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Receiving severe aggression correlates with fetal gender in pregnant pigtailed monkeys
Author(s) -
Sackett Gene P.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.420140315
Subject(s) - harem , offspring , aggression , fetus , pregnancy , physiology , gestation , obstetrics , significant difference , psychology , medicine , nonhuman primate , developmental psychology , biology , endocrinology , evolutionary biology , genetics
Abstract Pregnant females were severely bitten in 220 of 2,822 conceptions among pigtail macaques living in harem groups. These pregnancies yielded 58.6% female offspring compared with 48.5% for nonbitten pregnant animals. The fetal gender difference occurred only after midterm, reaching a peak of 70% female fetuses in the 4th gestational month. Fetal gender thus appeared to influence maternal behavior, appearance, or physiology in some way detectable to other monkeys with the consequence of altering risk for receiving severe aggression.