Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 145-156 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Animal Behaviour |
| Volume | 122 |
| Early online date | 9 Nov 2016 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 2016 |
Abstract
Female social dominance over males can only be found in a small number of mammalian species, but is unusually concentrated among Malagasy lemurs. Three major hypotheses are currently discussed to explain this phenomenon, namely the energy conservation hypothesis, sleeping site hypothesis and ancestral lemur condition hypothesis. Since proximate determinants of female dominance have rarely been studied, this study aimed to investigate the influence of factors connected to these hypotheses, focusing on sex-specific differences in energy requirements and group composition in two closely related nocturnal lemur species. More specifically, the effects of species, season and age on agonistic behaviour and the expression of female dominance were tested, while the effects of individuality, body mass, breeding experience and habituation were controlled. Seasonal variations in intersexual dominance relationships were investigated in captivity in grey mouse lemurs, Microcebus murinus, a prominent female-dominant species, and Goodman's mouse lemurs, Microcebus lehilahytsara, whose agonistic behaviour was studied for the first time. Data were collected during a series of encounter experiments between one male and one female (15 dyads of M. murinus and nine of M. lehilahytsara) during the reproductive and nonreproductive seasons. Moderate female dominance was expressed in both species with females winning the majority of conflicts year round, independently of context. However, effects of season and species were found in conflict rates, in the probability for females to win conflicts, and in the number of dominant females. Moreover, the age difference between dyad partners and the breeding experience of females influenced whether conflicts were decided in favour of males or females. It can be concluded that female dominance probably represents an ancestral trait in mouse lemurs and it is proposed that its evolution might have been driven by sex-specific energetic constraints prevailing in the species-specific ancestral habitats, and may moreover be influenced by the species-specific social organization.
Keywords
- evolution, female dominance, Microcebus lehilahytsara, Microcebus murinus, seasonal influence, sleeping site ecology
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Animal Science and Zoology
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: Animal Behaviour, Vol. 122, 01.12.2016, p. 145-156.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Female dominance in two basal primates, Microcebus murinus and Microcebus lehilahytsara
T2 - variation and determinants
AU - Hohenbrink, Sarah
AU - Schaarschmidt, Frank
AU - Bünemann, Katharina
AU - Gerberding, Svenja
AU - Zimmermann, Elke
AU - Radespiel, Ute
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2016 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour
PY - 2016/12/1
Y1 - 2016/12/1
N2 - Female social dominance over males can only be found in a small number of mammalian species, but is unusually concentrated among Malagasy lemurs. Three major hypotheses are currently discussed to explain this phenomenon, namely the energy conservation hypothesis, sleeping site hypothesis and ancestral lemur condition hypothesis. Since proximate determinants of female dominance have rarely been studied, this study aimed to investigate the influence of factors connected to these hypotheses, focusing on sex-specific differences in energy requirements and group composition in two closely related nocturnal lemur species. More specifically, the effects of species, season and age on agonistic behaviour and the expression of female dominance were tested, while the effects of individuality, body mass, breeding experience and habituation were controlled. Seasonal variations in intersexual dominance relationships were investigated in captivity in grey mouse lemurs, Microcebus murinus, a prominent female-dominant species, and Goodman's mouse lemurs, Microcebus lehilahytsara, whose agonistic behaviour was studied for the first time. Data were collected during a series of encounter experiments between one male and one female (15 dyads of M. murinus and nine of M. lehilahytsara) during the reproductive and nonreproductive seasons. Moderate female dominance was expressed in both species with females winning the majority of conflicts year round, independently of context. However, effects of season and species were found in conflict rates, in the probability for females to win conflicts, and in the number of dominant females. Moreover, the age difference between dyad partners and the breeding experience of females influenced whether conflicts were decided in favour of males or females. It can be concluded that female dominance probably represents an ancestral trait in mouse lemurs and it is proposed that its evolution might have been driven by sex-specific energetic constraints prevailing in the species-specific ancestral habitats, and may moreover be influenced by the species-specific social organization.
AB - Female social dominance over males can only be found in a small number of mammalian species, but is unusually concentrated among Malagasy lemurs. Three major hypotheses are currently discussed to explain this phenomenon, namely the energy conservation hypothesis, sleeping site hypothesis and ancestral lemur condition hypothesis. Since proximate determinants of female dominance have rarely been studied, this study aimed to investigate the influence of factors connected to these hypotheses, focusing on sex-specific differences in energy requirements and group composition in two closely related nocturnal lemur species. More specifically, the effects of species, season and age on agonistic behaviour and the expression of female dominance were tested, while the effects of individuality, body mass, breeding experience and habituation were controlled. Seasonal variations in intersexual dominance relationships were investigated in captivity in grey mouse lemurs, Microcebus murinus, a prominent female-dominant species, and Goodman's mouse lemurs, Microcebus lehilahytsara, whose agonistic behaviour was studied for the first time. Data were collected during a series of encounter experiments between one male and one female (15 dyads of M. murinus and nine of M. lehilahytsara) during the reproductive and nonreproductive seasons. Moderate female dominance was expressed in both species with females winning the majority of conflicts year round, independently of context. However, effects of season and species were found in conflict rates, in the probability for females to win conflicts, and in the number of dominant females. Moreover, the age difference between dyad partners and the breeding experience of females influenced whether conflicts were decided in favour of males or females. It can be concluded that female dominance probably represents an ancestral trait in mouse lemurs and it is proposed that its evolution might have been driven by sex-specific energetic constraints prevailing in the species-specific ancestral habitats, and may moreover be influenced by the species-specific social organization.
KW - evolution
KW - female dominance
KW - Microcebus lehilahytsara
KW - Microcebus murinus
KW - seasonal influence
KW - sleeping site ecology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84994644940&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.10.008
DO - 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.10.008
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84994644940
VL - 122
SP - 145
EP - 156
JO - Animal Behaviour
JF - Animal Behaviour
SN - 0003-3472
ER -