![]() 2001 Lukas and Clutton-Brock 2011) (Table 1). In social species, the potential benefits of female dispersal include inbreeding avoidance, reduction of feeding competition, reduction of predation and infanticide risk, reduction of mate competition, mate choice, disease avoidance, and increase genetic diversity (Amos et al. Dispersal is usually male-biased in mammals however, female dispersal also occurs regularly (Strier 1994) and is expected to occur when the benefits of moving to outweigh the costs (Clobert et al. This study shows that female reproductive strategies such as secondary dispersal may be very powerful to counter the risk of infanticide through female choice for better protector males but also to reduce the impact of feeding competition or to avoid predators or outsider males.ĭispersal has profound consequences for gene flow, the evolution of social group patterns, and the geographic distributions of animals (Clobert et al. We found that the duration of male tenure and the size of the group influences female transfer decisions. ![]() We studied the factors influencing secondary dispersal in western lowland gorillas. Secondary dispersal by females is a rare behavior but is believed to be a counterstrategy against sexual coercion by males, reduces feeding competition, assists in predator avoidance, and facilitates mate choice. Significanceĭispersal is a very important life strategy for most group-living mammals. This study highlights the intersexual conflict found in gorillas: while female choice for high-quality males may influence the formation of their relatively rare social system, smaller group size may be more important for females than previously thought, which runs counter to the males’ interest of having a high number of females. Females were also more likely to leave larger groups for smaller ones suggesting a potential effect of within-group feeding competition or avoidance of outsider males or predators. Regarding secondary dispersal, we found that females were more likely to stay with males that were at the beginning of their tenure than transfer and more likely to disperse away from (presumably old) males that were near the end of their tenure or closer to their death. We found that while all females dispersed out of their natal group, presumably to avoid inbreeding, females also left their group before having their first offspring when the dominant male was not their father, pointing towards unconditional dispersal by nulliparous females. In this study, we test how inbreeding avoidance, group size, and male competitive ability could influence female dispersal in western gorillas, using 25 natal and 285 secondary dispersal events collected over 20 years at Mbeli Bai. ![]() This strategy is uncommon in primates and may reflect females seeking to reduce feeding competition or female choice for males that can provide protection against infanticide. In western lowland gorillas, females emigrate from their natal group (natal dispersal) but also disperse between groups multiple times in their life (secondary dispersal). ![]() Evaluating the factors influencing the patterns of female dispersal in mammals is critical to understanding its importance for male and female reproductive strategies and the evolution of social systems. ![]()
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