Meat Acquisition Skill and Male Reproductive Success in Guinea Baboons

Area of Science:

• Primate Behavioral Ecology
• Evolutionary Anthropology
• Reproductive Strategies

Background:

• Male provisioning via hunting and meat sharing is theorized as a signal of male quality and a factor in reproductive success across species.
• The role of meat sharing in mate choice and its evolutionary basis among nonhuman primates remains largely unexamined.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether meat acquisition and sharing by males signal male quality to females in Guinea baboons (Papio papio).
• To determine if males who more frequently acquired and transferred meat had more females in their social units for extended periods.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 109 meat-eating events and 9 years of behavioral data in Guinea baboons.
• Correlating male meat acquisition and transfer frequency with the number and duration of female associations.

Main Results:

• No evidence was found that females preferred males who acquired or transferred meat more frequently.
• Male meat acquisition and sharing did not correlate with increased female associations in their social units.

Conclusions:

• Meat acquisition does not appear to be a reliable signal of male quality for mate choice in Guinea baboons.
• Females are less dependent on males for meat than previously assumed, obtaining significant portions from other sources, including self-provisioning.
• Females likely utilize alternative criteria for mate selection beyond meat provisioning by males.