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Mating behaviors of the proboscis monkey ( Nasalis larvatus )
Author(s) -
Murai Tadahiro
Publication year - 2006
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.20266
Subject(s) - juvenile , mating , proboscis , biology , harassment , zoology , ecology , psychology , social psychology
The mating behaviors of the proboscis monkey were observed in a riverine forest along a tributary of the Kinabatangan River, Sabah, Malaysia, for a period of 30 months. Solicitation for copulation was initiated frequently by males and occasionally by females. Most copulations involved only one mount; however, some multiple‐mount copulations were observed and a maximum of six mounts per copulation were recorded. The mean duration of mounts was about 27 sec. Nonsexual mounts (female–female, female–juvenile/infant, juvenile–juvenile, and juvenile–infant) were also observed. Female–female mounts occurred shortly after failed solicitations toward males were observed. Harassment by juveniles and/or infants was observed during copulation; however, these harassments apparently did not interfere with copulation. Sexual swelling was evident in 77.4% of copulating females, with copulating subadult females showing the most distinct swelling. Am. J. Primatol. 68:832–837, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.