ANT 322 Primate Biology and Behavior

Primate Mating Strategies: Key Terms and Concepts

· Monogamy: when are primates likely to be monogamous; what are the benefits?

o Paternity certainty: definition; how “certain” is certain?

o Nuclear family: definition

o Extra-pair copulations; extra-pair fertilizations: definitions

· Polygyny: definition; when are primates likely to be polygynous; what are the benefits?

o Morphotypes: definition

o Also know monomorphic as compared to dimorphic

o Developmentally arrested: what does this refer to; what causes this?

· Polyandry: definition; is this rare or common? Do males prefer this? Do they tolerate it?

· Ambivalent polygamy: definition

o Promiscuously mating: what does this mean and what is the reason for it?

o Safari: definition

o Consorting pair: definition

· Sperm competition: definition

· Reproductive synchrony: definition

· Reproductive seasonality: definition

· Age-graded system: what is this; what does this mean in relation to mating?

· Dominance hierarchies and rank reversals: what happens to males in multi-male female groups? Hint: think of the video on the Rhesus macaques of Cayo Santiago

· Extra-group copulations and seasonal breeding: what are some features of primates that breed seasonally?

· Mate guarding: what is this? How is this accomplished? (i.e., how is “herding” done?)

· Polygyny threshold: definition

· Parental investment: when is a male likely to help care for infants?

· Why might females choose males who display antisocial or aggressive behavior, or who might be unfamiliar; and how might this be adaptive? (i.e., what is meant by “good genes”?)

· Attractivity: definition as it relates to sexual signals; how does this differ from proceptivity and receptivity?

· Proceptivity: definition as it relates to sexual signals

· Receptivity: definition as it relates to sexual signals

· Sexual swellings: what are these? What is the sex skin?

· Priority of access: what does mean in relation to male social rank?

· Honest advertisement: what does this mean in relation to mating and sexual attraction?

· Mating effort: definition