Abstract
I aimed to investigate the interplay between paternal care and male infanticide in primates. I examined the effects of potential and actual paternity on positive male infant interactions in wild ursine colobus. I collected behavioural data on 12 adult and sub-adult males. Infants that were conceived when a male was sexually active and present in the infant’s group were considered potential offspring of that male. I used DNA from fecal samples to determine paternity for 12 of the 16 infants in my study groups. Positive male-infant behaviour occurred at higher rates between males and potential offspring than males and unlikely offspring, and occurred more with infants than juveniles. These findings support the hypothesis that positive male-infant behaviour reflects paternal care, which possibly evolved in response to male infanticide. Paternity did not predict positive male-infant behaviour, suggesting that females may be successfully confusing paternity through polyandrous mating in the current conditions.
