Balance of investment between parental care and mating effort in male baboons

Abstract

Non-monogamous males that provide care to their offspring face a potential conflict in investment between paternal care and mating effort. This conflict arises either because of resource or temporal constraints. I investigated potential conflict between paternal care and mating effort among adult male baboons that are part of a wild population in the Amboseli basin, southern Kenya. Specifically, I determined whether the number of a male's immature offspring (1) is correlated with the male's intensity of paternal care,(2) constrains the male's mating effort,(3) constrains the male's intensity of mate guarding,(4) is correlated with the male's concentrations of testosterone, and (5) influences the male's dispersal decisions.