple purposes, there may not be a single behavioral variable that has selected for their size. Furthermore, categorization of male and female competition intensity reflects physically aggressive behavior. Use of the neocortex for social manipulation may allow males to obtain copulations and females to obtain food resources despite poor physical fighting abilities and low dominance rank.

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“…In some primates that live in groups where females have an opportunity to mate with more than one male, females show pronounced swellings of the perineal region that are largest and brightest around the time of ovulation and attract the attention of males (53,54). The relative size of sexual swellings differs between females, so these differences may also signal individual variation in reproductive performance (55). Mutual mate choice by males and females also occurs in a number of monogamous birds and, like intrasexual competition, may lead to the evolution of similar ornaments in males and females (24,49,56).…”

Section: Sexual Selection In Femalesmentioning

confidence: 99%