Bruce Bagemihl - Biological Exuberance

Male Stumptails engage in both masturbation and nonreproductive heterosexual mating. In the latter case, males have been observed mounting females without full penetration, mating with menstruating females, rubbing their genitals on the female (sometimes to ejaculation), and even stimulating the penis with their own foot while mounted on the female. Both male and female orgasm can be a component of heterosexual mating. Sometimes, however, mating is distinctly less pleasurable—especially for the female, who may collapse under the weight of the male during copulation (he may be up to twice as heavy as she is). Females are also sometimes bitten by males during mounting, resulting in shallow cuts on her shoulders and upper arms (this occurs in about 15–18 percent of copulations). More than half of all matings involve male aggression (including chasing the female, pushing or pulling her, and fighting or biting her) and/or female resistance (including running away from the male, screaming, trying to dislodge him, and fighting with him). In addition, heterosexual copulations are often harassed by other individuals (of both sexes), sometimes in spectacular outbursts of activity that involve an entire social group. This often occurs following ejaculation while the two mating animals remain attached in a “copulatory tie,” similar to that of mating Dogs.

*asterisked references discuss homosexuality/transgender

*Bernstein, I. S. (1980) “Activity Patterns in a Stumptail Macaque Group ( Macaca arctoides).” Folia Primatologica 33:20–45.

*Bertrand, M. (1969) The Behavioral Repertoire of the Stumptail Macaque: A Descriptive and Comparative Study . Bibliotheca Primatologica 11. Basel: S. Karger.

*Chevalier-Skolnikoff, S. (1976) “Homosexual Behavior in a Laboratory Group of Stumptail Monkeys ( Macaca arctoides ): Forms, Contexts, and Possible Social Functions.” Archives of Sexual Behavior 5:511–27.

*———(1974) “Male-Female, Female-Female, and Male-Male Sexual Behavior in the Stumptail Monkey, with Special Attention to the Female Orgasm.” Archives of Sexual Behavior 3:95–116.

*Estrada, A., and R. Estrada (1978) “Changes in Social Structure and Interactions After the Introduction of a Second Group in a Free-ranging Troop of Stumptail Macaques ( Macaca arctoides ): Social Relations II.” Primates 19:665–80.

*Estrada, A., R. Estrada, and F. Ervin (1977) “Establishment of a Free-ranging Colony of Stumptail Macaques ( Macaca arctoides ): Social Relations I.” Primates 18:647–76.

*Goldfoot, D. A., H. Westerborg-van Loon, W. Groeneveld, and A. K. Slob (1980) “Behavioral and Physiological Evidence of Sexual Climax in the Female Stump-tailed Macaque ( Macaca arctoides).” Science 208:1477–79.

Gouzoules, H. (1974) “Harassment of Sexual Behavior in the Stumptail Macaque, Macaca arctoides.” Folia Primatologica 22:208–17.

*Leinonen, L., I. Linnankoski, M.-L. Laakso, and R. Aulanko (1991) “Vocal Communication Between Species: Man and Macaque.” Language and Communication 11:241–62.

*Linnankoski, I., and L. M. Leinonen (1985) “Compatibility of Male and Female Sexual Behavior in Macaca arctoides.” Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 70:115–22.

Niemeyer, C. L., and A. S. Chamove (1983) “Motivation of Harassment of Matings in Stumptailed Macaques.” Behavior 87:298–323.

*O’Keefe, R. T., and K. Lifshitz (1985) “A Behavioral Profile for Stumptail Macaques ( Macaca arctoides ) .” Primates 26:143–60.

*Slob, A. K., and P. E. Schenk (1986) “Heterosexual Experience and Isosexual Behavior in Laboratory-Housed Male Stump-tailed Macaques ( M. arctoides).” Archives of Sexual Behavior 15:261–68.

