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Male residence and the patterning of serum testosterone in vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops)

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Abstract

This study investigated hormonal and demographic processes underlying unimale and multimale mating systems in primates. Reproductive skew and challenge models of male competition provide conflicting predictions of the relationship of male residence to group composition and androgen regulation. These predictions were tested using endocrine and socioecological data from Kenyan vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops). Serum samples from 57 adult male monkeys, drawn from 19 separate groups and 4 populations, were assayed for testosterone by radioimmunoassay. Male ability to respond to conspecific challenge was assessed by their testosterone response to the capture protocol.

Analyses showed that reproductive skew models were useful predictors of intergroup and interpopulation variation in male residence and T profiles. The Limited Control model of male residence was supported by positive correlations of the number of males per group with the number of females without dependent offspring, demonstrating that monopolization potential was a key determinant of male residence. Testosterone concentrations under conditions that elevated serum levels were positively correlated with infanticide risk, supporting the Concession model. Population comparisons provided evidence for increased T responsiveness where groups were predominantly unimale. Unimale populations were from sites with higher rainfall, suggesting that ecological factors contributed to population differences in male residence and T regulation.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge Dr. N.C. Dracopoli, Dr. J.G. Else, Institute of Primate Research, and Dr. C.J. Jolly for their assistance in the early stages of this project. We are grateful to Mr. Fred Brett for sharing the serum samples. We thank the Office of the President of the Republic of Kenya for permission to conduct the original field research in Kenya. We are grateful to Cartographic Services, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, for their help in preparing the map. We thank Betsy Russell for her excellent laboratory work. We thank Robert Seyfarth, Charles Nunn, and anonymous reviewers for comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. This work was funded by NSF grants BCS0116465, BNS7703322, and BCS0115993. The investigations described herein comply with the laws of the United States and Kenya.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, Emory University, 1557 Dickey Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA

    Patricia L. Whitten

  2. Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, P.O. Box 413, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA

    Trudy R. Turner

  3. Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, 0002 , Pretoria, South Africa

    Trudy R. Turner

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  1. Patricia L. Whitten
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  2. Trudy R. Turner
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Correspondence to Patricia L. Whitten.

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Communicated by C. Nunn

For species name, we follow the 2000 taxonomy of the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group’s workshop (Grubb et al. 2003)

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Whitten, P.L., Turner, T.R. Male residence and the patterning of serum testosterone in vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 56, 565–578 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-004-0817-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-004-0817-2

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