Female mate choice in wild Kenyan blue monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis)

Female mate choice may drive sexual selection, but discerning whether female behaviors reflect the free expression of choice or responses to constraints can be difficult. We investigated the efficacy of female choice in wild blue monkeys using 10 years of behavioral and paternity data (2002-2011) encompassing 178 male-female dyads and 63 infants. Although blue monkeys live modally in one-male polygynous groups, where male-biased intersexual power is expected, females can access multiple potential mates during seasonal male influxes and occasional intergroup encounters. Additionally, extra-group males sire offspring. We examined the unsolicited proceptive behavior that females directed to males (corrected for male availability) to determine (1) if blue monkey females express mate choice by preferentially soliciting sexual interactions with certain males, (2) which males females prefer, and (3) if observed female mate preferences are successful in influencing paternity and infant survival..., All data came from a long-term field study. Behavioral data collection was part of long-term population monitoring and included daily census data, focal follows of adult females, and ad libitum data on social and sexual interactions. Our datasets encompassed the sexual interactions of 54 females during the years 2002-2011. Paternity data came from 77 infants born to 54 females throughout the study (Roberts et al. 2014). See the associated publication for additional information about the data collection methods., , # Data from: Female mate choice in wild Kenyan blue monkeys (*Cercopithecus mitis*)

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.d2547d896](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.d2547d896)

## Description of the data and file structure

These are two datasets associated with the publication, which provide further information about the data. All data come from a long-term field study of blue monkeys in the Kakamega Forest, western Kenya. The file **Cords_Schembari_pref_data** includes each male-female pair analyzed in the study and was used to examine whether males who were most solicited by a female were more likely to be the father of that female’s offspring. The file **Cords_Schembari_inf_data** includes each mother-infant pair in the study, and was used to evaluate whether a female’s rank or parity influenced the likelihood that her offspring were sired by her preferred male, and whether infants sired by their mother’s preferred male were more likely to survive. Each of these data sets is described in mo...