Male geladas fight over access to female geladas.NOAH SNYDER-MACKLER
Geladas practice deception when having illicit sex. When mating with animals other than their pair-bonded partners, these Ethiopian monkeys vocalize less than usual and try to hide, according to a study published earlier this month (February 12) in Nature Communications.
To unravel the geladas’ mating habits, researchers watched 19 groups of wild monkeys for 3 years. Geladas usually live in units including one dominant male, one to 12 females, and up to five subordinate males. While the dominant males father most of the young, subordinate males have been found to foster around 17 percent of them.
When geladas have sex, both the male and female usually vocalize loudly. But according to the new study, when a subordinate male copulates with a female, they are quieter, ...
