Harem-holding males do not rise to the challenge: XXXX respond to social but not to seasonal challenges in wild geladas.

@entity251 @entity3800 @entity342
The challenge hypothesis has been enormously successful in predicting interspecific @entity342 profiles for vertebrate males. Nevertheless, in the absence of another theoretical framework, many researchers 'retrofit' the challenge hypothesis, so that its predictions also apply to intraspecific @entity342 comparisons. We use a wild primate, geladas (Theropithecus gelada), to illustrate several considerations for @entity342 research surrounding male contests that do not necessarily fit within the challenge hypothesis framework. Gelada society comprises harem-holding males (that can mate with females) and bachelor males (that cannot mate with females until they take over a harem). Using 6 years of data from known males, we measured @entity3800 (i.e. faecal @entity251 (fT) metabolites) both seasonally and across specific male contests. Seasonal @entity342 variation exhibited a very different pattern than variation resulting from male contests. Although harem-holding males had higher @entity251 levels than bachelors across the year, bachelors had higher @entity251 during the annual 'takeover season'. Thus, harem-holding males did not 'rise to the challenge' exactly when needed most. Yet, @entity342 profiles across male contests indicated that both sets of males exhibit the expected fT rise in response to challenges. Results from male geladas also support the idea that the context before (e.g. male condition) and after (e.g. contest outcome) a contest are critical variables for predicting hormones and behaviour.
