Wu Fan, Liu Jia, Dunn Derek W, Shang Yixin, Jin Shiyu, Du Huihui, Wu Yuanchun, Men Yiyi, Chen Guoliang, He Gang, Li Baoguo, Guo Songtao
Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation, College of Life Sciences Northwest University Xi'an Shaanxi China.
School of Medicine Northwest University Xi'an Shaanxi China.
Ecol Evol. 2025 Jul 7;15(7):e71749. doi: 10.1002/ece3.71749. eCollection 2025 Jul.
In social mammals, dominance status and tenure length are often important determinants of male reproductive success. Nevertheless, alternative strategies, such as extra-pair mating, and the active role of females in securing reproductive benefits can substantially modify patterns of paternity. To date, many studies have had short observation periods and small sample sizes, constraining understanding of how male social status, tenure length, and female mating strategies jointly affect male long-term reproductive success, especially in species with complex social systems. Using longitudinal demographic and genetic data from a free-ranging population of a golden snub-nosed monkey () multilevel society in the Qinling Mountains, central China, we investigated how leader males' ranks and tenure lengths influence their reproductive success through within-unit and extra-unit paternities. We found that although high rank increases the likelihood of producing within-unit paternity offspring in the short term, tenure length is a stronger determinant of long-term reproductive success via both within-unit and extra-unit paternities. Females may gain direct benefits from producing extra-pair paternity offspring by reducing the risk of infanticide through mating with all-male band males and/or by selecting high-ranking leader males for better access to resources. Moreover, females may also accrue additional indirect benefits from producing extra-pair paternity offspring when more adult males are available in the breeding band. Our findings highlight extra-pair paternity as a reproductive strategy for both male and female golden snub-nosed monkeys to optimize reproductive success, which may also play a role in maintaining stability in this complex primate society.
在群居哺乳动物中，优势地位和任期时长通常是雄性繁殖成功的重要决定因素。然而，诸如婚外交配等替代策略以及雌性在获取繁殖益处方面的积极作用，能够极大地改变父系模式。迄今为止，许多研究的观察期较短且样本量较小，这限制了我们对雄性社会地位、任期时长和雌性交配策略如何共同影响雄性长期繁殖成功的理解，尤其是在具有复杂社会系统的物种中。利用来自中国中部秦岭地区一个自由放养的川金丝猴多阶层社会群体的纵向人口统计学和基因数据，我们研究了首领雄性的等级和任期时长如何通过群体内和群体外的父系关系影响它们的繁殖成功。我们发现，虽然高等级在短期内增加了产生群体内父系后代的可能性，但任期时长才是通过群体内和群体外父系关系决定长期繁殖成功的更重要因素。雌性可能通过与全雄群雄性交配降低杀婴风险和/或选择高等级首领雄性以更好地获取资源，从而从产生婚外父系后代中获得直接益处。此外，当繁殖群体中有更多成年雄性时，雌性从产生婚外父系后代中还可能获得额外的间接益处。我们的研究结果凸显了婚外父系关系是川金丝猴雄性和雌性优化繁殖成功的一种繁殖策略，这也可能在维持这个复杂灵长类社会的稳定性方面发挥作用。
