0000000000305257
AUTHOR
Paul L. Vasey
showing 2 related works from this author
Is female-male mounting functional? An analysis of the temporal patterns of sexual behaviors in Japanese macaques
2019
Abstract In certain populations of Japanese macaques, adult females mount adult males in the context of heterosexual consortships (i.e., temporary but exclusive sexual associations between a male and a female). Previous research suggested that, in this primate species, female-male mounting (FMM) may be a behavioral adaptation. This functional hypothesis holds that FMM is a (special) courtship behaviour, or a (super) sexual solicitation, that serves the function of focusing the male's attention, preventing him from moving away, and expediting male-female mounting, in the context of high female competition for male mates. In this study, we aimed to test some of the proposed functional feature…
Inferring functional patterns of tool use behavior from the temporal structure of object play sequences in a non-human primate species.
2019
Abstract Inferring functional components of behavioral sequences is a crucial but challenging task. A systematic comparison of their temporal structure is a good starting point, based on the postulate that more functional traits are less structurally variable. We studied stone handling behavior (SH) in Balinese long-tailed macaques, a versatile form of stone-directed play. We tested the hypothesis that stones are used by male monkeys to stimulate their genitals in a sexual context (i.e., “sex toy” hypothesis). Specifically, two SH actions (i.e., “tap-on-groin” (TOG) and “rub-on-groin” (ROG), respectively the repetitive tapping and rubbing of a stone onto the genital area) gained functional …