The findings of the study have been published in the US journal Current Biology and were based on a long-term study of interactions between chimpanzees in the well-known Gombe National Park in Tanzania.

"These results seem to suggest that males are selected to be aggressive toward females to increase their paternity success, which explains why male-female aggression is observed in so many chimpanzee populations", said first author Joseph Feldblum of Duke University in a statement.

According to the researchers, male chimpanzees direct surprising amounts of aggression to their female group mates. But previous studies on Chimps' mating found evidence both for and against the presence of sexual coercion in wild chimps.

To help and resolve the debate, Feldblum and his colleagues observed a chimpanzee community living in the Gombe National Park. This chimpanzee community had been under close examination for the last 50 years.