Exaggerated estrous swellings and male mate choice in primates: testing the reliable indicator hypothesis in the Amboseli baboons
Year: 2014
Type: preprint
Abstract: In fact, as the ')" understanding of this trait has become more refined over the past decade, researchers '*" have identified three distinct types of variation in swelling size (Zinner et al. 2002).(+" (!" 1) Swelling size varies within a cycle, generally achieving maximal size for that cycle (#" around the time of ovulation.This type of variation has been demonstrated ($" repeatedly to be a probabilistic indicator of ovulation in at least some species (%" Hendrickx and Kraemer 1969; Wildt et al. 1977;Dahl et al. 1991;Emery and (&" Whitten 2003; see Nunn 1999; Alberts and Fitzpatrick 2012 for thorough review) ('"and it has been shown in baboons that females are more attractive to males during ((" the period of highest fertility (Noe & Sluijter 1990).Furthermore, it has been ()" demonstrated in chimpanzees that males both copulate with and compete for (*" females more actively during the peri-ovulatory period ( Deschneret al. 2004).)+" )!" 2) Swellings vary in size within an individual across cycles.That is, females of most )#" primate species cycle repeatedly before conceiving and it has been demonstrated )$" in several species that maximal swelling size increases from cycle to cycle within )%" one individual (Emery and Whitten 2003; Deschner et al. 2004; Higham et al. )&" 2008b; Fitzpatrick et al. 2014).If the probability of conception increases with )'" subsequent cycles, this type of variation may signal differences in the probability )("
DOI: 10.1101/007278
Language: English
Topic: Primate Behavior and Ecology
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2951931360