MALE COMPETITION, MATING SUCCESS AND FEMALE CHOICE IN A SEASONALLY BREEDING PRIMATE (ERYTHROCEBUS-PATAS)

Mammals with restricted breeding seasons often show brief but intense bouts of male competition for mates and male reproductive success has been attributed to male competitive abilities, with the most aggressiv ely successful males able to control access to fertile females, or wit h females choosing to mate with such males. We studied male competitio n, mating behaviour and female mate selection in patas monkeys, a prim ate with a restricted breeding period. We observed two habituated para s groups in Laikipia District, Kenya, during Jun.-Aug. 1983. During th e study, one group had a single resident male while the other group ha d multiple adult males. Within the multimale group, experienced adult males were no more successful than the subadult male. The sole residen t male had a significantly higher rate of fights won (p < 0.02) althou gh he did not differ from the multimale group males in rare of aggress ion or initiation of lights. We found no significant differences in ei ther mating success or female preference based on males' experience or residency. The rates at which males copulated with and were solicited by females were not significantly correlated. We found no evidence of stable dominance ranks among males in the multimale group and aggress ive success was nor significantly correlated with copulation rate for males in the multimale group. Subadult males were responsible for the majority of copulations observed during the final third of the breedin g season. Our observations of this patas population showed a fluid num ber of males in groups, with the same groups able to shift rapidly fro m single to multimale structure. This fluidity may result from the lar ge fluctuations in numbers of breeding-age males and females observed over 4 yr of studying this population.