Soltis 9704224 This award supports a 12 month Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral Fellowship for Dr. Joseph M. Soltis at Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan. Dr. Soltis will work with Dr. Yukimaru Sugiyama, director of the Primate Research Institute, on a project entitled, "Mate Selection in Free-Ranging Japanese Macaques." The conflicting mating strategies of males and females interact to produce mating and reproductive outcomes. The proposed research will investigate the mating strategies of males and females in a wild troop of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). Japanese macaques live in complex, mixed social groups, with mating strategies dependent upon factors relating to aggressiveness and subordination. The proposed research will combine behavioral and genetic data on subject animals to determine the influence of these varied factors on mating and reproductive outcomes. Previous research has indicated that the primary determinant in mating strategies is subordinate position among the troop. The proposed research is designed to generalize these results based on data obtained from a wild, free-ranging troop of Japanese macaques. Results from the proposed research will provide insight into the underlying strategies of male-female interaction in Japanese macaques and the mating and reproductive outcomes in complex social groups. ***
