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<p>Self-directed behaviors (SDBs), including scratching, self-grooming, and yawning, serve as behavioral proxies for short-term anxiety, social tension, or stress in primates, although their links to physiological stress are species- and context-dependent. We examined how socioecological and reproductive pressures influence SDBs in female <i>Colobus vellerosus</i> (white-thighed black-and-white colobus) at Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary, Ghana. Using behavioral data collected between 2004 and 2019 from 64 adult females in nine groups, we tested whether monthly rates of scratching, self-grooming, and yawning varied according to (H1a) feeding competition, predicted to increase with group size; (H1b) predation risk, predicted to decrease with group size; (H2) infanticide risk, predicted to increase with more males and with higher levels of group instability; and (H3) sexual coercion from males in mating contexts, predicted to increase when females are sexually receptive. Scratching was the most frequent SDB. Group size did not predict monthly rates of any SDB. Both scratching and yawning increased in months with more males and with higher group instability, and females scratched more in months when they were sexually receptive. Self-grooming did not vary with any predictor. These results support the infanticide risk and sexual coercion hypotheses but not those related to feeding competition or predation. Our findings align with previously published fecal glucocorticoid data from the same population and suggest that male reproductive strategies, which we already know influence group composition, infant development and offspring survival in <i>C. vellerosus</i>, also drive variation in potential female stress behaviors.</p>

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Male Sexual Coercion During Mating and Infanticide Risk Increase Self-directed Behaviors in Female Black-and-White Colobus (Colobus vellerosus)

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月28日

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  • Iulia Bădescu,
  • Charlotte St-Onge,
  • Allyson King,
  • Julie A. Teichroeb,
  • Eva C. Wikberg

摘要

Self-directed behaviors (SDBs), including scratching, self-grooming, and yawning, serve as behavioral proxies for short-term anxiety, social tension, or stress in primates, although their links to physiological stress are species- and context-dependent. We examined how socioecological and reproductive pressures influence SDBs in female Colobus vellerosus (white-thighed black-and-white colobus) at Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary, Ghana. Using behavioral data collected between 2004 and 2019 from 64 adult females in nine groups, we tested whether monthly rates of scratching, self-grooming, and yawning varied according to (H1a) feeding competition, predicted to increase with group size; (H1b) predation risk, predicted to decrease with group size; (H2) infanticide risk, predicted to increase with more males and with higher levels of group instability; and (H3) sexual coercion from males in mating contexts, predicted to increase when females are sexually receptive. Scratching was the most frequent SDB. Group size did not predict monthly rates of any SDB. Both scratching and yawning increased in months with more males and with higher group instability, and females scratched more in months when they were sexually receptive. Self-grooming did not vary with any predictor. These results support the infanticide risk and sexual coercion hypotheses but not those related to feeding competition or predation. Our findings align with previously published fecal glucocorticoid data from the same population and suggest that male reproductive strategies, which we already know influence group composition, infant development and offspring survival in C. vellerosus, also drive variation in potential female stress behaviors.