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. The two datasets included here allowed us to answer these questions. The first dataset provides information on the degree of preference a female in her conceptive period exhibited for each male that was present, the status of each male (resident or non-resident), and whether the female’s most preferred male sired her offspring. The second dataset provides information on whether a female’s parity, rank, or familiarity with her resident male influenced the likelihood of siring her offspring with her most preferred male (or with the resident male) and whether an infant was more likely to survive if sired by the male its mother most preferred.

Methods
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.