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Species: Mangabeys

Use: Sexual Behavior

Authors: Deborah A.Gust

Methods: Focal Sampling, All-Occurrences-of-some-Behavior Sampling

Publications/Presentations: D.A.Gust (1994). Sexual Behavior and Postconception Swelling in Mangabeys.International Journal of Primatology, Vol.15, 2.  

Sexual Behavior

Solicit:A female orients her hindquarters, with her tail raised, to a male while looking over her shoulder. She usually walks a few steps away before again presenting while looking at the male. This behavior is distinguished from a present in that the female must present more than once to a male in a 30-sec period.

Tail Touch: While following a female, a male touches the base of her tail and attempts to lift it.

Tongue flick:The tongue is rapidly moved in and out of a slightly opened mouth, often accompanied by head-bobbing.

Follow:A male walks directly behind a female, with 4 m.

Mount:A male grasps the femaleÕs ankles with his feet and supports the upper body by placing the hands on the femaleÕs hips. This is followed by intromission and thrusting. After the male achieves intromission and begins thrusting, the female often turns her head, looking toward the male and occasionally will reach back with one hand to touch his leg. Subsequently, the female vocalizes and darts away from the male. The male remains silent, looking straight ahead during the copulation and is stationary immediately following the mount. The female generally begins vocalizing during intromission and continues while moving away from the male although some females may not begin vocalizing until intromission is completed (Gust and Gordon, 1991).

Ejaculate:The criterion adopted to identify ejaculation is the observation of a fresh vaginal plug in the female following copulation since the behavior of the male did not differ following the observation of a plug versus none. Thus, the frequency of male ejaculation reported here may be conservative (Gust and Gordon, 1991).