TY - JOUR
T1 - The Sexual Selection Landscape and Sexually-Selected Traits of the Crested Macaque (Macaca nigra)
AU - Higham, J. P.
N1 - Funding Information:
I would like to thank Antje Engelhardt for giving me the opportunity to study crested macaques, the staff and researchers of the Macaca Nigra Project for their help and support, Jerome Micheletta and Christof Neumann for generously sharing their images, and the guest editors of this special issue for this kind invitation. I also thank two anonymous reviewers, Handling Editor Julie Duboscq, and Editor-In-Chief Joanna Setchell, for their constructive and helpful comments. Lastly, thanks to Connor Whalen for help formatting the references and figure.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2023/8
Y1 - 2023/8
N2 - Sexual selection explains the evolution of traits that impact mating and reproductive success. Primates are an excellent system for studying sexually-selected traits, because they exhibit marked variation in mating systems, show evidence of intrasexual competition in both sexes, and mutual mate choice. Here, I discuss the sexual selection dynamic of the crested macaque (Macaca nigra) and its overall putative sexually-selected phenotype. Female crested macaque fertile phases are highly asynchronous, which alpha males monopolize, leading to high reproductive skew. Given the reproductive benefits to alpha status, males compete aggressively over dominance, with all observed alpha male replacements occurring via top-entry challenge competition. Infant disappearances increase after the arrival of a new alpha male, indicating potential infanticide from incoming males. Consistent with strong male-male contest competition, crested macaques exhibit marked body and canine size sexual dimorphism, with males being larger. Males exhibit small relative testis volume, indicating that indirect competition via sperm competition is not prevalent. Male-male relationships are mediated by social status signals, including loud calls and colorful genitals, and males largely avoid each other. Female-female relationships are generally affiliative with low levels of aggression. Females exhibit direct mate choice in the form of some consortship maintenance, and also exhibit a number of proceptive behaviors towards males, which increase in frequency markedly during fertile phases. Females exhibit traits that may facilitate indirect mate choice, including copulation calls and large sexual swellings. Our understanding of the species enables us to set the crested macaque into comparative context, and to characterize many of its traits as part of a holistic sexually-selected phenotype.
AB - Sexual selection explains the evolution of traits that impact mating and reproductive success. Primates are an excellent system for studying sexually-selected traits, because they exhibit marked variation in mating systems, show evidence of intrasexual competition in both sexes, and mutual mate choice. Here, I discuss the sexual selection dynamic of the crested macaque (Macaca nigra) and its overall putative sexually-selected phenotype. Female crested macaque fertile phases are highly asynchronous, which alpha males monopolize, leading to high reproductive skew. Given the reproductive benefits to alpha status, males compete aggressively over dominance, with all observed alpha male replacements occurring via top-entry challenge competition. Infant disappearances increase after the arrival of a new alpha male, indicating potential infanticide from incoming males. Consistent with strong male-male contest competition, crested macaques exhibit marked body and canine size sexual dimorphism, with males being larger. Males exhibit small relative testis volume, indicating that indirect competition via sperm competition is not prevalent. Male-male relationships are mediated by social status signals, including loud calls and colorful genitals, and males largely avoid each other. Female-female relationships are generally affiliative with low levels of aggression. Females exhibit direct mate choice in the form of some consortship maintenance, and also exhibit a number of proceptive behaviors towards males, which increase in frequency markedly during fertile phases. Females exhibit traits that may facilitate indirect mate choice, including copulation calls and large sexual swellings. Our understanding of the species enables us to set the crested macaque into comparative context, and to characterize many of its traits as part of a holistic sexually-selected phenotype.
KW - Badges of status
KW - Copulation calls
KW - Male-male competition
KW - Mate choice
KW - Sexual selection
KW - Sexual swellings
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U2 - 10.1007/s10764-023-00354-x
DO - 10.1007/s10764-023-00354-x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85150425768
SN - 0164-0291
VL - 44
SP - 613
EP - 625
JO - International Journal of Primatology
JF - International Journal of Primatology
IS - 4
ER -