Spider Monkeys Sneak Around for Sex
Spider monkey (Ateles belzebuth chamek). Photo by Arthur Grosset
Spider monkeys prefer secret trysts, Nancy Averett reports in the current issue of Audubon.
“Make love, not war—and do it in private, please,” might be an appropriate mantra for the male spider monkey. Instead of competing openly for a mate, he prefers to sneak off with his lover, hoping others don’t notice.
“Males work together to protect their territory from outsiders, which requires a lot of cooperation,” says K. Nicole Gibson, whose findings are published in the American Journal of Primatology. “By mating in secret they can maintain those relationships and still get access to the females.”
They even keep their voices down when making “pre-copulatory vocalizations,” unlike other primates that loudly advertise their intentions. There may be an upside to all this secrecy. Once they’re safely ensconced in their hidden love nest, spider monkeys take their time—14 minutes on average per copulation, compared with just 8 seconds for chimps.—Nancy Averett
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Comments
I wonder if spider monkeys
I wonder if spider monkeys live in multi-male groups with a dominant male becuase those that do the lower ranked males will sneak off for sex to avoid punishment
Interesting. I wonder if
Interesting. I wonder if this has come about as a result of increasing the rate of survival.
Given their size, I would think that they are lower on the food chain than many other primates, especially gorillas, those things can be scary. So, not advertising their prescience might be the best way to keep their population up...
Spider monkeys are some of
Spider monkeys are some of the largest primates where they occur. They are new world monkeys, so they are found in South and Central America and would not be competing with the larger African apes.