Author:

Keywords:

harassment, sexual interactions, bonobo, Pan paniscus, Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Zoology, FEMALE DOMINANCE, BEHAVIOR, RANK, Bonobo, Harassment, Sexual interactions, 0603 Evolutionary Biology, 0608 Zoology, Behavioral Science & Comparative Psychology, 3103 Ecology, 3109 Zoology

Abstract:

We describe the occurrence of sexual competition, expressed as harassment of sexual interactions in a captive group of bonobos. We monitored all aggressive and pestering interventions during sexual interactions of three captive adult females, one adolescent, and three adult males. The study period covered two complete menstrual cycles for each female, with continuous daily observations. There was relatively little overt sexual competition by the males, in analogy with other studies. Most male interventions occurred towards interactions with the alfa female. The alfa female performed the most intense and the highest number of interventions towards the sexual interactions of the other females. The data provide evidence for female intra-sexual competition in this female dominant species.