Adult Female Cercopithecus diana Employ Canine Teeth to Kill Another Adult Female C. diana

Abstract

While male primates commonly use their large canine teeth in agonistic conflict and display, observations that females use their canines in intraspecific fighting are very rare. We report the death of a female Cercopithecus diana in the Tai Forest, Ivory Coast. She was killed by other females from a single troop. It is not clear whether the victim was a troop resident or was transferring from another group. The conflict was not a result of territorial defense or intergroup conflict. Autopsy of the specimen confirmed severe lacerations to the body, inflicted with canine teeth. This is the first published description of unambiguous use of canine teeth as weapons by free-ranging female forest-dwelling guenons. The incident demonstrates that female Cercopithecus species can engage in lethal intrasexual combat and that female C. diana can inflict serious wounds via their canines.