笼养雌性短尾猴月经周期及性行为

Menstrual Cycle and Sexual Behavior of Captive Female Tibetan Macaques(Macaca thibetana)

在多雄多雌的灵长类社会中,成年雌雄个体的性行为并不局限于雌性受孕期,但仍认为性行为在受孕期最为活跃。对于雌性隐藏发情的灵长类物种,雌雄个体的性行为与雌性月经周期的相关性尚不清楚。本研究以短尾猴(Macaca thibetana)为研究对象,研究雌性隐藏发情灵长类的性行为与月经周期阶段的关系。在短尾猴繁殖季节,从2019年10月2日至2020年1月14日连续采集了安徽省铜陵市动物园6只成年雌性短尾猴的490份粪便样本,采用放射免疫分析法检测粪便中雌二醇激素的浓度,并用焦点动物取样法和行为取样法采集目标个体(4只雌性、4只雄性)的性行为数据。本研究利用Spearman相关系数检验雌激素与性行为的相关性;独立样本T检验分析雌性短尾猴发情的邀配性指标(雌性呈臀行为)、吸引性指标(雄性性检查行为)和交配行为在月经周期三个阶段(受孕期前:受孕期前的5 d;受孕期:最有可能排卵的2 d加上精子能在雌性生殖道中存活的3 d;受孕期后:受孕期后的5 d)的分布差异性。结果表明,雌性短尾猴的雌二醇浓度在繁殖季节呈现周期性波动,周期长度为(31.1±1.8)d(n=7,范围23~37 d);同时在月经周期内,雌二醇浓度与雌性呈臀行为呈显著负相关(r=﹣0.616,n=15,P=0.015),而与交配行为和雄性性检查行为均无显著相关性;雌性呈臀行为的平均频次主要集中在受孕期前(T=﹣1.215,df=12,P=0.044);交配行为和雄性性检查行为在月经周期的三个阶段无显著性差异。短尾猴的性行为并没有集中在雌性的受孕期,说明雌激素对短尾猴的性行为无严格控制作用,且雄性短尾猴无法准确识别雌性的受孕期。

In multi-male,multi-female primate societies,although the sexual behaviors of adult males and females are not confined to the female's fertile period,it is believed that sexual behaviors are most active during the fertile period.For primate species in which females conceal their estrus,the relationship between sexual behaviors of male and female individuals and the female menstrual cycle is unclear.In this study,Tibetan Macaques(Macaca thibetana)were used to investigate the relationship between sexual behaviors and menstrual cycle stages in female primates with concealed estrus.During the breeding season of Tibetan Macaques,490 fecal samples were collected from 6 adult female macaques at the Tongling Zoo in Anhui Province from October 2,2019 to January 14,2020(Fig.1).The concentration of estradiol hormone in feces was determined by radioimmunoassay.The sexual behavior data of target individuals(4 females and 4 males)were collected by focus animal sampling method and behavior sampling method.The Spearman correlation coefficient was used to test the correlation between estrogen and sexual behavior.The independent sample t-test was used to analyze the distribution differences of preceptive indicators(female presentation),attractive indicators(male sexual-inspection)and copulations in female Tibetan Macaques during three stages of the menstrual cycle(pre-fertile phase:5 days before fertile phase;fertile phase:2 days when ovulation is most likely plus 3 preceding days to account for sperm life span;post-fertile phase:5 days after fertile phase).The results showed that the estradiol concentration of female Tibetan macaques fluctuated periodically during the breeding season,with a cycle length of 31.1±1.8 d(n=7,range:23﹣37 d);During the menstrual cycle,estradiol concentration was negatively correlated with female presentation(r=﹣0.616,n=15,P=0.015),but had no significant correlation with copulation and male sexual-inspection.The average frequency of female presentation was mainly concentrated in the pre-fertile phase(T=﹣1.215,df=12,P=0.044).There was no significant difference between copulation and male sexual-inspection in the three stages of the menstrual cycle.The sexual behavior of Tibetan macaques was not concentrated in the fertile period of female,suggesting that estrogen has no strict control over the sexual behavior of Tibetan macaques and that male Tibetan macaques can not accurately identify the fertile period of female.