When behavioral structure informs behavioral function: the temporal patterns of non-conceptive sexual behavior among wild immature capuchin monkeys

• Grant number: 23/03016-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date until: July 20, 2023
• End date until: July 19, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Experimental Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Jaroslava Varella Valentova
• Grantee: Irene Silvia Delval Demonte
• Supervisor: Jean-Baptiste Leca
• Host Institution: Instituto de Psicologia (IP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
• Associated to the scholarship: 21/08153-7 - Development of sexual behavior in wild tufted Capuchin Monkeys: analysis of early sexual repertoire and homosexual behavior Sapajus libidinosus e S. xanthosternos, BP.PD

Abstract

Non-conceptive sexual behavior is widespread in the animal kingdom, including primate species. The behavioral patterns of non-conceptive sex are as diverse as in reproductive sex, and they may include courtships, vocalizations, genital stimulations, and/or mounts between same-sex or different-sex partners. Sexual behavior in prepuberal individuals is non-conceptive because of their immature reproductive system. According to the "needing-to-learn" hypothesis, complex behaviors develop gradually during prolonged immaturity, with young individuals showing behavioral precursors, such as incomplete or improperly oriented mounts, that progressively turn into adult-like behaviors. Moreover, sexually dimorphic behavioral traits emerge at very early life stages, such as mounts in males and presentation in female primates. Information about immature sexual behavior in Neotropical primates is lacking. In our broader post-doctoral project, we investigate the developmental pathways of sexual behavior in two wild capuchin species (Sapajus libidinosus and S. xanthosternos) living in Brazil. During the internship proposed at the University of Lethbridge, Canada, we will learn and perform detailed structural analyses of non-conceptive sexual behaviors in immature capuchin monkeys to test whether their evolution can be explained in terms of behavioral adaptations or behavioral by-products of the adaptive conceptive sex counterpart. By using T-pattern Analysis we will be able to detect hidden repeated sequences of behavior and with Lag Sequential Analysis we will calculate the frequency of transitions between pairs of behavioral units within a certain lag. Describing the structure of sexual behaviors across the ontogeny of individual subjects will inform us about their possible functions. Additionally, this project establishes a collaboration network among Dr. Leca's (University of Lethbridge) and Dr. Valentova's (University of Sao Paulo) labs which will predictably go beyond the present project, and the analytical techniques acquired by the candidate will be transferred to the evolutionary research conducted in human (sexual and social) behavior. (AU)