The influence of male takeovers on female dispersal inColobus vellerosus

Abstract

Male takeovers affect male tenure, female mate choice and ultimately, individual reproductive success in group-living primates. In social systems with female philopatry and high male reproductive skew, male takeovers largely determine female mate choice, whereas in species with female dispersal, females have the option of deserting a new male. We focused on a species with facultative female dispersal to investigate which factors promote female desertion of males after takeover, using 15 cases (12 for which we have complete data on the takeover process and the female dispersal outcome). These cases took place in nine groups of Colobus vellerosus between 2001 and 2013 at the Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary, Ghana. Quick takeovers were usually achieved by single adult males and were never followed by female dispersal. Slow takeovers involved several males, and these takeovers were regularly accompanied by female emigration. Infant attacks and infanticide by males occurred during both kinds of takeovers, but females with dependent offspring never dispersed, regardless of whether their infant was attacked or killed by the new male(s). Subadult females, who were not constrained by the presence of infants, dispersed more often after slow takeovers than after quick takeovers. Whether female dispersal post-takeover is an expression of female mate choice, or occurs to avoid the social upheaval surrounding slow takeovers, remains to be investigated. Am. J. Primatol. 79:e22436, 2017. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Divergence in gut microbial communities mirrors a social group fission event in a black‐and‐white colobus monkey (Colobus vellerosus)

“…This is an arboreal, folivorous monkey (Saj & Sicotte , ) that lives in uni‐male or multi‐male multi‐female groups of 9–38 animals (Kankam & Sicotte, ; Wong & Sicotte, ). Dispersal is male‐biased in this species (Teichroeb, Wikberg, & Sicotte, ), although females do show facultative dispersal (Sicotte et al, ; Teichroeb et al, ; Teichroeb, Wikberg, & Sicotte, ; Wikberg, Sicotte, Campos, & Ting, ). Female social networks are affected by the presence of infants, kinship, and immigration status, but not by dominance rank (Wikberg, Teichroeb, Bădescu, & Sicotte, ; Wikberg et al, 2014a, 2014b; Wikberg, Ting, & Sicotte, ).…”

Anogenital distance as a measure of male competitive ability in Rwenzori Angolan colobus

“…Indeed, the lead author (J. A. T.) also studied a close congener of C. angolensis ruwenzorii for several years ( Colobus vellerosus in Ghana) and notes that male contests in C. vellerosus , who do not show the same line in the AGD region, are drawn out (sometimes lasting months; Sicotte et al, 2017) and involve more contact aggression and wounding that what is seen in C. angolensis ruwenzorii , where dominance rank becomes settled comparably faster and with less aggression. However, this difference could be due to the different social organizations in these two species, rather than the presence of a badge of status.…”

Alpha male replacements in nonhuman primates: Variability in processes, outcomes, and terminology

“…These papers, focused on a range of primate species, demonstrate the difficulties males face in acquiring and maintaining the dominant position within a group and the different tactics they can use. They also show how changes in an alpha male can lead to cascading effects on other individuals in the group, for example eviction of other males (Borries, Perlman, & Koenig, ), female dispersal (Sicotte et al, ), or infanticide and fetus loss (Amman, Pines, & Swedell, ). Below, we: (i) review the primate literature and examine explanations for the extent of variability in the process of alpha male replacements; (ii) examine the consequences of alpha male replacements for different individuals in the group; (iii) lay out each replacement process that has been identified and argue for the need of increased consistency in the terms used for each process; (iv) introduce the papers within this special issue on alpha male replacements; and (v) suggest directions for future research.…”

“…Even within a single species there is often variability in the form of alpha male replacements. For example, in ursine colobus monkeys ( Colobus vellerosus ), males may transfer and takeover groups singly or in all‐male bands, challenge the alpha male of their current group (i.e., a rank reversal), or join dispersing females to start a new group (Sicotte et al, ; Teichroeb, Wikberg, & Sicotte, ; Teichroeb, Wikberg, & Sicotte, ). The rates at which alpha male replacements occur, the aggressiveness of these events, their durations, and the consequences for different individuals are also inconsistent.…”

“…Alpha male replacements by single immigrant males versus those that result from the entrance of a group of males may be very different in terms of their duration and the amount of social upheaval they cause. For example, in ursine colobus monkeys ( Colobus vellerosus ), alpha male replacements by single immigrant males were often over within a few days because these intruder males appeared to be in peak physical condition, whereas when several males immigrated together, the process of alpha male replacement could take up to several months because these were collections of lower‐quality males who fought among themselves and with the resident male(s) for the alpha position (Sicotte et al, ; Teichroeb et al, , Teichroeb, Wikberg, Badescu, MacDonald, & Sicotte, ).…”