Unlike most courtship in animals, this week I have
chosen an example where it is the female who courts the male. It is the
courting behaviour of the Capuchin monkey.
A study was conducted on the tufted Capuchin monkey,
Cebus apella, to observe their
courtship and sexual behaviour. Courting typically takes place between a female
and an alpha male. It starts as a one-way exchange by the females who court by
trying to get the attention of the males. This only becomes a two-way exchange
once the male is actively involved. Females will essentially conduct a hit and
run approach on the males i.e. they will poke and/or grab parts of the male
while he is not looking and then quickly run away. Quite often the male will ignore
these advances at first or even get a little agitated. If the female eventually
initiates a positive reaction from the male, he will reciprocate her advances
with an eyebrow raise and then the mating will take place not long after.
More recently, studies on Capuchin monkeys in Brazil
have shown that females in certain populations have resulted to throwing rocks
at the males to get their attention. This could be a safety precaution as the
males could be well known to be grumpy and throwing something at them from a
distance is safer then actually grabbing them.
References
Carosi M & Visalberghi E.
(2002). Analysis of tufted capuchin (Cebus apella) courtship and sexual
behavior repertoire: Changes throughout the female cycle and female
interindividual differences. American journal of physical anthropology, 118(1),
11-24.
This is definitely an interesting way of attracting a mate! Are there many sexual selection processes that require the female to attract the male? In this particular case, do the females tend to chose the most physically fit male/dominant male? Or do females simply toss a rock into a large group of males hoping to get someone's (sexual) attention? Cool post!
ReplyDeleteI love these females new approach at getting the attention of the male. i am surprised that the males chose to mate the females that actually throw things at them.
ReplyDeleteThat’s hilarious! I love the idea that the females are throwing stones to grab their mates attention! Do males engage in male-male competition during female oestrous? I was also wondering, if females are throwing stones at potential mates, then they are still being picky. Do females share mate preferences with other females? Very neat study!
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