CAS AN 102 Lecture Notes - Social Ecology, Simian, Philopatry
19 Mar 2013
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
The strategies of the different sexes are different and sometime conflict. Differences in mating strategy and environment makes differences in social behavior. Most mammals are not social- consort with conspecifics only during courtship and rearing young. Groups have increased risks of disease and competition for food. However, defensive for safety and for scarce food. Female infants in primate society stay with their natal group and the maturing males form periphery bachelor groups. Males control a larger group of females (harems)- surplus males: gorillas. Leads to female dominance hierarchies w/ preferential access to resources and male takeovers w/ infanticide. Males interested in stealing females and getting rid of old males, killing their rival"s offspring (but this is not in the female"s interest) Females have cyclical mating to offset the issue. However, for primates, the period of care is so long that between the next mating season, primate mothers will have infants and therefore reason to kill them.
