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Baniel A, Petrullo L, Mercer A, Reitsema L, Sams S, Beehner JC, Bergman TJ, Snyder-Mackler N, Lu A. Maternal effects on early-life gut microbiota maturation in a wild nonhuman primate. Curr Biol 2022; 32:4508-4520.e6. [PMID: 36099914 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.08.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2022] [Revised: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 08/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Early-life microbial colonization is an important process shaping host physiology,1-3 immunity,4-6 and long-term health outcomes7-10 in humans. However, our understanding of this dynamic process remains poorly investigated in wild animals,11-13 where developmental mechanisms can be better understood within ecological and evolutionarily relevant contexts.11,12 Using one of the largest developmental datasets on a wild primate-the gelada (Theropithecus gelada)-we used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing to characterize gut microbiota maturation during the first 3 years of life and assessed the role of maternal effects in shaping offspring microbiota assembly. In contrast to recent data on chimpanzees, postnatal microbial colonization in geladas was highly similar to humans:14 microbial alpha diversity increased rapidly following birth, followed by gradual changes in composition until weaning. Dietary changes associated with weaning (from milk- to plant-based diet) were the main drivers of shifts in taxonomic composition and microbial predicted functional pathways. Maternal effects were also an important factor influencing the offspring gut microbiota. During nursing (<12 months), offspring of experienced (multi-time) mothers exhibited faster functional microbial maturation, likely reflecting the general faster developmental pace of infants born to these mothers. Following weaning (>18 months), the composition of the juvenile microbiota tended to be more similar to the maternal microbiota than to the microbiota of other adult females, highlighting that maternal effects may persist even after nursing cessation.15,16 Together, our findings highlight the dynamic nature of early-life gut colonization and the role of maternal effects in shaping this trajectory in a wild primate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice Baniel
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA; School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
| | - Lauren Petrullo
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Church St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Arianne Mercer
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Okanogan Ln., Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Laurie Reitsema
- Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, Jackson St., Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Sierra Sams
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Okanogan Ln., Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Jacinta C Beehner
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Church St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, S University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Thore J Bergman
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Church St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, N University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Noah Snyder-Mackler
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA; School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Okanogan Ln., Seattle, WA 98195, USA; School for Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Cady Mall, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
| | - Amy Lu
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Circle Rd., Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
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2
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Stronger maternal social bonds and higher rank are associated with accelerated infant maturation in Kinda baboons. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.04.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Simons ND, Michopoulos V, Wilson M, Barreiro LB, Tung J. Agonism and grooming behaviour explain social status effects on physiology and gene regulation in rhesus macaques. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210132. [PMID: 35000435 PMCID: PMC8743879 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2021] [Accepted: 10/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Variation in social status predicts molecular, physiological and life-history outcomes across a broad range of species, including our own. Experimental studies indicate that some of these relationships persist even when the physical environment is held constant. Here, we draw on datasets from one such study-experimental manipulation of dominance rank in captive female rhesus macaques-to investigate how social status shapes the lived experience of these animals to alter gene regulation, glucocorticoid physiology and mitochondrial DNA phenotypes. We focus specifically on dominance rank-associated dimensions of the social environment, including both competitive and affiliative interactions. Our results show that simple summaries of rank-associated behavioural interactions are often better predictors of molecular and physiological outcomes than dominance rank itself. However, while measures of immune function are best explained by agonism rates, glucocorticoid-related phenotypes tend to be more closely linked to affiliative behaviour. We conclude that dominance rank serves as a useful summary for investigating social environmental effects on downstream outcomes. Nevertheless, the behavioural interactions that define an individual's daily experiences reveal the proximate drivers of social status-related differences and are especially relevant for understanding why individuals who share the same social status sometimes appear physiologically distinct. This article is part of the theme issue 'The centennial of the pecking order: current state and future prospects for the study of dominance hierarchies'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noah D. Simons
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Vasiliki Michopoulos
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Mark Wilson
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Luis B. Barreiro
- Genetics Section, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- Committee on Genetics, Genomics, and Systems Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago IL 60637, USA
- Committee on Immunology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Jenny Tung
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
- Duke Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Canada M5G 1M1
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Milewski TM, Lee W, Champagne FA, Curley JP. Behavioural and physiological plasticity in social hierarchies. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200443. [PMID: 35000436 PMCID: PMC8743892 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2021] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals occupying dominant and subordinate positions in social hierarchies exhibit divergent behaviours, physiology and neural functioning. Dominant animals express higher levels of dominance behaviours such as aggression, territorial defence and mate-guarding. Dominants also signal their status via auditory, visual or chemical cues. Moreover, dominant animals typically increase reproductive behaviours and show enhanced spatial and social cognition as well as elevated arousal. These biobehavioural changes increase energetic demands that are met via shifting both energy intake and metabolism and are supported by coordinated changes in physiological systems including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axes as well as altered gene expression and sensitivity of neural circuits that regulate these behaviours. Conversely, subordinate animals inhibit dominance and often reproductive behaviours and exhibit physiological changes adapted to socially stressful contexts. Phenotypic changes in both dominant and subordinate individuals may be beneficial in the short-term but lead to long-term challenges to health. Further, rapid changes in social ranks occur as dominant animals socially ascend or descend and are associated with dynamic modulations in the brain and periphery. In this paper, we provide a broad overview of how behavioural and phenotypic changes associated with social dominance and subordination are expressed in neural and physiological plasticity. This article is part of the theme issue 'The centennial of the pecking order: current state and future prospects for the study of dominance hierarchies'.
