Adolescent exaggeration in female catarrhine primates

Anderson, Connie M.; Bielert, Craig

doi:10.1007/bf02382726

Cited by 39 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Sexual swellings in simakobu (Simias concolor) have also been reported [Tenaza, 1989]. Similarly to the current findings in the proboscis monkey, exaggerated swelling in adolescent female primates has been reported in 11 species [reviewed in Anderson & Bielert, 1994], and is also distinct in adolescent simakobu monkeys [Tenaza, 1989]. Nasalis and Simias are considered to be closely related species [Groves, 1989] and may preserve common features.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Mating behaviors of the proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus)

Murai

2006

Am. J. Primatol.

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The mating behaviors of the proboscis monkey were observed in a riverine forest along a tributary of the Kinabatangan River, Sabah, Malaysia, for a period of 30 months. Solicitation for copulation was initiated frequently by males and occasionally by females. Most copulations involved only one mount; however, some multiple-mount copulations were observed and a maximum of six mounts per copulation were recorded. The mean duration of mounts was about 27 sec. Nonsexual mounts (female-female, female-juvenile/infant, juvenile-juvenile, and juvenile-infant) were also observed. Female-female mounts occurred shortly after failed solicitations toward males were observed. Harassment by juveniles and/or infants was observed during copulation; however, these harassments apparently did not interfere with copulation. Sexual swelling was evident in 77.4% of copulating females, with copulating subadult females showing the most distinct swelling.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Mating behaviors of the proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus)

Murai

2006

Am. J. Primatol.

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“…It has been reported that adolescent females of both Japanese and rhesus macaques exhibit sexual swellings [Anderson and Bielert, 1994]. However, no Japanese macaques aged 4-6 years exhibited sexual swelling, while 11 of the 13 rhesus macaques aged 3-5 years did in this study.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 45%

“…These two macaques share similar reproductive features [reviewed in Thierry, 2010] like, for example, ovarian cycle length (Japanese macaques: 26.5 days; rhesus macaques: 28.3 days), a multimale-multifemale social structure, multimounting behaviour and seasonal breeding, but the age at first birth is later in Japanese macaques (Japanese macaques: 5 years; rhesus macaques: 4 years). Sexual swelling is recognized in adolescent females of both species [Anderson and Bielert, 1994], and females' red sexual skin draws male attention [Waitt et al, 2006;Wallner et al, 2011]. However, the sexual skin of Japanese macaques swells less obviously and is much redder than that of rhesus macaques [observed by J.S.].…”

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confidence: 99%

Spectrocolourimetry Visualized Differences in Sexual Skin Colouration in Macaques

Ono¹,

Suzuki²,

Ishida³

2015

IJFP

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The females of some catarrhines develop conspicuous sexual skin transformations in their hind limbs. Among macaques (one of the radiated and adapted catarrhine groups with diversified sexual skin transformations), differences in sexual skin colouration between the Japanese macaque Macaca fuscata and the rhesus macaque M. mulatta have not been quantitatively analysed. In this study, the sexual skin colouration of these macaques was spectrocolourimetrically measured in the non-mating season (NMS) and the mating season (MS) and represented in a CIELAB space with the variables L*, a* and b*. The variables L*, a* and b* represent positions on the light-dark, red/magenta-green, and yellow-blue axes, respectively. In the Japanese macaques the average ± SD of L*, a* and b* was 53.61 ± 3.31, 11.51 ± 4.57 and 6.66 ± 2.25 in the NMS and 46.60 ± 2.78, 19.97 ± 2.99 and 8.80 ± 1.34 in the MS, respectively, while in the rhesus macaques the average ± SD of L*, a* and b* was 60.09 ± 3.96, 5.99 ± 4.59 and 5.83 ± 2.37 in the NMS and 52.70 ± 6.54, 13.62 ± 6.86 and 8.07 ± 1.43 in the MS, respectively. The sexual skin of the Japanese macaques was consistently much redder (larger a*) and darker (smaller L*) than that of the rhesus macaques. The smaller L* suggested a greater dermal melanin content in the Japanese macaques. These closely related macaque species have similar but distinct sexual skin colourations. Spectrocolourimetry is thus useful to suggest the histophysiological background of the colouration.

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“…First, pulses of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) from the hypothalamus increase in frequency and amplitude, stimulating anterior pituitary gonadotropin secretion, ovarian follicular development, and gonadal steroid secretion (Terasawa & Fernandez, 2001). Increases in neuroendocrine activity stimulate marked perineal sexual swellings in adolescent female rhesus monkeys, swellings which are not present in adult females and which decrease with successive breeding seasons (Anderson & Bielert, 1994;Hisaw & Hisaw, 1961). Although increased steroid secretion stimulates uterine endometrial development and eventually menstruation (Salamonsen, Kovacs, & Findlay, 1999), early menstrual cycles are typically not associated with ovulation and rarely result in conception.…”

Section: Pubertal Changes In Physiology and Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Hormones and history: The evolution and development of primate female sexuality

Wallen¹,

Zehr

2004

Journal of Sex Research

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Sexual behavior is required for reproduction in internally fertilizing species but poses significant social and physical risks. Females in many nonprimate species have evolved physical and behavioral mechanisms restricting sexual behavior to when females are fertile. The same hormones producing female fertility also control these mechanisms, assuring that sex only occurs when reproduction is possible. In contrast to nonprimate mammals, hormones do not regulate the capacity to engage in sex in female anthropoid primates, uncoupling fertility and the physical capacity to mate. Instead, in primates, sexual motivation has become the primary coordinator between sexual behavior and fertility. This dependence upon psychological mechanisms to coordinate physiology with behavior is possibly unique to primates, including humans, and allows a variety of nonphysiological influences, particularly social context, to regulate sexual behavior. The independence between hormonal state and sexual behavior allows sex to be used for social purposes. This complex regulation of primate sexuality develops during adolescence, where female monkeys show both hormonally influenced sexual motivation and socially modulated sexual behavior. We present findings from rhesus monkeys illustrating how social context and hormonal state interact to modulate adolescent and adult sexuality. It is argued that this flexibility in sexual behavior, combined with a tight regulation of sexual motivational systems by reproductive hormones, allows sexual behavior to be used for nonreproductive purposes while still assuring its occurrence during periods of female fertility. The evolutionary pressures that produced such flexibility in sexual behavior remain puzzling, but may reflect the importance of sexuality to primate social attraction and cohesion.With respect to sexuality, I have often speculated on it, and have always concluded that we are too ignorant to speculate: no physiologist can conjecture why the two elements go to form a new being, and more than that, why nature strives at uniting the two elements from two individuals. (Darwin, 1861, in Darwin, 1903 In the preceding quote, Darwin's reference to "sexuality" was in the sense of sexual reproduction. We are, however, similarly ignorant about the behavior that accompanies sexual reproduction, the now conventional use of the term sexuality. What are the causes for engaging in sexual behavior? Why does sexual behavior vary across development and across species? What brings two individuals together so that their gametes can combine? We have partial answers to some of these questions, while answers for others remain elusive. However much of what is understood reflects the reality that sex is expensive, dangerous, and time consuming.

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Adolescent exaggeration in female catarrhine primates

Cited by 39 publications

References 68 publications

Mating behaviors of the proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus)

Mating behaviors of the proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus)

Spectrocolourimetry Visualized Differences in Sexual Skin Colouration in Macaques

Hormones and history: The evolution and development of primate female sexuality

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