Multilevel societies facilitate infanticide avoidance through increased extrapair matings

Qi, Xiao-Guang; Grueter, Cyril C.; Fang, Gu; Huang, Peng Zhen; Zhang, Jing; Duan, Yan Mei; Huang, Zhi Gao; Garber, Paul A.; Li, Bao Guo

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.12.014

Cited by 32 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Although R. roxellana is generally regarded as being polygynous, its mating system is dynamic and is likely to change in response to various factors such as OMU take-overs and female transfers between different OMUs ( Zhang et al, 2006 ; Qi et al, 2009 ). Moreover, our new parentage analysis showed a 39% rate of extra-pair paternity, which broadly concurs with the high rates in the same R. roxellana population in different years (57% in both 2005 and 2014–2015; Guo et al, 2010 ; Qi et al, 2020 ). Our results suggest that female R. roxellana choose the genetic fathers of their offspring non-randomly.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…Due to the larger number of adult males per female in the breeding band of our study, females thus had more opportunities to exhibit mate-choice and/or extra-pair copulation. In order to minimize conflict between adult males, interactions between the AMB and OMUs of the population studied by Yang et al (2014) had been experimentally restricted so females would have had reduced opportunities for expressing their mate preferences (Qi et al, 2020). Studies of a wide variety of different taxa, including non-human primates, have shown that female mate choice is usually dependent on ecological conditions that alter the costs and benefits of being choosy (Andersson, 1994).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, previous field observations have found that females usually initiate extra-pair copulations when their OMU males are not present. Indeed, approximately 50% of offspring are fathered by a male other than the adult male of the same OMU as the mother ( Guo et al, 2010 ; Qi et al, 2020 ). Female R. roxellana may also preferentially engage in extra-pair copulations with those males who have recently achieved OMU “leader” male status ( Zhao et al, 2005 ; Qi et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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MHC-Based Mate Choice in Wild Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys

Zhang

Chun-mei

et al. 2020

Front. Genet.

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The genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are an important component of the vertebrate immune system and play a significant role in mate choice in many species. However, it remains unclear whether female mate choice in non-human primates is based on specific functional genes and/or genome-wide genes. The golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) lives in a multilevel society, which consists of several polygynous one-male-several-female units. Although adult females tend to mainly socialize with one adult male, females often initiate extra-pair copulations with other males resulting in a high proportion of offspring being fathered by extra-pair males. We investigated the effects of adaptive MHC genes and neutral microsatellites on female mate choice in a wild R. roxellana population. We sequenced 54 parent-offspring triads using two MHC class II loci (Rhro-DQA1 and Rhro-DQB1) and 20 microsatellites from 3 years of data. We found that the paternities of offspring were non-randomly associated with male MHC compositions not microsatellite genotypes. Our study showed that the fathers of all infants had significantly less variance for several estimates of genetic similarity to the mothers compared with random males at both MHC loci. Additionally, the MHC diversity of these fathers was significantly higher than random males. We also found support for choice based on specific alleles; compared with random males, Rhro-DQA1∗ 05 and Rhro-DQB1∗ 08 were more common in both the OMU (one-male unit) males and the genetic fathers of offspring. This study provides new evidence for female mate choice for MHC-intermediate dissimilarity (rather than maximal MHC dissimilarity) and highlights the importance of incorporating multiple MHC loci and social structure into studies of MHC-based mate choice in non-human primates.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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MHC-Based Mate Choice in Wild Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys

Zhang

Chun-mei

et al. 2020

Front. Genet.

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“…In snub-nosed monkeys, extra-OMU mating and extra-OMU paternities occur between females and males residing in other OMU (Li & Zhao 2007;Guo et al 2010;Yang et al 2014). Furthermore, we observed two cases where females were accepted into a unit with a resident male with whom she had previously been observed mating although there no paternities were identified; another one case was also reported in a recent study (Qi et al 2020). In contrast, females very rarely mated with males residing in the all-male unit, even though all males taking over OMUs came from this unit because resident males from multiple OMUs collectively show intense aggression towards these outside males in golden snub-nosed monkeys (Xiang et al 2014), presumably limiting opportunities for females to mate with them and to reduce the risk of infanticide potentially even further as it does in some polygynandrous societies.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

“…Infanticide has been observed when males take over the dominant position in OMUs (Yao et al 2016), but most unweaned infants present during the times of male replacement survive without being attacked by the new male. Recently, female promiscuity has been proposed as one counterstrategy against male infanticide in golden snub-nosed monkeys (Qi et al 2020), but detailed interactions and potential dynamic switch between males and females, i.e. female joint defense, mothers transfer with their infants and males' response to these counterstrategies, remain unclear.…”

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confidence: 99%

Versatile counterstrategies shift the balance of intersexual conflict from males to females

Xiang¹,

Yang²,

Yao³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Although primate females are predicted to develop counterstrategies against male infanticide, it has remained unclear whether counterstrategies are effective. Detailed long-term observations in Rhinopithecus roxellana reveal that females are able to mount versatile counterstrategies, including extra-unit mating, female joint defense and transfer with the infants, which lead to only 4 of 31 infants succumbing to infanticide and no difference in mortality of infants present during male replacements compare to other periods. Female joint defenses crucially delay infanticide and provide an opportunity for mothers' transfer to another social unit. In response to mothers' transfer, some males cease attacking infants, which is likely beneficial to males as during longer tenure they can sire future offspring of the mothers who remain. Our findings show how dynamic interactions between males and females can be and how the conditions in multilevel societies can shift the balance of intersexual conflict from males to females.

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The 10th anniversary of the scientific description of the black snub‐nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri): It is time to initiate a set of new management strategies to save this critically endangered primate from extinction

Yang

Lin²,

Garber

et al. 2022

American J Primatol

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Traditionally, the genus Rhinopithecus (Milne-Edwards, 1872, Primates, Colobinae) included four allopatric species, restricted in their distributions to China and Vietnam. In 2010, a fifth species, the black snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri) was discovered in the Gaoligong Mountains located on the border between China and Myanmar.Despite the remoteness, complex mountainous terrain, dense fog, and armed conflict that characterizes this region, over this past decade Chinese and Myanmar scientists have begun to collect quantitative data on the ecology, behavior and conservation requirements of R. strykeri. In this article, we review the existing data and present new information on the life history, ecology, and population size of R. strykeri. We discuss these data in the context of past and current conservation challenges faced by R. strykeri, and propose a series of both short-term and long-term management actions to ensure the survival of this Critically Endangered primate species. Specifically, we recommend that the governments and stakeholders in China and Myanmar formulate a transboundary conservation agreement that includes a consensus on bilateral exchange mechanisms, scientific research and monitoring goals, local community development, cooperation to prevent the hunting of endangered species and cross-border forest fires. These actions

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Multilevel societies facilitate infanticide avoidance through increased extrapair matings

Cited by 32 publications

References 51 publications

MHC-Based Mate Choice in Wild Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys

MHC-Based Mate Choice in Wild Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys

Versatile counterstrategies shift the balance of intersexual conflict from males to females

The 10th anniversary of the scientific description of the black snub‐nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri): It is time to initiate a set of new management strategies to save this critically endangered primate from extinction

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