Rasolonjatovo Safidy Malala, Irwin Mitchell T
Mention Zoologie et Biodiversité Animale, Université d'Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar.
Department of Anthropology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, USA,
Folia Primatol (Basel). 2020;91(4):385-398. doi: 10.1159/000503345. Epub 2019 Nov 6.
Rarely observed in mammals, female dominance is documented in several of Madagascar's lemurs. Although dominance affects many aspects of primates' lives, studies have largely focused on dyadic agonistic interactions to characterise relationships. We explored the power structure of three diademed sifaka groups (Propithecus diadema) at Tsinjoarivo during the lean season (July-August, 325 h) using social behaviours, group leadership, displacements and feeding outcomes. Two groups had a hierarchy dominated by the breeding female, while the highest rank was held by the breeding male in the third; in dyadic interactions, breeding females dominated males in all groups. Inconsistencies in hierarchies suggest that groups vary, with rank related to kinship ties of breeders. Aggression and grooming were rare; adult females received aggression at lower frequencies than males. Group movements were led more by females and followed more by males, and female feeding priority was evident in displacements during feeding. However, males and females did not differ in feeding outcomes, as expected (particularly in the lean season) if female dominance (and/or male deference) serves to ensure better access for females. This unexpected pattern (female dominance despite rare aggression, clear female leadership and displacement, yet no observable benefit in grooming or feeding outcomes) defies easy explanation, and reinforces the fact that studies examining female power in lemurs should take a multifaceted approach. Further study is needed to understand this pattern, the physiological and reproductive consequences of female dominance (e.g. detecting subtler variation in food quality or intake rates) and exactly how (and when) the benefits of female dominance are manifested.
在哺乳动物中很少观察到雌性占主导地位的情况，但在马达加斯加的几种狐猴中却有记载。尽管等级制度会影响灵长类动物生活的许多方面，但研究主要集中在二元争斗互动上以描述关系。我们在青黄不接的季节（7月至8月，共325小时），于钦乔阿里武对三个冕狐猴群体（冕狐猴属）的权力结构进行了探索，采用了社会行为、群体领导、取代行为和进食结果等研究方法。其中两个群体的等级制度由繁殖期雌性主导，而第三个群体中最高等级由繁殖期雄性占据；在二元互动中，所有群体的繁殖期雌性都主导着雄性。等级制度的不一致表明群体存在差异，等级与繁殖者的亲属关系有关。攻击行为和梳理行为很少见；成年雌性受到攻击的频率低于雄性。群体行动更多由雌性引领，更多由雄性跟随，并且在进食时的取代行为中雌性的进食优先权很明显。然而，雄性和雌性在进食结果上没有差异，而如果雌性占主导地位（和/或雄性顺从）是为了确保雌性有更好的获取资源机会的话（尤其是在青黄不接的季节），这是预期之中的。这种意想不到的模式（尽管攻击行为很少、雌性领导和取代行为明显，但在梳理或进食结果上没有可观察到的益处的雌性占主导地位）难以简单解释，这也强化了一个事实，即研究狐猴中雌性权力的研究应该采用多方面的方法。需要进一步研究来理解这种模式、雌性占主导地位的生理和繁殖后果（例如检测食物质量或摄入率的更细微变化）以及雌性占主导地位的益处究竟是如何（以及何时）体现出来的。
