Paternal effects on offspring fitness in a multimale primate society

Abstract

When females mate with multiple males, paternal care is generally expected to be negligible, because it may be difficult or impossible for males to discriminate their own offspring from those of other males, and because engaging in paternal care may reduce male mating opportunities. Consequently, males in multimale societies are not predicted to provide direct benefits to their offspring. We have recently demonstrated, however, that males in a typical multimale primate society (yellow baboons, Papio cynocephalus) discriminate their own offspring from those of other males and provide care to them in the form of repeated support during agonistic encounters. This observation raises the question of whether fathers enhance offspring fitness in this species. Here we use 30 years of data on age at maturity for 118 yellow baboons with known fathers. We show that the father's presence in the offspring's social group during the offspring's immature period accelerated the timing of physiological maturation in daughters. Sons also experienced accelerated maturation if their father was present during their immature period, but only if the father was high ranking at the time of their birth. Because age at reproductive maturity has a large impact on lifetime reproductive success, our results indicate a direct effect of paternal presence on offspring fitness. This relationship in turn suggests that the multiple roles that males play in multimale animal societies have not been sufficiently examined or appreciated and that paternal effects may be more pervasive than previously appreciated. age at first reproduction ͉ age at maturity ͉ parental care ͉ yellow baboons ͉ paternal care

Is Brightest Best? Testing the Hamilton-Zuk Hypothesis in Mandrills

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Epigenetics and transgenerational transfer: a physiological perspective

“…Paternal effects play a large role in the development of widely different animals such as fruit flies (Fitch et al, 1998), mice (Chong et al, 2007), non-human primates (Charpentier et al, 2008) and humans (Tesarik et al, 2002), and thus are crucial to the developmental trajectory of an organism. Paternal factors, such as mRNAs contained in spermatozoa, have been implicated in the regulation of cleavage during embryogenesis.…”

The ecology of social transitions in human evolution

“…It is clear that a number of key traits develop during the course of human evolution, which alter the fundamental structure of society. In practice, these are underpinned by unique mechanisms associated with human cultural capacities, but, at a socioecological level, these are properties found elsewhere in the animal kingdom, and therefore can be considered to have evolved as behavioural traits in response to resource-based conditions-the massive extension of a fission-fusion system (elephants, Loxodonta africana) (Couzin 2006); much greater substructuring within multi-male, multi-female communities (hamadryas baboons, Papio hamadryas) (Kummer 1968); strong and persistent male-female relationships (many birds, for example) (Mock & Fujioka 1990); higher levels of paternal investment (primates, many birds) (Charpentier et al 2008); and larger group sizes (Janson & Goldsmith 1995).…”