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Estrus cycle asynchrony in wild female chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii

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Abstract

Although estrous synchrony has been reported in a number of mammalian species, most often among primates, methodological and analytical problems make it difficult to interpret these results. We developed a novel estrous synchrony index and employed a randomization procedure to analyze long-term observations of female chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) estrous cycles at the Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania. Our results revealed that female chimpanzees at Mahale avoid synchronizing their estrous periods with each other. We also found that birthrates decreased as the breeding sex ratio increased. We suggest that estrous asynchrony decreases female–female competition for mates. Asynchrony may also reduce the potential for male sexual coercion by nonpreferred mating partners.

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Acknowledgement

T. Nishida, the late S. Uehara, and many others who shared the fieldwork in the Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania; their contribution to the data was indispensable. Besides some of them, F. W. Marlowe, R. Oda, A. E. Pusey, and K. Tsuji commented on earlier versions, which greatly improved this paper. The Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology mainly supported the fieldwork financially. The Tanzania National Parks, Scientific Research Council, Serengeti Wildlife Research Institute, and their subsidiaries facilitated our research. We make grateful acknowledgement to these people and institutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Welfare and Culture, Okinawa University, Naha, Okinawa, 902-8521, Japan

    Akiko Matsumoto-Oda

  2. Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Miya Hamai

  3. The Graduate School of Humanities and Sciences, Kobe Gakuin University, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan

    Hitosige Hayaki

  4. Faculty of Child Studies, Kamakura Women’s University, Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan

    Kazuhiko Hosaka

  5. Department of Anthropology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Kevin D. Hunt

  6. Department of Biology, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Eiiti Kasuya

  7. Department of Biosphere–Geosphere System Science, Okayama University of Science, Okayama, Japan

    Kenji Kawanaka & Hiroyuki Takasaki

  8. Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    John C. Mitani

  9. School of Policy Studies, Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan

    Yukio Takahata

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  1. Akiko Matsumoto-Oda
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  2. Miya Hamai
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  9. Hiroyuki Takasaki
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Correspondence to Akiko Matsumoto-Oda.

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Communicated by S. Alberts

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Matsumoto-Oda, A., Hamai, M., Hayaki, H. et al. Estrus cycle asynchrony in wild female chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii . Behav Ecol Sociobiol 61, 661–668 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-006-0287-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-006-0287-9

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