Read more
The first extensive treatment of the mandrill's reproductive and behavioural biology, focusing on mechanisms of sexual selection and evolution.
List of contents
Prologue; Part I. Natural History: 1. Historiae animalium; 2. The genus Mandrillus: classification and distribution; 3. Morphology and functional anatomy; 4. Ecology and behaviour; 5. Social communication; 6. Matters of life and death; Part II. Reproduction: 7. Seasonal patterns of reproduction; 8. Behaviour and reproductive success; Part III. Evolution and Sexual Selection: 9. A brief evolutionary history of the genus Mandrillus; 10. Sexual selection; 11. Epilogue: conservation status of the genus Mandrillus; Appendix; References; Index.
About the author
Alan F. Dixson is a Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He is a world authority on the reproductive biology and evolution of sexuality in primates. During a distinguished career, he has held posts at the Zoological Society of London, the Medical Research Council (UK), the International Medical Research Centre in Gabon, the Sub-Department of Animal Behaviour, University of Cambridge, and the Zoological Society of San Diego.
Summary
Living in the remote forests of western central Africa, mandrills are notoriously elusive and have evaded scientific scrutiny for decades. Recent research, synthesised here for the first time, sheds light on mandrill behaviour, reproductive biology and evolution, and allows for explanation of its extreme sexual dimorphism.
