Blue Monkey Groups Research Articles

The blue monkey: A new nature inspired metaheuristic optimization algorithm

This paper introduces a study to Blue Monkey (BM) algorithm, which is a new metaheuristic algorithm optimization based on the performance of blue monkey swarms in nature. The BM algorithm identifies how many males in one group. Normally, outside the season of the breeding, the groups of blue monkeys have only one adult male like other forest guenons. In addition to related patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas). Forty-three of well-known test functions, which used in the area of optimization are used as benchmark to check BM algorithm, in addition, BM verified by a comparative performance check with Artificial-Bee-Colony (ABC), Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA), Biogeography-Based Optimizer (BBO), and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). The obtained results demonstrated that BM algorithm is competitive compared with the selected metaheuristic algorithms; also, BM is able to converge towards the global optimal through optimization problems. Further, this algorithm is very efficient in field of dissolving real problems with restrictions and unidentified search space. It should be mentioned that the BM algorithm has some variables and it can obtain better results. in many test functions comparing with other algorithms.

Factors affecting low resident male siring success in one-male groups of blue monkeys

In species that live in one-male/multi-female groups, resident males have more access to females than do bachelor males and should have a within-group reproductive advantage. We used a genetic analysis of 13 microsatellite loci to assign paternity to 111 offspring born over 10 years in 8 groups of wild blue monkeys. Resident males sired a maximum of 61% of the offspring conceived in their groups, indicating that despite their greater access to females, residents lost a substantial number of offspring to outsiders. A resident was less likely to sire an offspring when multiple females were in conceptive estrus, suggesting that it is difficult to monitor many fertile females simultaneously. Moreover, multiple estrous females likely attract competitor males, whose presence also decreased the probability that a resident sired an offspring. The negative effect of intruders on resident siring success may occur because females prefer competitors or because an increase in the number of intruders increases the challenge of effective mate guarding by a resident, leading him to miss rare mating opportunities. Tenure length did not affect resident siring success. Identifying the factors affecting patterns of paternity within species will help us to better understand the considerable variation in resident male siring success that occurs in one-male groups.

Variable participation in the defense of communal feeding territories by blue monkeys in the Kakamega Forest, Kenya

Abstract While blue monkey groups often defend feeding territories against their neighbours, group members do not participate equally. Data spanning 5 years and 5 wild groups were used to address factors that might explain variable participation, both across age-sex classes and among individual adult females. Adult females participated most, although there was a 9-fold difference between those individuals who participated most and least. Juvenile participation increased with age, but female juveniles participated more than males in each cohort. Male juveniles reduced participation as they approached the age of natal emigration. In general, it seems that adult participation patterns are acquired gradually during ontogeny. Among adult females, those with infants participated less than those without infants, and higher-ranking females participated more than lower-rankers. The presence of matrilineal kin in the group did not generally affect participation by adult females. Age-sex class differences and the effect of infant presence can be explained in terms of relative costs and benefits to participation. The lack of a kinship effect was unexpected. The rank effect was also unanticipated, given that rank does not predict reproductive success in this species. High-ranking females may face lower costs, offer staying incentives to lower-ranked females, or trade services with them.

Seasonal variation in feeding behavior, competition and female social relationships in a forest dwelling guenon, the blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis stuhlmanni), in the Kakamega Forest, Kenya

Socioecological models relate differences in feeding strategies to variation in the nature of female social relationships. Among the African forest guenons, females consume large quantities of fruit and other plant reproductive parts, resources which are thought to promote contest competition, yet these monkeys have been characterized as having agonistically undifferentiated relationships in which rank, if discernible at all, does not correlate with fitness benefits. To determine whether female relationships become more hierarchical under relevant ecological conditions, we monitored the adult females of two blue monkey groups (Cercopithecus mitis stuhlmanni) over a complete annual cycle in the Kakamega Forest, Kenya. Females competed aggressively for plant reproductive parts more often than any other resource type, and in both groups we detected linear dominance hierarchies. Nonetheless, agonism rates remained low throughout our study, and did not vary with changes in ecological conditions. Rather, when plant reproductive parts were scarce, subordinate females spent more time feeding and less time resting in an apparent attempt to compensate for a reduced efficiency of food intake. The effects of rank and food abundance were not reflected, however, in the distribution of grooming. The use of alternative feeding strategies appeared to blunt competition – females of all ranks were unlikely to be near others while feeding and spent more time consuming alternative resources when plant reproductive parts were scarce. The diverse diet of this species may allow females to avoid conflict so that dominance has only subtle effects that are difficult to detect. While socioecological models often simplify the connection between resources and female interactions, our results emphasize that the behavior of animals consuming particular resources, and not the resources themselves, are critical predictors of social patterns.

Mating in the Kakamega Forest Blue Monkeys (Cercopithecus Mitis): Does Female Sexual Behavior Function to Manipulate Paternity Assessment?

AbstractAlthough forest guenons and patas monkeys typically live in one-male, multi-female groups, during some breeding seasons several males enter heterosexual groups and compete for mating opportunities. The occurrence of these multi-male influxes makes it possible to compare female sexual behavior in the presence of one familiar versus multiple unfamiliar males, thus creating an ideal system for evaluating the paternity confusion hypothesis. In this study, I monitored female sexual behavior and collected fecal samples for the extraction of ovarian steroids from females in two habituated blue monkey groups (Cercopithecus mitis) over three breeding seasons. During this period, a multi-male influx occurred twice in each of the monkey groups, and a resident-male turnover took place in one group between breeding seasons. In support of the paternity confusion hypothesis, females were sexually active for periods well beyond the time surrounding ovulation, and they also mated during pregnancy and prior to the onset of ovarian cycling. Moreover, following the resident-male turnover, several females rapidly became sexually active even though they showed no sign of ovarian function. However, while females did have longer sexually active periods when multiple males were in their group, they were no more likely to mate during pregnancy or prior to the onset of ovarian cycling in influx as compared to non-influx seasons. Endocrine profiles compiled from fecal samples collected near the end of amenorrheic periods revealed that females consistently had high estrogen levels at this time, and estrogen levels are also known to rise at certain points during pregnancy. Potentially, the rise in estrogen levels at these times when females are not otherwise ready to conceive is part of an adaptive mechanism through which the likelihood of mating is increased, irrespective of the number or familiarity of males who are present. Alternatively, the increase in estrogen levels may be a side-effect of endocrine changes needed to maintain pregnancy and reactivate the reproductive system following amenorrheic periods.

Harem-male replacement and infanticide in the blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitus stuhlmanni) in the Kibale Forest, Uganda.

This paper (1) describes the first observations of male replacement and infanticide in the blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis stuhlmanni), (2) examines these observations in light of those hypotheses put forth to explain infanticide, and (3) presents two basic models through which additional hypotheses are developed. Five groups of blue monkeys were observed for 2,724 hr in the Kibale Forest, Uganda. The pattern of infanticide in the blue monkey was strikingly similar to that reported for other species of primates living in one-male bisexual groups. Data concerning infanticide in the blue monkey do not support the hypothesis that infanticide is a maladaptive behavioral pathology. The data indirectly support the hypothesis that infanticide is part of a flexible, adaptive reproductive strategy of new harem-males. According to Model I, two of the hypothese for explaining how infanticide may be adaptive to the perpetrator are not mutually exclusive. Model II suggests that the rate of infanticide is directly related to competition among males for females and indirectly related to tenure length of harem-males. Models I and II underscore the importance of understanding what variables determine tenure length in haremmales. It is cocluded that length of male tenure is most likely a critical determinant of inclusive fitness not only for males but also for females.