Abstract
We examined sex differences in copulation attempts in a group of wild bonobos at Wamba, Congo, by analyzing the behavioral sequence. Most copulation attempts were initiated by approach or courtship behaviors by males. Males showed these behaviors when they were more than 5 m from females, whereas females did so only when males solicited them from within 5 m. Most copulations involved females showing perineal swelling, because males solicited those females more frequently and those females accepted copulation more frequently than did females in the non-swelling phase. Nevertheless, males solicited females in the non-swelling phase in one-third of copulation attempts, and those females accepted copulation in half of those attempts. This is markedly different from chimpanzees, in which sexual behaviors almost exclusively involve females in the swelling phase. The perineum of female bonobos during the non-swelling phase is soft and wrinkled but fairly large, which may attract males to some extent. The low, but existing, attractiveness and receptivity of female bonobos during the non-swelling phase might have evolved to control sexual competition among males and provide higher social status for females.
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Acknowledgements
We thank T. Kano, O. Takenaka, and Mwanza-Ndunda who provided opportunities for field study and data analysis; T. Kano, T. Nishida, and Y. Takahata who gave us valuable suggestions and insight for improving the manuscript; and Nkoy-Batolumbo and other staff at Wamba who aided our field observations. This study was financially supported by Monbusho International Scientific Research Program grants to T. Kano (63041078) and T. Furuichi (01790353, 12575017), and by a grant from the Monbusho COE Program to O. Takenaka (10CE2005).
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Furuichi, T., Hashimoto, C. Sex differences in copulation attempts in wild bonobos at Wamba. Primates 45, 59–62 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-003-0055-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-003-0055-7