Male reproductive success in many mammals depends on their ability to allocate sufficient energetic resources to mating competition. Such costs are particularly pronounced in species with high levels of sexual body dimorphism, intense polygyny and distinct breeding seasons. I tested the hypothesis that male reproductive effort incurs significant energetic costs in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), a species with moderate sexual dimorphism, promiscuous mating and lack of breeding seasonality. My field studies combined behavioral observations on male chimpanzee behavior with non-invasive sampling of urinary C-peptide (UCP). UCP is a biomarker of insulin production that indexes individual energy balance. This dissertation contributes to the understanding of UCP as an energy assay by (1) validating the application of UCP for assessing dietary quality in bonobos (Pan paniscus) at Kokolopori, DRC and (2) providing a detailed assessment of diurnal variation in UCP levels in relation to short-term changes in food intake in chimpanzees at Kanyawara, Kibale NP, Uganda. I used UCP measurements in conjunction with full-day focal observations of male chimpanzees to assess the energetic costs of male-male competition for status and mating opportunities. Data on feeding time and rates of aggression suggested that males experience a reduction in energy intake and an increase in energy expenditure when highly attractive parous females were in estrus. UCP data supported these conclusions because males had lower UCP levels on mating days, and rates of aggression were negatively associated with UCP levels. Mean daily party size was also associated with low UCP levels, controlling for the presence of estrous females. Habitat-wide availability of preferred fruits was positively associated with male rates of aggression suggesting that energy availability mediates male investment towards energetically costly competitive behaviors. Contrary to expectations males who were most successful in obtaining copulations (high-ranking males) did not suffer higher energetic costs than lower-ranking males during periods of mating competition. Costs or reproductive effort include both direct competition for matings and long-term competition over social status. Maintenance of social rank over long periods appears to be particularly important in this slow-reproducing, long-lived and nonseasonally breeding primate. / Human Evolutionary Biology
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:harvard.edu/oai:dash.harvard.edu:1/9555923 |
| Date | 14 September 2012 |
| Creators | Georgiev, Alexander |
| Contributors | Wrangham, Richard W. |
| Publisher | Harvard University |
| Source Sets | Harvard University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Rights | open |
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