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Mounting Interactions between Female Japanese Macaques: Testing the Influence of Dominance and Aggression
Author(s) -
Vasey Paul L.,
Chapais Bernard,
Gauthier Carole
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
ethology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.739
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1439-0310
pISSN - 0179-1613
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0310.1998.tb00077.x
Subject(s) - aggression , dominance (genetics) , psychology , zoology , ecology , developmental psychology , biology , biochemistry , gene
The goal of the work reported here was to determine whether female Japanese macaques ( Macaca fuscata ) participated in same‐sex mounting interactions during homosexual consortships to communicate about asymmetries in their dominance relationships and to reduce aggression. Focal data were collected during 21 homosexual consortships involving 14 females living in a captive, mixed‐sex group of 37 individuals. We identified eight types of mounts, one solicitation used specifically to request to mount (hands‐on‐hindquarters solicitation), two solicitations used specifically to request to be mounted (hindquarter and back presentations), and one behavior employed to facilitate mounts‐in‐progress (clasping). We tested whether dominant consort partners (1) mounted more and (2) requested to mount more than their subordinate partners and whether subordinate consort partners (1) requested to be mounted more and (2) facilitated mounts‐in‐progress more than their dominant partners. Finally, we examined whether mounting was temporally linked to the onset of aggressive interactions between consort partners and whether it functioned to defuse incipient aggression. None of these predictions was supported. All types of mounts, mount solicitations, and clasping occurred bi‐directionally within consort dyads. Mutual sexual attraction and gratification provided the proximate motivation for these mounting interactions and, in turn, for the formation and maintenance of their homosexual consortships.