Comparative Primate: Sociality and Mating Patterns

Lemurs
Lemurs are mainly found in Madagascar an island off the southeastern coast of Africa. Madagascar has two majorly different climate zones that lemurs have adapted to; rainforest in the east and dry area in the west. Female lemurs dominate over males in social interaction with lemurs. They live in family groups of related females and their offspring males are often kicked out of the group but they form their own groups. The mating season of the lemurs starts in mid April and last until mid May. Fighting is very common during the mating season even though females mate with many different males. Female lemur show interest by presenting their backsides, lifting their tails, and then looking over her shoulder at the male she is interested in. The male lemur will then inspect the female’s genitals to determine receptiveness of the females. The environments that the lemurs live in will definitely affect sociality and mating patterns because the extreme weather can change the way the groups get around and if the groups are scattered it is harder to find mates during mating season.




Spider Monkeys
Spider monkeys are typically found in the tropical forest of Central and South Africa anywhere from Mexico to Brazil. They live in the upper layers of the rainforest and forage in the canopy. Spider monkeys are very social animals that live in groups containing up to 30 individuals. The group breaks up into smaller groups during the day to forage for food. Females often leave the groups they grew up in at puberty causing the bonds between males to be stronger but the strongest bonds are between a mother and her young. When it is time to mate the female will choose a male from her group and they will then go through a process called anogenital sniffing, in which they smell each other to check for readiness. The environment of the spider monkeys has a major effect on their social and mating habits because with all the deforestation happening the spider monkeys have to move and it is harder for them to stay together.




Baboons
Baboons mainly reside in Africa as well as Arabia and they are ground dwelling living in the open savannah, woodlands and hills. Most baboons live in hierarchical troops and sizes can range from 5 to 250 but are mainly around 40-50 individual. The structure within each group changes depending on the species. Baboons will often fight amongst different families and ranks. Males are very protective of their females and will bite them if they go walk to far away. Males fight males from other groups for one of the females of that group. The mating behavior changes depending on the social structure of the troop of baboons. Often males will mate with any female they want and fights are very common. Males can also try to win the female over by grooming her or getting her food. Even with all that females initiate the mating by showing her swollen butt to the male. The environment of the baboon can have an effect on the baboons because they are out in the open they have a high chance of predators coming after them.






Gibbon
Gibbon live in tropical as well as subtropical rainforest from northeast India to Indonesia also north and southern China. Gibbons are very social animals but they are territorial and will defend their boundaries. They use vocal tactics to keep animals away but they song also attracts mates. If they like the song they will do a mating dance followed by a long mating ritual in which they mate many times. They areas they live are expanding and they gives them a high chance of running out of open space to live.





Chimpanzee
Chimpanzees mainly live in central and west Africa. They live in large groups made up of many males and females and within these communities are made of social hierarchy. There is an alpha male that is chosen by a female. The female leaves their parental group when they are ready to mate and anogenital swelling will help her find a new group. They will mate with multiple males and sometimes will even leave the new group to mate with more males before returning.