title: Male and female breeding strategies in a cooperative primate.
abstract: Marmosets are cooperative breeders organized as extended family groups, but breeding is generally restricted to a single pair. Breeding competition is fierce in female marmosets; males, on the other hand, show low levels of intragroup aggression. We investigated male and female breeding strategies and the resulting reproductive output in 9 wild groups. Reproductive output, tenure of breeding animals, identification of the breeding system, breeding position replacements, migration and infanticide were recorded; also, we recorded grooming and aggression. Replacement of the breeding male or female was observed on nine occasions. On four occasions, the son of the breeding male inherited the breeding post, but we never observed inheritance of a breeding post by a daughter. Mostly, females attained a breeding post by immigrating to a group that had a breeding vacancy. Our results showed that Callithrix jacchus males and females use different strategies to attain a breeding position and maintain it for as long as possible. These strategies prolong the tenure of the breeding position, which is the best way to produce a large number of offspring. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Neotropical Behaviour.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Psychobiology, Department of Physiology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Av. Sen. Salgado Filho, 3000, Caixa Postal 1511, Campus Universitário, Lagoa Nova, 50978-970 Natal, RN, Brazil. Electronic address: emiliayamamoto@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Maria Emilia
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Psychobiology, Department of Physiology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Av. Sen. Salgado Filho, 3000, Caixa Postal 1511, Campus Universitário, Lagoa Nova, 50978-970 Natal, RN, Brazil. Electronic address: arrilton@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Arrilton
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Araujo
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Psychobiology, Department of Physiology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Av. Sen. Salgado Filho, 3000, Caixa Postal 1511, Campus Universitário, Lagoa Nova, 50978-970 Natal, RN, Brazil. Electronic address: mariadefarruda@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Maria de Fatima
authors.initials: Mde F
authors.lastname: Arruda
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Psychobiology, Department of Physiology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Av. Sen. Salgado Filho, 3000, Caixa Postal 1511, Campus Universitário, Lagoa Nova, 50978-970 Natal, RN, Brazil. Electronic address: anakarinnelima@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ana Karinne Moreira
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Mello Moraes 1721, Bloco A, Sala E3, Cidade Universitária, 05508-030 São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: siqueira@usp.br.
authors.forename: Jose de Oliveira
authors.initials: Jde O
authors.lastname: Siqueira
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Psychobiology, Department of Physiology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Av. Sen. Salgado Filho, 3000, Caixa Postal 1511, Campus Universitário, Lagoa Nova, 50978-970 Natal, RN, Brazil. Electronic address: wallhattori@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Wallisen Tadashi
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Hattori
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression; D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D002144:Callithrix / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D006120:Grooming; D008297:Male; D012098:Reproduction; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal
keywords: Aggression; Animal mating behaviour; Callithrix jacchus; Competitive behaviour; Cooperative behaviour; Reproductive behaviour