Noninvasive paternity assignment in Gombe chimpanzees (original) (raw)
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Paternity and social rank in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) from the Budongo Forest, Uganda
American journal of …, 2010
We analyzed patterns of paternity and male dominance rank in the Sonso community of wild East African chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in the Budongo Forest, Uganda. Our major objective was to determine whether and how social rank influenced paternity success. We successfully genotyped 52 individuals at up to nine microsatellite loci, using DNA extracted from fecal samples. Of 24 offspring analyzed, we identified sires for 21. Paternity success was significantly correlated with social rank, with alpha males siring a disproportionate number of offspring. However, both middle- and low-ranking males also fathered offspring, and the priority-of-access model provided a relatively poor prediction of which males would be successful and under what circumstances. The concentration of paternities among only 7 males and the tendency for high-ranking males to sire offspring of multiparous females suggest that both individual variation in male quality and the resource value of particular females may be mediating factors. In comparison with other chimpanzee studies, our results support the hypothesis that larger male cohort size reduces the ability of the alpha male to monopolize females, though within our study, male number did not affect the success of the alpha. Successful sires were not necessarily those who achieved the highest mating success with the females whose offspring they sired, but were those who demonstrated higher investment by spending significantly more time in association with these females. Finally, we estimate extra-group paternity at 0-5%, supporting other evidence that the community serves as the primary reproductive unit in chimpanzees.
Female reproductive strategies, paternity and community structure in wild West African chimpanzees
Animal Behaviour, 1999
Although the variability and complexity of chimpanzee behaviour frustrates generalization, it is widely believed that social evolution in this species occurs in the context of the recognizable social group or community. We used a combination of field observations and noninvasive genotyping to study the genetic structure of a habituated community of 55 wild chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes verus, in the Tai } Forest, Côte d'Ivoire. Pedigree relationships in that community show that female mate choice strategies are more variable than previously supposed and that the observed social groups are not the exclusive reproductive units. Genetic evidence based on nuclear microsatellite markers and behavioural observations reveal that females in the Tai } forest actively seek mating partners outside their social unit; noncommunity males accounted for half the paternities over 5 years. This female mating strategy increases male gene flow between communities despite male philopatry, and negates the predicted higher relatedness among community males. Kin selection seems unlikely to explain the frequent cooperation and sharing observed among group males in this population. Similarly, inbreeding avoidance is probably not the sole cause of permanent adolescent female dispersal as a combination of extragroup mating and avoidance of incest with home group males would allow females to avoid inbreeding without the hazards associated with immigration into a new community. Extragroup mating as part of chimpanzee females' reproductive strategy may allow them to choose from a wider variety and number of males, without losing the resources and support provided by their male social group partners.
Primates, 1993
Genetic studies of free-ranging primates have been seriously impeded by difficulties of sampling tissues, including the undesirability of bleeding habituated animals, of transporting frozen samples to the laboratory, and of the inherent inadequacies of accessible variation including allozymes, mtDNA RFLP patterns and DNA fingerprints. We have developed methods of non-invasive DNA sampling and DNA-level genotyping which, when combined with a hierarchical analysis of mtDNA sequences and hypervariable nDNA simple sequence repeat (microsatellite) loci size length polymorphisms, facilitate the resolution of most questions at the individual, social group (community), population, and species (phylogenetic) levels. This approach, based on DNA amplified from shed hair, represents an important new tool for the acquisition of genetic information and will facilitate the study and management of both captive and free-ranging chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Our hierarchical analysis of population genetics of chimpanzees has revealed high historical levels of gene flow and large effective population sizes, as well as substantial divergence between the West African subspecies and chimpanzees from central and East Africa. At the community level, closer relatedness among philopatric males than among females supports the view that kin selection has been an evolutionary force shaping male-male cooperation in this species. Results from our study of the now relatively isolated Gombe community suggest that habitat fragmentation affects population genetic structure and possibly population viability.
Animal Behaviour, 2021
Following the introduction of DNA fingerprinting in the 1980s, studies have repeatedly revealed mis-matches between the mating system inferred from social behaviour and the mating system revealed through genetic relationships. In this study, we examined the occurrence of extragroup paternities (EGPs) in gelada monkeys at Guassa, Ethiopia and explored how EGPs may be acquired in this species, which is conventionally considered to have a single breeding male (‘leader’) per social group (‘unit’). We found that while leaders sired most offspring, a substantial proportion (17 of 88 offspring, 19%) were sired by extra-unit males. Offspring were more likely to be sired by extra-unit males when they were: (1) conceived in the 6 months following the start of peak rainfall (July-December) and (2) the first successful conception for a mother. Furthermore, eight of the 17 extra-unit paternities were directly or indirectly the result of a single infertile leader, indicating that infertility plays an important role in the occurrence of EGPs. Compiling published data revealed that the 19% EGP rate observed among Guassa geladas was also the median for polygynous nonhuman primates (range 0 - 57%, N = 5 populations), in contrast to geladas in the Simien Mountains, where EGPs are absent or rare. Thus, intraspecific variation in EGP rates in geladas encompasses much of the range described across polygynous primates more broadly. The Guassa gelada EGP rate was similar to the median rate reported for mammals. Primates generally had a lower median rate of EGPs, more similar to the median rate reported for birds. Understanding variation in EGP rates requires understanding the outcomes of competing interests of males and females within the same species, as well as how these features contribute to the evolution of social systems and influence variation in EGP rates at higher taxonomic levels.
International Journal of Primatology, 2018
Complex ecological pressures affect the social dynamics of many primate species, but it is unclear how they affect primate speciation. Molecular tools are often used to answer questions about the evolutionary histories and social systems of primates. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), in particular, is frequently used to answer many of these questions, but because it is passed from mothers to offspring it reveals only the histories of females. In many species, including chimpanzees, females generally disperse from their natal groups while males are philopatric, and thus differences in dispersal patterns likely leave different signatures in the genome. We previously analyzed samples from 187 unrelated male and female chimpanzees in Nigeria and Cameroon using 21 autosomal microsatellites and mtDNA sequences. Here, we
Male-Mediated Gene Flow in Patrilocal Primates
PLOS One, 2011
Background: Many group-living species display strong sex biases in dispersal tendencies. However, gene flow mediated by apparently philopatric sex may still occur and potentially alters population structure. In our closest living evolutionary relatives, dispersal of adult males seems to be precluded by high levels of territoriality between males of different groups in chimpanzees, and has only been observed once in bonobos. Still, male-mediated gene flow might occur through rare events such as extra-group matings leading to extra-group paternity (EGP) and female secondary dispersal with offspring, but the extent of this gene flow has not yet been assessed.
International journal of …, 1998
We studied 155 human short tandem repeat (STR) DNA markers in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) via the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). There is no difference in number of alleles per locus among STRs of different motif length (di-, tri-, or tetranucleotide repeats). We investigated 42 of the most informative STRs in greater detail using DNA isolated from a panel of 41 African-born, captive-housed chimpanzees. They reveal a wealth of genetic variability in chimpanzees, with an average of six alleles and 70.6% heterozygosity. The average paternity exclusion probability is 51.6%, and the best three STRs jointly provide >95% mean exclusion probability. Used in combination to define a multiple-locus genotype, the five most informative focal STRs can potentially uniquely identify every chimpanzee alive in the world. Although the subjects are of unknown geographical origin, homozygosity tests indicate little evidence for population subdivision. These markers represent the basis of a powerful battery of genetic tests, including individual identification, e.g., in poaching, paternity testing, or reconstruction of pedigrees among captive and wild chimpanzee breeding populations.