Infanticide and Male-Female 'Friendships' in Savanna Baboons

稀树草原狒狒的杀婴和男女“友谊”

• 批准号: 0117213
• 负责人: Ryne Palombit
• 金额: $ 30.65万
• 依托单位: Rutgers University New Brunswick
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-07-15 至 2007-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0117213&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Infanticide; Male; Female; Friendships; Savanna

This project addresses two fundamental questions about primate biology. First, why do adult males and females share enduring bonds? In the majority of mammalian species, the sexes interact affiliatively around the period of female estrus or fertility; after that, males and females typically pursue largely separate lives. In primates, however, permanent association between males and nonfertile (anestrous) females is not only more common than in mammals generally, it is the rule in virtually all monkeys and apes. The evolutionary reasons for the ubiquity and variability of female-male relations in primates remain unknown, however. Second, why is infanticide a reproductive strategy of some males, but not others? Infanticide, the killing of dependent infants (usually by males), is widespread but variably expressed in mammals. These two apparently unrelated questions are united in a new theory that proposes that males and females form social relationships with one another in order to protect young against infanticide. The researchers will test this hypothesis in a study of two closely related savanna baboons that share similarities as well as important differences. The olive baboons (Papio cynocephalus anubis) of Kenya and the chacma baboons (P. cynocephalus ursinus) of Botswana both live in large, multi-male, multi-female groups in which lactating females maintain close bonds with particular males--popularly known as "friendships". Infanticide by males, however, is common in chacma baboons, but rare in olives baboons. By comparatively studying both populations, the researchers will answer the following questions: (1) how do males benefit from friendship behavior: are males the genetic fathers of their friends' infants, or, as argued for olive baboons, do they care for unrelated infants because mothers will then choose them as sires of future offspring?; (2) how do females benefit from friendships with males: do they obtain male anti-infanticide protection in chacma baboons, and some other benefit (such as protection from male harassment directed at females) in the less infanticidal olive baboon?; (3) do bonds between males and females vary in light of the male's paternity of the female's infant and due to the different benefits females may derive from friendships in the two populations? (4) does infanticide increase the reproductive success of male chacma baboons?; (5) why do some (but not all) male chacma baboons become infanticidal when reaching alpha status in the dominance hierarchy, whereas few male olive baboons ever do? Ultimately, the study of a nonhuman primate may improve our understanding of social relationships between the sexes within our own species.

该项目解决了有关灵长类动物生物学的两个基本问题。 首先，为什么成年男性和女性共享持久的纽带？ 在大多数哺乳动物物种中，性别围绕女性发情或生育时期有隶属关系。之后，男性和女性通常追求很大程度上分开的生活。 然而，在灵长类动物中，男性与非肥胖（无生气）女性之间的永久性关联不仅比哺乳动物通常更常见，而且几乎是所有猴子和猿类的规则。 但是，灵长类动物中女性关系无处不在的进化原因仍然未知。 第二，为什么杀婴是某些男性的生殖策略，而不是其他男性？ 杀婴儿剂是杀害依赖的婴儿（通常是男性），是普遍的，但在哺乳动物中可变。 这两个显然无关的问题是在一种新理论中团结起来的，该理论提出男性和女性相互建立社会关系，以保护年轻人免受杀婴。研究人员将在两项与之紧密相关的稀树草原狒狒的研究中检验这一假设，这些狒狒具有相似之处以及重要的差异。 波茨瓦纳的肯尼亚和chacma狒狒（cynocephalus ursinus）的橄榄狒狒（Papio cynocephalus anubis）都生活在大型的多男性多女性群体中，其中哺乳期的女性保持与特定男性的近距离纽带，并与特定的男性 - 众所周知的“友谊”保持密切联系。 然而，男性杀婴儿剂在chacma狒狒中很常见，但在橄榄狒狒中很少见。 通过比较研究这两个人群，研究人员将回答以下问题：（1）男性如何从友谊行为中受益：男性是朋友的婴儿的遗传父亲，还是正如为橄榄狒狒所主张的那样，他们是否关心无关的婴儿，因为母亲会选择他们作为未来的sires of Future offure forverspring？ （2）女性如何从与男性的友谊中受益：她们是否在Chacma Baboons获得了男性抗挑战者保护，以及在较小的妇女杀害狒狒中的其他一些好处（例如针对女性的男性骚扰的保护）？ （3）雄性和女性之间的纽带是否因男性婴儿的父亲身份而有所不同，并且由于女性的益处可能来自两个人群的友谊？ （4）杀宝兰是否会增加雄性chacma狒狒的生殖成功？ （5）为什么在统治层次结构达到α地位时，为什么有些（但不是全部）雄性chacma狒狒会变得杀婴，而很少有雄性橄榄狒狒做到？ 最终，对非人类灵长类动物的研究可能会改善我们对自己物种中性别之间社会关系的理解。