Sexual interference in Taihangshan macaque (Macaca mulatta tcheliensis), Jiyuan, north China

HAN Mengya; TIAN Jundong; ZHOU Yanyan; WANG Yuwei; LUO Tongtong; LU Jiqi

doi:10.16829/j.slxb.150818

ACTA THERIOLOGICA SINICA >

2024 , Vol. 44 >Issue 1: 65 - 76

DOI: https://doi.org/10.16829/j.slxb.150818

ORIGINAL PAPERS

Sexual interference in Taihangshan macaque (Macaca mulatta tcheliensis), Jiyuan, north China

HAN Mengya ,
TIAN Jundong ,
ZHOU Yanyan ,
WANG Yuwei ,
LUO Tongtong ,
LU Jiqi

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1 School of Life Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China;
2 Institute of Biodiversity and Ecology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China

Received date: 2023-06-27

Revised date: 2023-11-15

Online published: 2024-01-25

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Abstract

Sexual interference refers to the phenomenon in which an animal is disrupted during mating by other individuals of the same species through various means such as chemical pheromones, facial expressions, sounds, and aggression. Sexual interference behavior, a significant topic in ecological studies of reproductive behavior in non-human primates, exhibits considerable inter- and intraspecific variation. Within species, it is primarily influenced by factors such as sex and age. The present study was conducted in the Wulongkou area of Taihangshan Macaque National Nature Reserve, focusing on the WLK-1A group of Taihangshan macaques. From September 2021 to August 2022, we observed and recorded the mating behaviors of the target individuals by using the focal animal sampling method and the continuous recording method with the expectation of exploring the sexual interference behaviors and their age-sex group differences in Taihangshan macaques. The results showed that (1) sexual interference behavior of Taihangshan macaques only occurred in the mating period, with the peak in November; (2) From the perspective of the initiators of sexual interference, male (adult and sub-adult) individuals accounted for 29. 1%, female (adult and sub-adult) individuals accounted for 14. 9%, juvenile individuals accounted for 7. 5%, and infant individuals accounted for 48. 5%; (3) Both male (P =0. 011) and female (P = 0. 033) interrupters used mainly non-contact harassment, while there was no significant difference between the non-contact and contact harassment in juvenile interrupters (P = 0. 334), and infant interrupters used mainly contact harassment (P = 0. 001); (4) Male interrupters tended to interrupt the females in the mating pairs (P = 0. 040). There was no significant difference in the harassment frequency of female interrupters toward males and females of the mating pairs (P = 0. 157). Sexual interference by juveniles mostly pointed to their mothers (90%) and that by infants all pointed to their mothers. The frequencies, patterns, and targets of sexual interference in Taihangshan macaques show age-sex group differences. Based on functional analysis, this study concludes that sexual interference in both adult males and females supports the sexual competition hypothesis, that in juveniles supports the learning hypothesis, and that in infants supports the separation anxiety hypothesis and learning hypothesis. The results of this study help increase the understanding of the development of sexual interference behavior and its functional differences in non-human primates.

Key words： Taihangshan macaque (Macaca mulatta tcheliensis); Sexual interference; Sexual competition; Reproduction; Behavioral ecology

Cite this article

HAN Mengya , TIAN Jundong , ZHOU Yanyan , WANG Yuwei , LUO Tongtong , LU Jiqi . Sexual interference in Taihangshan macaque (Macaca mulatta tcheliensis), Jiyuan, north China[J]. ACTA THERIOLOGICA SINICA, 2024 , 44(1) : 65 -76 . DOI: 10.16829/j.slxb.150818

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