Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
instances of vertebrate consumption (e.g., lizards, frogs, infant squirrels) were
observed, it was predominantly immature individuals (i.e., between two and
four years of age) who consumed vertebrate prey (i.e., fifteen of seventeen
instances). Therefore, distribution of the nutritional content of offerings and
other items in the “other” category is not equal across age/sex classes and
individuals.
Dominance
Top-ranked males' tenure ranged from 8 to >40 months, and males have
been observed changing groups within the monkey forest populations in
which they live (Loudon
et al
.,
2002
). Rank and copulatory success were
loosely correlated in group 2 but not in group 3 at the Padangtegal site
(Welch
et al
.,
2001
). Group 1 had only one copulating male for the major-
ity of the observation periods. Preliminary data analyses suggest that adult
males may practice both aggression and affiliative strategies to gain access
to females (Loudon
et al
2002
). Although high intensity fighting occurs
amongst adults, often with substantial wounding, the conflicts rarely result
in death (Suartha
et al
., 2002). During the period 1998-2002 only two adult
males and two adult females died from wounds inflicted by other macaques
or from injuries resulting from falls during arboreal chases. However, it is
not clear how many of the immature deaths resulted from wounds inflicted
by other macaques.
Infanticide
No instances of infanticide by adult males were observed at Padangtegal
between 1998 and 2002. None were reported by Wheatley (
1999
) for the 1986,
1990-1992 period. We observed ten females taking infants and holding them
away from their mother for between three minutes and four days. In the major-
ity of these cases the female taking the infant held it, groomed it, allowed
other females to touch and inspect it, and on occasion allowed the infant to
suckle (i.e., only in females who were lactating at the time). In a few cases,
females were observed to act aggressively towards infants they had taken, and
we observed two cases of infanticide by females. In one case during July 2000,
a female had taken an infant from a mother, and a third female bit the infant
leaving a lethal head wound and killing the infant. The infant was subsequently
retrieved by its mother and died within 24 hours. The other observed infant
death resulted from a mother refusing to allow her newborn to nurse (i.e., a
