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Complexities of Understanding Female Dispersal in Primates

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Dispersing Primate Females

Part of the book series: Primatology Monographs ((PrimMono))

Abstract

Female dispersal among primates was thought to be rare and thus have “special” causality by comparison with male dispersal. We argue that female dispersal is a more common social state option than was previously thought, with a widespread distribution across primate taxa. Dispersal as an outbreeding strategy has also long been linked to life history traits – and specifically the rates of maturation within each sex, which are themselves linked to mortality risks and reproductive rates. Thus an understanding of key features of life history (reproductive energetics and mortality risks), and how individuals of the same sex manage their competitive and cooperative within-group relationships, allows us to model when female dispersal will be the most probable social state. In addition, when fission–fusion sociality allows females to manage their social lives, reducing resource and reproductive competition while maximising access to positive social networks and helpers, it will be associated with female dispersal as an effective tool for female choice of social companions.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the editors for inviting this contribution and stimulating new directions in our thinking and for their helpful and patient comments on the manuscript. We thank Anthony Ives for his input into the phylogenetic analysis and drawing Fig. 9.1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Behaviour and Evolution Research Group, Psychology, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK

    Phyllis C. Lee

  2. Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Karen B. Strier

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  1. Phyllis C. Lee
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Correspondence to Phyllis C. Lee .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Social Behavior, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan

    Takeshi Furuichi

  2. Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Juichi Yamagiwa

  3. Instituto de Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico

    Filippo Aureli

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Lee, P.C., Strier, K.B. (2015). Complexities of Understanding Female Dispersal in Primates. In: Furuichi, T., Yamagiwa, J., Aureli, F. (eds) Dispersing Primate Females. Primatology Monographs. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55480-6_9

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