Deer Mates: A Quantitative Study of Heterospecific Sexual Behaviors Performed by Japanese Macaques Toward Sika Deer

This is the first quantitative study of heterospecific sexual behavior between a non-human primate and a non-primate species. We observed multiple occurrences of free-ranging adolescent female Japanese macaques ( Macaca fuscata ) performing mounts and sexual solicitations toward sika deer ( Cervus n...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archives of sexual behavior 2018-05, Vol.47 (4), p.847-856
Main Authors: Gunst, Noëlle, Vasey, Paul L., Leca, Jean-Baptiste
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal populations
Animal reproduction
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Deer
Monkeys & apes
Original Paper
Psychology
Public Health
Sexual Behavior
Social Sciences
Teenagers
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Summary:This is the first quantitative study of heterospecific sexual behavior between a non-human primate and a non-primate species. We observed multiple occurrences of free-ranging adolescent female Japanese macaques ( Macaca fuscata ) performing mounts and sexual solicitations toward sika deer ( Cervus nippon ) at Minoo, central Japan. Our comparative description of monkey-deer versus monkey-monkey interactions supported the “heterospecific sexual behavior” hypothesis: the mounts and demonstrative solicitations performed by adolescent female Japanese macaques toward sika deer were sexual in nature. In line with our previous research on the development of homospecific sexual behavior in immature female Japanese macaques, this study will allow us to test other hypotheses in the future, such as the “practice for homospecific sex,” the “safe sex,” the “homospecific sex deprivation,” the “developmental by-product,” and the “cultural heterospecific sex” hypotheses. Further research will be necessary to ascertain whether this group-specific sexual behavior was a short-lived fad or an incipient cultural phenomenon and may also contribute to better understanding the proximate and ultimate causes of reproductive interference.
ISSN:0004-0002
1573-2800
DOI:10.1007/s10508-017-1129-8