5/7/2023 0 Comments Chimpanzee strength vs human![]() Next, the researchers wanted to understand how a chimp’s relationship to the alpha male underpinned male reproductive success. In fact, two additional strong association ties meant a male chimpanzee was more than 50% more likely to sire a given offspring, after accounting for the chimp’s age, relation to the mother and dominance rank score. They found that males with more strong association ties-males with the highest number of social bonds with other males-had a higher likelihood of siring offspring. Then, they tested whether adding measures of male social bonds to the models improved their ability to predict which male would sire a given offspring. They first used the model to look at 56 siring events with known paternity between 19. The researchers began by constructing a base model that captures the effects of male age, dominance rank and genetic relatedness to the mother on male siring success. The group is part of the ongoing study of chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park, begun by Jane Goodall in 1960. To examine the link between sociality and paternity success, the researchers examined behavioral and genetic data from a population of chimpanzees living in western Tanzania. One function of these social bonds, the researchers found, is to help males gain access to mating opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise be able to get without help from their friends. “The question is: What do males get out of it and how?” “Chimps cooperate frequently, and often in these very dramatic ways: You see things like grooming, all kinds of complex alliance formation and group territorial defense,” Feldblum said. For males, the biggest task is getting reproductive access to females, says Feldblum, also an assistant professor in the U-M Department of Anthropology and member of the Michigan Society of Fellows. Much of the research in this area has been done in female primates, who are primarily concerned with accessing resources in order to reproduce quickly. One benefit would be the opportunity to sire more offspring, but no previous studies have looked at the link between social relationships and reproductive success in chimpanzees. Males wouldn’t spend all this time grooming other males and forgoing trying to find females or food unless you get some kind of benefit from it.” “One would expect to see these social bonds-or strong, friendly social relationships-only if they provide some sort of fitness benefit to the individuals. “One big question that biologists have had for a long time is why you see so many friendly behaviors such as cooperation and alliance in animals,” said lead study author and U-M postdoctoral researcher Joseph Feldblum.
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