Multimodal Advertisement of Pregnancy in Free-Ranging Female Japanese Macaques (Macaca fuscata).

ABSTRACT: The role of multiple sexual signals in indicating the timing of female ovulation, and discrimination of this timing by males, has been particularly well studied among primates. However the exhibition of pregnancy signals, and how such signals might modulate male post-conception mating decisions, is still poorly understood. Here we aimed to determine if Japanese macaque males use changes in female sexual signals (behavioral, visual and auditory) to discriminate pregnancy and adjust their socio-sexual behaviors. We combined behavioral observations, digital photography and endocrinological (progestogen and estrogen) data, collected systematically during three one-month periods: the pre-conceptive period, the 1st month of pregnancy and the 2nd month of pregnancy. We analyzed variation in the p

SUBMITTER: Rigaill L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4550261 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature