Males with a mother living in their group have higher paternity success in bonobos but not chimpanzees

Martin Surbeck, Christophe Boesch, Catherine Crockford, Melissa Emery Thompson, Takeshi Furuichi, Barbara Fruth, Gottfried Hohmann, Shintaro Ishizuka, Zarin Machanda, Martin M. Muller, Anne Pusey, Tetsuya Sakamaki, Nahoko Tokuyama, Kara Walker, Richard Wragham, Emily Wroblewski, Klaus Zuberbuhler, Linda Vigilant, Kevin Langergraber

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

In many group-living mammals, mothers may increase the reproductive success of their daughters even after they are nutritionally independent and fully grown [1]. However, whether such maternal effects exist for adult sons is largely unknown. Here we show that males have higher paternity success when their mother is living in the group at the time of the offspring’s conception in bonobos (N = 39 paternities from 4 groups) but not in chimpanzees (N = 263 paternities from 7 groups). These results are consistent with previous research showing a stronger role of mothers (and females more generally) in bonobo than chimpanzee societies.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)R354-R355
JournalCurrent Biology
Volume29
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 May 2019

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Males with a mother living in their group have higher paternity success in bonobos but not chimpanzees'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this