Smit Nikolaos, Dezeure Jules, Sauvadet Loïc, Huchard Elise, Charpentier Marie J E
Institute of Evolutionary Sciences of Montpellier (ISEM), University of Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Montpellier, France.
Projet Mandrillus, SODEPAL, BP 52, Bakoumba, Gabon.
iScience. 2023 Sep 9;26(10):107358. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107358. eCollection 2023 Oct 20.
Sexual coercion is a manifestation of sexual conflict increasing male mating success while inflicting costs to females. Although previous work has examined inter-individual variation in male sexually coercive tactics, little is known about female counter-strategies. We investigated whether social bonding mitigates the extent of sexual coercion faced by female mandrills (), as a putative mechanism linking sociality to fitness. Surprisingly, females faced the most coercion from those males with whom they formed the strongest bonds, while the strength of a female-male bond was also positively correlated with coercion from all other males. Finally, greater social integration in the female network was positively correlated with coercion, through a direct 'public exposure' mechanism and not mediated by female reproductive success or retaliation potential. Altogether, this study shows that neither between- nor within-sex bonds are protective against sexual coercion and identifies, instead, a hidden cost of social bonding.
性胁迫是性冲突的一种表现形式，它在增加雄性交配成功率的同时，给雌性带来了代价。尽管先前的研究探讨了雄性性胁迫策略的个体间差异，但对于雌性的应对策略却知之甚少。我们研究了社会联系是否能减轻雌性山魈所面临的性胁迫程度，将其作为一种将社会性与适应性联系起来的潜在机制。令人惊讶的是，雌性面临的胁迫大多来自与她们建立了最紧密联系的雄性，而雌雄之间联系的强度也与来自其他所有雄性的胁迫呈正相关。最后，雌性社交网络中更高的社会融合度与胁迫呈正相关，这是通过一种直接的“公开暴露”机制实现的，而非由雌性的繁殖成功率或报复潜力介导。总之，这项研究表明，两性之间以及同性之间的联系都无法防范性胁迫，相反，它识别出了社会联系的一种潜在代价。
