Paternity in Sooty Mangabeys

Abstract

We determined paternity for 78 sooty mangabeys [(Cercocebus torquatus atys (Groves, 1978) equivalent to C. atys (Napier and Napier, 1967)], born between 1986 and 1993, using DNA profile analysis. The analysis is based on two independent assays of the genome of each individual via multilocus DNA probes. The mangabeys were members of either a large (n = 98) or a small (n = 18) group. Overall, during two periods of analysis in the large group, higher-ranking males sired more offspring than their lower-ranking counterparts did, though during one period the correlation between dominance rank and reproductive success is not significant. Of the two males in the small group, the alpha male sired all of the offspring during one period. There is a significant correlation between mounts and the number of surviving offspring each male sired in one birth year. Moreover, the same male did not always sire the offspring of a given female from year to year. Behavioral data focusing on male–offspring interactions show that offspring (n = 15) did not preferentially affiliate with their sire and that males affiliated with infants too infrequently for analysis. Thus, in a large sooty mangabey colony: (1) dominance rank generally predicts reproductive success; (2) adult males are not preferentially attracted to their offspring, or infants to their sires; and (3) the same male generally does not sire the offspring of a given female from year to year.