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Urinary testosterone levels of wild male bonobos ( Pan paniscus ) in the Lomako Forest, Democratic Republic of Congo
Author(s) -
Marshall Andrew J.,
Hohmann Gottfried
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
american journal of primatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.988
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1098-2345
pISSN - 0275-2565
DOI - 10.1002/ajp.20099
Subject(s) - pan paniscus , aggression , biology , context (archaeology) , bonobo , testosterone (patch) , demography , zoology , endocrinology , ecology , psychology , developmental psychology , sociology , paleontology
We collected urine samples from seven male bonobos ( Pan paniscus ) in the Eyengo community, Lomako Forest, Democratic Republic of Congo, and assayed them for testosterone (T). T levels averaged 525 pmol/mg Cr in adult males, and 309 pmol/mg Cr in subadult males. We collected hormonal and behavioral data during a period of relative social instability following the recent arrival of two immigrant males. In concordance with predictions derived from the challenge hypothesis [Wingfield et al., American Naturalist 136:829–846, 1990], which relates T to levels of reproductive aggression, the alpha male had the highest circulating levels of T. When we removed the two recent immigrant males from the analysis, there was a significant positive correlation between T levels and dominance rank for the long‐term resident males (n=5, P =0.001, r 2 =0.98). These are the first data on T levels in wild bonobos, and the results suggest that further study of the relationship between T levels and social context in this species could inform current models relating hormones and aggression in wild apes. Am. J. Primatol. 65:87–92, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.