Charlotte: i have only recently been directed to this paper, & i have a few queries, understanding that you may have "moved on" from this research project...
1. please be informed that, since 2011, i have studied rodents and no longer follow the primate literature; thus, my memory may be a bit "rusty"...
2. first, there is a systematic and, if i recall correctly, highly quantitative literature on "relative dominance rank" in primates...if i recall correctly, quite a few of these studies were conducted in the lab...Irwin [Bernstein] would know this body of work...i do not recall any mathematical treatments of this topic...
3. if i were studying the topic of "female dominance" in primates, i would compare these cases w those for other mammals...i think there are examples among Carnivores, in particular...maybe some group-living ungulates...
4. if i were studying the topic of "female dominance" in primates and other mammals, i would consider the possibility [likelihood] that, where it is found, the original condition[s] required that males benefit [reproduction, survival] from subordinance to females...under these conditions, females might in some conditions benefit [reproduction, survival], thus, favoring the evolution of "female dominance"...
5. where beneficial to males, females might be coerced in some manner to adopt dominance, though i am not certain how this would occur...
6. following 5 above, if "female dominance" is deleterious to females [lower reproductive rates, higher mortality rates], then models of "sexual conflict" may apply...for example, Rice's "arms race" schema...
7. of course, as you suggest [more males, more aggression], male-male competition for mates with higher proportion of males to females in a group...i would like to suggest that this condition might just as likely [or more likely] lead to male-male coexistence, maybe cooperation [e.g., cooperative defense] rather than "female dominance"...
8. in any event, it seems to me that one has to address when & under what conditions "female dominance" benefits males...
9. Ateles & Pan troglodytes may be partial tests of your ideas...
10. Ateles exhibits female patrilocality &, if i recall correctly, females of this species are dominant to males...spider monkeys are highly frugivorous, a condition that Estes suggests is correlated with male to female aggression in mammals, including, primates...
11. Pan troglodytes also exhibits female patrilocality, is highly frugivorous, but, unless i am mistaken, males dominate and not infrequently injure adult, reproductive females...
12. these are some of the thoughts that i had after reading your very stimulating paper...i hope you will continue w this project...
13. finally, didn't Kathryn Ralls study the question of body size relative to "female dominance" in mammals?...if so, is this paper relevant?
14. all best, clara

E-mail: foucault03@gmail.com