The study of the role of fathers in the evolution of the primate family has been severely hampered by our ignorance of true paternity-offspring relationships. Crucial assumptions about male reproductive strategies could not be tested. Using modern molecular techniques, this project will establish paternities in an already intensively studied wild population of primates that inhabits natural forest in Sri Lanka. The paternity data, combined with knowledge of matrilineal kinships, will provide pedigrees for about a half of the population of 30 social groups (more than 1,000 individuals). Earlier research on primates point to a variety of traits (morphological and behavioral) to influence male lifetime reproductive success. These include: social dominance rank, age, development and growth, group residency, maternal attributes, paternal care behavior, male transfer coalitions, and environment. The interrelationships among these factors, and their influence on male lifetime reproductive success, will be examined by a series of related working hypotheses. The research results will have broad relevance to current theories of primate social evolution, including male as well as female life-histories, parental care and sex allocation.
