TY - JOUR
T1 - Social bonds provide multiple pathways to reproductive success in wild male chimpanzees
AU - Feldblum, Joseph T.
AU - Krupenye, Christopher
AU - Bray, Joel
AU - Pusey, Anne E.
AU - Gilby, Ian C.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors
PY - 2021/8/20
Y1 - 2021/8/20
N2 - In most male mammals, fitness is strongly shaped by competitive access to mates, a non-shareable resource. How, then, did selection favor the evolution of cooperative social bonds? We used behavioral and genetic data on wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, to study the mechanisms by which male-male social bonds increase reproductive success. Social bonds increased fitness in several ways: first, subordinate males that formed strong bonds with the alpha male had higher siring success. Independently, males with larger networks of strong bonds had higher siring success. In the short term, bonds predicted coalition formation and centrality in the coalition network, suggesting that males benefit from being potential allies to numerous male rivals. In the long term, male ties influenced fitness via improved dominance rank for males that attain alpha status. Together, these results suggest that male bonds evolved in chimpanzees by affording both short- and long-term pathways to reproductive success.
AB - In most male mammals, fitness is strongly shaped by competitive access to mates, a non-shareable resource. How, then, did selection favor the evolution of cooperative social bonds? We used behavioral and genetic data on wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, to study the mechanisms by which male-male social bonds increase reproductive success. Social bonds increased fitness in several ways: first, subordinate males that formed strong bonds with the alpha male had higher siring success. Independently, males with larger networks of strong bonds had higher siring success. In the short term, bonds predicted coalition formation and centrality in the coalition network, suggesting that males benefit from being potential allies to numerous male rivals. In the long term, male ties influenced fitness via improved dominance rank for males that attain alpha status. Together, these results suggest that male bonds evolved in chimpanzees by affording both short- and long-term pathways to reproductive success.
KW - Biological sciences
KW - Ecology
KW - Ethology
KW - Zoology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85120683533&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85120683533&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102864
DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102864
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85120683533
SN - 2589-0042
VL - 24
JO - iScience
JF - iScience
IS - 8
M1 - 102864
ER -