Alice Baniel presents her work on "Jealous females? Female competition over paternal care in a wild promiscuous primate".
We investigated female competition over paternal care in a wild promiscuous primate, the chacma baboon (Papio ursinus), where pregnant and lactating females establish strong social bonds (“friendships”) with males that provide care to their offspring. We found that pregnant and lactating females were more aggressive towards those oestrous females that were mate-guarded by, and showed greater sexual activity with, their male friend. This aggression also reduced the likelihood of conception of the targeted female. These findings suggest that females may aggressively prevent further conceptions with their offspring’s carer through reproductive suppression in this species. Clémence Poirotte (German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany) presents her work on "Parasite avoidance strategies in non-human primates" Parasite-mediated selection has driven the emergence of complex hosts’ defense mechanisms to limit the spread of parasites. In addition to their physiological immune system, animals have developed a “behavioral immune system” comprising a sophisticated set of parasite avoidance strategies that represents a first line of defense to decrease parasite encounter rates. However, behavioral adaptations to the threat of parasites have been poorly investigated in wild populations of mammals. Based on long-term observations of wild primate groups and controlled experiments on both wild and semi-free ranging animals, my studies document parasite avoidance strategies in mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx), an Old World primate, in grey mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus), a small nocturnal Malagasy primate, and in woolly monkeys (Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii), a New World primate. Focusing on different types of parasites with distinct modes of transmission, I will emphasize the close relationship between parasites’ ecology and hosts’ behavioral responses, such as social avoidance of contagious individuals, avoidance of contaminated food, water or sleeping sites, and selective defecation. Finally, I will show that individuals vary in behavioural immunity, which may contribute to heterogeneity in parasite distribution within populations. Plasticity also occurs at the individual level, varying with internal and environmental conditions, possibly allowing social species to cope with the increased risk of parasitism associated with group-living. Altogether, these findings shed light on the evolutionary consequences of parasite-mediated selection on several socioecological characteristics of animals, including space use and social behavior.
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