Abstract
Communication, an essential prerequisite for sociality, involves the transmission of signals. A signal can be defined as any action or trait produced by one animal, the sender, that produces a change in the behaviour of another animal, the receiver. Secondary sexual signals are often used for mate choice because they may inform on a potential partner's quality. Verreaux's sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi) is characterized by the presence of two different morphs of males (bimorphism), which can show either a stained or clean chest. The chest becomes stained by secretions of the sternal gland during throat marking (rubbing throat and chest on a vertical substrate while smearing the scent deposition). The role of the chest staining in guiding female mate choice was previously hypothesized but never demonstrated probably due to the difficulty of observing sifaka copulations in the wild. Here we report that stained-chested males had a higher throat marking activity than clean-chested males during the mating season, but not during the birth season. We found that females copulated more frequently with stained-chested males than the clean-chested males. Finally, in agreement with the biological market theory, we found that clean-chested males, with a lower scent-releasing potential, offered more grooming to females. This “grooming for sex” tactic was not completely unsuccessful; in fact, half of the clean-chested males copulated with females, even though at low frequency. In conclusion, the chest stain, possibly correlated with different cues targeted by females, could be one of the parameters which help females in selecting mates.
Highlights
Communication, an essential prerequisite for sociality, involves the transmission of signals [1,2]
We found that stained-chested males had a higher throat and genital-marking activity than clean-chested males during the mating season but not during the birth season (Prediction 1 supported)
We found that females copulated more frequently with stained-chested males than with clean-chested males (Prediction 2 supported), even though the latter offered more grooming to females compared to the former during the mating season (Prediction 3 supported)
Summary
Communication, an essential prerequisite for sociality, involves the transmission of signals [1,2]. Secondary sexual signals (visual, acoustic or chemical) are often used for mate choice because they may inform on a potential partner’s quality [6]. Mate choice often relies on visual sexual signals that are placed frontally to the observer. This situation occurs quite frequently in birds. Peacock (Pavo cristatus) tail spreading [7], the level of symmetry in chest plumage of male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) [8], and the size of the black feather bib on the throat of male house sparrows (Passer domesticus) [9] are just three examples of secondary visual sexual signals used by females to choose mating partners. Quadruped locomotion habits and chest sexual signals do not generally coexist due to obvious perceptual constraints
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