Abstract
Age is a key factor affecting sexual selection,as many physical and social traits are age-related.Although studies of primate mate choice often consider particular age-related traits,few consider the collective effects of male age.We tested the hypothesis that female golden snub-nosed mon-keys Rhinopithecus roxellana prefer prime aged males(10-15 years)over younger and older males.We examined a habituated,provisioned troop during a 3-year study in the Qinling Mountains,China.Prime age males were more likely to be resident males of 1-male units(OMUs)than males of other ages.Since females are free to transfer between OMUs,the number of females per OMU can be indicative of female preferences.We examined the number of females per OMU,and found that it increased with resident male age up to 7-8 years,and declined after 12 years,such that prime age resident males had more females than other resident males.Females also initiated extra-unit copulations with high-ranking prime age males at significantly higher rates than with other males.Nevertheless,females tended to transfer from OMUs with high-ranking,older resident males to those with low-ranking,younger resident males.Thus,females appear to use different strategies when choosing social mates and extra-unit mates(i.e.,different social contexts).We speculate that females may perceive early signs of aging in males and trade off the benefits and costs of high rank versus male senescence.This study lays the groundwork for future studies that examine pos-sible direct and indirect benefits of such strategies.
基金项目
国家自然科学基金(31730104)
国家自然科学基金(31770425)
国家自然科学基金(32071495)
国家自然科学基金(31770411)
National Key Program of Research and Development,Ministry of Science and Technology(2016YFC0503200)
Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDB31000000)
Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province(2019JM-258)
NETL
NSTL
维普
万方数据