title: Determinants of immigration strategies in male crested macaques (Macaca nigra).
abstract: Immigration into a new group can produce substantial costs due to resistance from residents, but also reproductive benefits. Whether or not individuals base their immigration strategy on prospective cost-benefit ratios remains unknown. We investigated individual immigration decisions in crested macaques, a primate species with a high reproductive skew in favour of high-ranking males. We found two different strategies. Males who achieved low rank in the new group usually immigrated after another male had immigrated within the previous 25 days and achieved high rank. They never got injured but also had low prospective reproductive success. We assume that these males benefitted from immigrating into a destabilized male hierarchy. Males who achieved high rank in the new group usually immigrated independent of previous immigrations. They recieved injuries more frequently and therefore bore immigration costs. They, however, also had higher reproductive success prospects. We conclude that male crested macaques base their immigration strategy on relative fighting ability and thus potential rank in the new group i.e. potential reproductive benefits, as well as potential costs of injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health and Reproduction, University of California Davis, USA.|Junior Research Group Primate Sexual Selection, German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany.|Reproductive Biology Unit, German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Pascal R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Marty
authors.affiliation: Reproductive Biology Unit, German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hodges
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Bogor Agriculture University, Indonesia.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Agil
authors.affiliation: Junior Research Group Primate Sexual Selection, German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany.|Faculty of Science, School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, UK.
authors.forename: Antje
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Engelhardt
mesh_terms: D025041:Animal Migration / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D006608:Hierarchy, Social; D008251:Macaca / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male