Abstract
Mating behavior and paternity of offspring of wild patas monkeys were studied at Kala Maloue National Park, Cameroon. Observation of patas groups over three years revealed that multi-male situations occurred after takeover of the position of a resident male. Direct observation of behavior showed that resident males (harem males) occupied only 31% of mating in multi-male situations and 100% in one-male situations. DNA-typing revealed that resident males sired two of four of infants in the one-male situation and four of five in the multi-male situation. Under the two years cycle of the one-male situation and the multi-male situation, calculation shows that resident males sired more offspring than sneakers both in observation and paternity testing. Sneak mating occurred during both one-male and multi-male situations, and resident males performed compensatory mating, with dilution of sneaker sperm; these activities explain the discrepancy found between observation of mating and results of paternity discrimination.
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Ohsawa, H., Inoue, M. & Takenaka, O. Mating strategy and reproductive success of male patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas). Primates 34, 533–544 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02382664
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02382664