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Mating strategies and social strategies in relation to the ecology of primate species
Female signals of attractiveness: sexual swellings in red colobus monkeysContext Sexual selection theory predicts male ornaments in species with predominant female care, but in some primates, like red colobus monkeys (Procolobus), females develop large ano-genital swellings, the adaptive significance of which is unclear. Swelling sizes and socio-ecological conditions vary widely among Procolobus species, thus providing a unique natural experiment by which to test competing hypotheses on the function of these elaborate female signals of attractiveness.
Red colobus monkey, Kibale NP ApproachThis study is novel in using an integrative approach in which behaviour, endocrinology, and ecological and grouping patterns will be studied in relation to swelling size in different red colobus species to identify socio-ecological costs and benefits of female sexual signals. CollaborationDr Michael Heistermann and Prof. Keith Hodges from the German Primate Centre (DPZ) support this project financially and scientifically. They extract hormones from the faecal samples we collect in the field and analyse them to determine the link between hormones (e.g. timing of ovulation, pregnancy), swelling size and behaviour. Prof. Redouan Bshary, University of Neuchatel (Switzerland) supported the field work of master students Paul Beziers and Sophia Hobeika (University of Neuchatel) who have just finished their 6-month field work period collecting data in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Prof. Colin Chapman, McGill University (Canada), runs a long term research project on monkeys in Kibale National Park and continuously supports the project scientifically and logistically.
From left to right: Sophia Hobeika, Amanda Korstjens and Paul Béziers in Kibale National Park, September 2006 Other financial support2007 Royal Society Conference Grant supported visit to Kibale National Park, Uganda 2002 Lucy Burgers Foundation for Comparative Behaviour Research, Arnhem, the Netherlands. Grant to visit Procolobus gordonorum, in Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania Related publicationsKorstjens, AH, EC Nijssen, & R Noë (2005). Inter-group relationships in western black-and-white colobus, Colobus polykomos polykomos. Int. J. Primatol. 26(6): 1267-1289 Korstjens, AH, & R Noë (2004). The mating system of an exceptional primate, the olive colobus (Procolobus verus). Am. J. Primatol.62: 261-273. Korstjens, AH, & EPh Schippers (2003). Dispersal patterns among olive colobus in Taï National Park. Int. J. Primatol. 24(3): 515-540. Korstjens, AH, EHM Sterck, & R Noë (2002). How adaptive or phylogenetically inert is primate social behaviour? A test with two sympatric colobines. Behaviour 139:203-225. Korstjens, AH, & A Galat-Luong (forthcoming 2008). Colobus polykomos. In Mammals of Africa. J Kingdon, DCD Happold, & TM Butynski (Eds). Elsevier Science, Oxford Oates, JF, & AH Korstjens (forthcoming 2008). Procolobus verus. In Mammals of Africa. J. Kingdon, DCD Happold, & TM Butynski (Eds). Elsevier Science, Oxford Korstjens, AH, K Bergman, et al. (2007). How small-scale differences in food competition lead to different social systems in three closely related sympatric colobines. In The monkeys of the Taï Forest, Ivory Coast: an African primate community. S McGraw, K Zuberbühler, & R Noë (Eds). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 72-108 Sterck, EHM, & AH Korstjens (2000). Female dispersal and infanticide avoidance in primates. In Infanticide by males and its implications. CP van Schaik & CH Janson (Eds), pp. 293-321. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Steenbeek, R, AH Korstjens, & CP van Schaik. (1999). Tenure related changes in wild Thomas's langurs III: Range use. In Female choice and male coercion in wild Thomas's langurs. PhD thesis R Steenbeek, pp. 117-136. Utrecht. Korstjens, AH (2001). The mob, the secret sorority, and the phantoms. An analysis of the socio-ecological strategies of the three colobines of Taï. PhD thesis, Utrecht University. ISBN 90-393-2752-1 Contact email address 
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