Chapter 14
Langur Infanticide and Long-Term
Matriline Fitness
For my own part I would as soon be descended from that heroic
little monkey, who braved his dreaded enemy in order to save
the life of his keeper; or from that old baboon, who, descending
from the mountains, carried away in triumph his young comrade
from a crowd of astonished dogs—as from a savage who delights
to torture his enemies, offers up bloody sacrifices, practices
infanticide without remorse, treats his wives like slaves, knows
no decency, and is haunted by the grossest superstitions.
(Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man)
14.1 Langur Infanticide Model
The previous two chapters concentrated on natural selection, mutation, and fitness
for a given species. The focus there was at the level of genes. In this chapter, we
explore at the population level factors that may affect long-term fitness. Specifically, we explore the case of infanticides, the selective pressures they exert on the
population, and the impacts they have on population size.
The particular case we explore here is for Hanuman Langurs, which are found
throughout the Indian Subcontinent, Sri Lanka, and north into the pine forests of the
Himalayas. Their habitats vary from moderate ranges such as savannahs and
woodlands, to the extreme climates of tropical rainforests and dry desert fringes.
Hanuman Langurs coexist with humans and are considered sacred temple animals
in India where they are often provisioned [1].
The Hanuman Langurs possess a highly complicated social system, with three types
of groups: single male breeding troops, bachelor bands, and multi-male/multi-female
troops. Langur troops are flexible, with troop sizes ranging from 7 to 93 individuals at a
A save-disabled version of STELLA and the computer models of this book are available at
www.iseesystems.com/modelingdynamicbiologicalsystems.
B. Hannon and M. Ruth, Modeling Dynamic Biological Systems,
Modeling Dynamic Systems, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-05615-9_14,
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014
119
Langur Infanticide and Long-Term
Matriline Fitness
For my own part I would as soon be descended from that heroic
little monkey, who braved his dreaded enemy in order to save
the life of his keeper; or from that old baboon, who, descending
from the mountains, carried away in triumph his young comrade
from a crowd of astonished dogs—as from a savage who delights
to torture his enemies, offers up bloody sacrifices, practices
infanticide without remorse, treats his wives like slaves, knows
no decency, and is haunted by the grossest superstitions.
(Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man)
14.1 Langur Infanticide Model
The previous two chapters concentrated on natural selection, mutation, and fitness
for a given species. The focus there was at the level of genes. In this chapter, we
explore at the population level factors that may affect long-term fitness. Specifically, we explore the case of infanticides, the selective pressures they exert on the
population, and the impacts they have on population size.
The particular case we explore here is for Hanuman Langurs, which are found
throughout the Indian Subcontinent, Sri Lanka, and north into the pine forests of the
Himalayas. Their habitats vary from moderate ranges such as savannahs and
woodlands, to the extreme climates of tropical rainforests and dry desert fringes.
Hanuman Langurs coexist with humans and are considered sacred temple animals
in India where they are often provisioned [1].
The Hanuman Langurs possess a highly complicated social system, with three types
of groups: single male breeding troops, bachelor bands, and multi-male/multi-female
troops. Langur troops are flexible, with troop sizes ranging from 7 to 93 individuals at a
A save-disabled version of STELLA and the computer models of this book are available at
www.iseesystems.com/modelingdynamicbiologicalsystems.
B. Hannon and M. Ruth, Modeling Dynamic Biological Systems,
Modeling Dynamic Systems, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-05615-9_14,
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014
119