*de Waal, F. B. M. (1989) Peacemaking Among Primates . Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

de Waal, F. B. M., and R. Ren (1988) “Comparison of the Reconciliation Behavior of Stumptail and Rhesus Macaques.” Ethology 78:129–42.

IDENTIFICATION: A grayish brown monkey with a circular “cap” of hair on the head, a prominent wrinkled brow and forehead, and a long tail (over 2 feet in males). DISTRIBUTION: Southern India. HABITAT: Forests, scrub, open areas. STUDY AREAS: Near Somanathapur Sandal Reserve and Byrankuppe (Mysore State), Dharwar, Karnataka (Tamil Nadu), and Lal Bagh (Bangalore), India; California Primate Research Center; State University of New York; subspecies M.r. diluta.

IDENTIFICATION: A gray-green to reddish brown monkey with a slight pointed crest, pinkish face, and long tail. DISTRIBUTION: Southeast Asia including Indonesia, Philippines, Nicobar Islands, and introduced to Palau. HABITAT: Forests, swamps. STUDY AREAS: Angaur Island, Palau, Micronesia; Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center; University of California-Berkeley.

Both Bonnet and Crab-eating Macaques live in fairly large matriarchal groups containing numerous adult males and females as well as youngsters; males typically emigrate from their home group on becoming adults. Bonnet groups can be as large as 50–60 monkeys, but most average around 18–20 individuals, with four or five each of adult males and females. Male Bonnets demonstrate a strong tendency to interact and cooperate with one another, often forming supportive COALITIONS together. Crab-eating Macaques live in troops containing 40–50 individuals on average; smaller groups each contain 2–9 adult males. Large subgroups of youngsters, as well as some peripheral or solitary animals, also occur.

Behavioral Expression: Male Bonnet Macaques frequently mount one another, using the same front-to-back position found in heterosexual copulation. A male may have anywhere from two to five different partners that he mounts; each male also varies in the proportion of times he mounts or is mounted. One male acted as the mountee in only 9 percent of his homosexual mountings, another did so in all of his mountings, though the average is a roughly equal proportion of mounter-mountee behavior, and reciprocal mounting occurs as well. In addition, male Bonnets engage in a wide variety of other same-sex behaviors, both affectionate and sexual, often within a coalition “bond” between them. Masturbation of another male is common in all age groups, especially younger males—one male holds or fondles the other’s penis and may even eat the semen from the resulting ejaculation (mutual masturbation also occurs). Males also sometimes grip and gently tug on each other’s scrotum; often, this is accompanied by embracing, nuzzling, grasping of the rump, tongue-clicking, and mouthing of the other’s neck or shoulders, all combined into a sort of ritualized “greeting” interaction. Another behavior, unique to homosexual interactions, involves two males rhythmically rubbing their rumps and genital areas together, often reaching back between their legs to fondle each other’s genitals. This behavior also occurs between females, as does mounting.

Homosexual mounting also occurs in male Crab-eating Macaques. In addition, male Crab-eaters may mouth and fondle the genitals and anal region of another male, including using their index finger to investigate the area. Males can also develop intense sexual friendships with one another, especially between older and younger males. In one such pair observed in captivity, affectionate embraces frequently led to sexual arousal and homosexual mounting, often accompanied by excited lip-smacking or crooning sounds; the male being mounted sometimes even turned his head to kiss his partner during a mount. Both consensual and nonconsensual mounting occurs in Crab-eating Macaques—in the former (54 percent of mounts between males), the mounted animal fully cooperates by standing still and helps support the weight of the other male (and perhaps even initiates the encounter). In nonconsensual mounts (46 percent of mounts between males), the mounting animal may corner his partner and hold him down (this also occurs in heterosexual mounting). Male Crab-eaters also occasionally engage in homosexual contact with other species. Wild Crab-eating Macaques sometimes allow male Orang-utans to perform fellatio on them, while in captivity they have been known to attempt copulation with males of a number of nonprimate species, including foxes.