The Langurs of Abu: Female and Male Strategies of Reproduction

by Hrdy

Sexual combat is not a monopoly of the human species. As Sarah Blaffer Hrdy argues in this spellbinding book, war between male and female animals has deep roots in evolutionary history. Her account of family life among hanuman langurs―the black-faced, gray monkeys inhabiting much of the Indian subcontinent―is written with force, wit, and at times, sorrow.

Male hanumans, in pursuit of genetic success, routinely kill babies sired by their competitors. The mothers of endangered infants counter with various strategems to deceive the males and prevent destruction of their own offspring. Competition and selfishness are dominant themes of langur society. Competition among males for access to females, competition among females for access to food resources, and disregard by one female for the well-being of another’s infant―these are some very common examples. Yet there are also moments of heroic self-sacrifice, as when an elderly female rushes to defend her troop and its babies from an invading, infancticidal male.

The Langurs of Abu is the first book to analyze behavior of wild primates from the standpoint of both sexes. It is also a poignant and sophisticated exploration of primate behavior patterns from a feminist point of view. This book may inspire controversy; it will certainly be read with pleasure by anyone interested in animal behavior.

Richly illustrated with photographs, seven in full color.

Genres: Anthropology, Science, Biology, Nonfiction, Evolution

386 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written book on the 'hanuman' langurs of Mount Abu. I had heard of these creatures been given great importance in India due to being linked to a hindu god, however, that was the extent of my knowledge. Reading this book had been an eye-opener. Hurdy does a great job of providing extensive details of langurs social hierarchy and interactions. Details on previous field work is provided to show how her work contributes to the growing body of research.

[James F · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting study from the late 1970's of reproductive strategies in the hanuman langurs, Presbytis entellus, based mainly on the author's fieldwork with seven troops around the town of Abu (on Mount Abu) in northwestern India. After a chapter on older studies and one on the evolutionary history of the colobines, the book concentrates on the social and mating behaviors of the various troops at Abu, with some comparisons to other sites (and other species of primate.) The Abus have a polygamous structure with generally one alpha male and a number of adult females, along with subadults, juveniles and infants. The troops tend to be taken over every two or three years by outside males, and one of the points of the study was to establish whether or not this resulted in systematic infanticide (it did) and what the evolutionary advantages might have been. She also studies the frequent occurence of alloparenting. She tries to explain all of the behaviors in terms of sexual selection and inclusive fitness. The basic paradigm is sociobiology.

"This book has been digitally reproduced. The content remains identical to previous printings." Unfortunately, not really; the color illustrations are in black and white and all the illustrations are blurry and hard to make out, as with most digitally reproduced books (i.e. print on demand.) This is especially problematic because the book is heavily illustrated. There are many tables and charts, as well.

[Marsha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The blurb on the back states this is written with “force, wit, and at times, sorrow.” But, make no mistake, this is largely a scientific treatise as one woman painstakingly observes and documents a simian species notable for its frequent infanticides.

Ms. Hrdy spent months in consecutive years making copious and meticulous records. Her interest in this species is undeniable. But in the end I came away with ambiguous theories and uncertain conclusions. The color pictures are excellent but the black-and-white photos sometimes make it difficult to distinguish details and you have to look at the captions to figure out what’s happening.

What you get is an idea that primates (yes, that includes us) share many behaviors but some require further thought. Perhaps this book is simply too weighty for anyone with only a glancing interest in the subject matter.