Interspecies sexual behaviour between a male Japanese macaque and female sika deer

Interspecies sexual behaviour or ‘reproductive interference’ has been reported across a wide range of animal taxa. However, most of these occurrences were observed in phylogenetically close species and were mainly discussed in terms of their effect on fitness, hybridization and species survival. The...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Primates 2017-04, Vol.58 (2), p.275-278
Main Authors: Pelé, Marie, Bonnefoy, Alexandre, Shimada, Masaki, Sueur, Cédric
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Animal Ecology
Animal reproduction
Animals
Behavioral Sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Cervus nippon
Deer
Deer - physiology
Environmental Sciences
Evolutionary Biology
Female
Females
Japan
Life Sciences
Macaca
Macaca - physiology
Macaca fuscata yakui
Male
Monkeys & apes
News and Perspectives
Sexual behavior
Sexual Behavior, Animal
Sexual harassment
Zoology
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Summary:Interspecies sexual behaviour or ‘reproductive interference’ has been reported across a wide range of animal taxa. However, most of these occurrences were observed in phylogenetically close species and were mainly discussed in terms of their effect on fitness, hybridization and species survival. The few cases of heterospecific mating in distant species occurred between animals that were bred and maintained in captivity. Only one scientific study has reported this phenomenon, describing sexual harassment of king penguins by an Antarctic fur seal. This is the first article to report mating behaviour between a male Japanese macaque ( Macaca fuscata yakui ) and female sika deer ( Cervus nippon yakushimae ) on Yakushima Island, Japan. Although Japanese macaques are known to ride deer, this individual showed clearly sexual behaviour towards several female deer, some of which tried to escape whilst others accepted the mount. This male seems to belong to a group of peripheral males. Although this phenomenon may be explained as copulation learning, this is highly unlikely. The most realistic hypothesis would be that of mate deprivation, which states that males with limited access to females are more likely to display this behaviour. Whatever the cause for this event may be, the observation of highly unusual animal behaviour may be a key to understanding the evolution of heterospecific mating behaviour in the animal kingdom.
ISSN:0032-8332
1610-7365
1016-7365
DOI:10.1007/s10329-016-0593-4