Doctoral Dissertation Research: Mating strategies and reproductive endocrinology of female primates

University Of Texas At Austin, Austin TX

Investigators

Abstract

Female mate choice in primates is sometimes overshadowed by studies of male-male contest competition as the predominant selective pressure influencing patterns of reproductive behaviors in primates. This doctoral dissertation project will explore female mate choice in wild woolly monkeys, a group-living Neotropical primate, where female choice is hypothesized to be a particularly important form of selection. The proposed study represents one of the first investigations of female reproductive strategies in Neotropical primates from an explicitly female choice perspective. It will include evaluation of female behavioral variation in relation to fertility status, expanding our knowledge of the biology of female choice and providing a comparative primate model for mate choice in hominins. This project will support research training and mentoring of U.S. students, development of international collaborations, public science outreach, and primate conservation efforts. Research on patterns of primate reproductive behavior often focuses on male strategies such as male-male contest competition and female coercion, with less attention to female mate choice. In primate species with low male-male contest competition and low male-to-female aggression, such as woolly monkeys, females mating decisions may be less constrained than in other primate taxa, and females may have more opportunity to actively choose their mates. This project will specifically examine how changes in fertility and likelihood of conception across females' reproductive cycles affect their rate of copulation, partner number and identity, and directing of mating-related behavior towards males. Using a combination of behavioral, endocrinological, and genetic methods, the researchers will study four groups of woolly monkeys in the wild. The project will explore whether female choice for particular males depends upon (1) male physical traits, (2) male-female affiliative relationships, (3) MHC dissimilarity, and (4) degree of genetic relatedness, and will examine whether these preferences vary according to cyclical changes in the ovarian hormones that determine female fertility. Ultimately, the results from this work may provide new insight into how mating systems are shaped by female decisions and behavior.