THE COPULATORY BEHAVIOUR OF ADULT MALE PATAS MONKEYS, ERYTHROCEBUS PATAS

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881, U.S.A. (Received 22nd February 1975) The present observations of the reproductive behaviour of adult male patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) suggest that these primates typically copulate during a single mount unless they experience difficulty achieving intromission and/or they are harassed by conspecifics. These observations are in contrast to the report by Hall et al. (1965), who described a patas male who copulated in a series of mounts, i.e. behaviour similar to that of males of several macaque species (Bielert & Goy, 1973; Nadler & Rosenblum, 1973). The patas monkey group observed during the present study was maintained in a ½ acre outdoor corral at the primate colony at La Parguera, Puerto Rico, a facility of the Caribbean Primate Research Center. The monkeys were provided with an unlimited supply of Wayne Monkey Diet and water. Behavioural observations were made