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Affiliation(s)
- T. M. Milewski
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - W. Lee
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - F. A. Champagne
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - J. P. Curley
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
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5
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Sapolsky RM. Glucocorticoids, the evolution of the stress-response, and the primate predicament. Neurobiol Stress 2021; 14:100320. [PMID: 33869683 PMCID: PMC8040328 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2021.100320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2021] [Revised: 03/16/2021] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The adrenocortical stress-response is extraordinarily conserved across mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians, suggesting that it has been present during the hundreds of millions of years of vertebrate existence. Given that antiquity, it is relatively recent that primate social complexity has evolved to the point that, uniquely, life can be dominated by chronic psychosocial stress. This paper first reviews adrenocortical evolution during vertebrate history. This produces a consistent theme of there being an evolutionary tradeoff between the protective effects of glucocorticoids during an ongoing physical stressor, versus the adverse long-term consequences of excessive glucocorticoid secretion; how this tradeoff is resolved depends on particular life history strategies of populations, species and vertebrate taxa. This contrasts with adrenocortical evolution in socially complex primates, who mal-adaptively activate the classic vertebrate stress-response during chronic psychosocial stress. This emphasizes the rather unique and ongoing selective forces sculpting the stress-response in primates, including humans.
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Snyder-Mackler N, Burger JR, Gaydosh L, Belsky DW, Noppert GA, Campos FA, Bartolomucci A, Yang YC, Aiello AE, O'Rand A, Harris KM, Shively CA, Alberts SC, Tung J. Social determinants of health and survival in humans and other animals. Science 2020; 368:eaax9553. [PMID: 32439765 PMCID: PMC7398600 DOI: 10.1126/science.aax9553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 296] [Impact Index Per Article: 74.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2019] [Accepted: 03/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The social environment, both in early life and adulthood, is one of the strongest predictors of morbidity and mortality risk in humans. Evidence from long-term studies of other social mammals indicates that this relationship is similar across many species. In addition, experimental studies show that social interactions can causally alter animal physiology, disease risk, and life span itself. These findings highlight the importance of the social environment to health and mortality as well as Darwinian fitness-outcomes of interest to social scientists and biologists alike. They thus emphasize the utility of cross-species analysis for understanding the predictors of, and mechanisms underlying, social gradients in health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noah Snyder-Mackler
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Joseph Robert Burger
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
- Institute of the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - Lauren Gaydosh
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Center for Medicine, Health, and Society, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Daniel W Belsky
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA
- Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA
| | - Grace A Noppert
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Fernando A Campos
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - Alessandro Bartolomucci
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Yang Claire Yang
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Lineberger Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Allison E Aiello
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Angela O'Rand
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Kathleen Mullan Harris
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Carol A Shively
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Comparative Medicine Section, Department of Pathology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
| | - Susan C Alberts
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Institute of Primate Research, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Jenny Tung
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA.
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Institute of Primate Research, Nairobi, Kenya
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Mondol S, Booth RK, Wasser SK. Fecal stress, nutrition and reproductive hormones for monitoring environmental impacts on tigers ( Panthera tigris). CONSERVATION PHYSIOLOGY 2020; 8:coz091. [PMID: 31942242 PMCID: PMC6955020 DOI: 10.1093/conphys/coz091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2018] [Revised: 09/06/2019] [Accepted: 12/12/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Non-invasive stress and nutritional hormone analysis in relation to ecological and other biological indices have tremendous potential to address environmental disturbance impacts on wildlife health. To this end, we examined the relation between glucocorticoid (GC) and thyroid (T3) hormone indices of disturbance and nutritional stress in response to ACTH and TSH challenges in captive tigers, as well as how reproductive hormones vary by sex and reproductive condition. Glucocorticoid, thyroid, progesterone and androgen assays conducted on high-performance liquid chromatography separated fractions of biologically relevant fecal extracts revealed high cross-reactivity of these assays for their respective biologically relevant fecal hormone metabolites. Both adrenal and thyroid hormone metabolites were elevated in response to ACTH and TSH challenges. However, the adrenal and thyroid hormone responses to ACTH challenge were concurrent, whereas the adrenal response to TSH challenge was delayed relative to thyroid hormone elevation in both males and females. The concurrently elevated T3 in response to ACTH may serve to raise metabolic rate to maximize use of GC-mobilized glucose, whereas the relatively delayed GC rise following TSH challenge may be a response to glucose depletion due to increased metabolic rate associated with elevated T3. Progesterone, testosterone and androstenedione hormone metabolites were significantly elevated during gestation compared to lactation in a female monitored from conception through early lactation. Results suggest that the glucocorticoid, thyroid and reproductive hormone assays we tested can accurately measure the stress, nutrition and reproductive response from tiger feces, providing useful non-invasive tools to assess physiological responses to environmental stressors and their reproductive consequences in the wild.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samrat Mondol
- Center for Conservation Biology, Department of Biology, University of Washington, Box 351800, Seattle Washington 98195-1800
- Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun 248001, India
| | - Rebecca K Booth
- Center for Conservation Biology, Department of Biology, University of Washington, Box 351800, Seattle Washington 98195-1800
| | - Samuel K Wasser
- Center for Conservation Biology, Department of Biology, University of Washington, Box 351800, Seattle Washington 98195-1800
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Alberts SC, Gaillard J. Social influences on survival and reproduction: Insights from a long-term study of wild baboons. J Anim Ecol 2019; 88:47-66. [PMID: 30033518 PMCID: PMC6340732 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2018] [Accepted: 06/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
For social species, the environment has two components: physical and social. The social environment modifies the individual's interaction with the physical environment, and the physical environment may in turn impact individuals' social relationships. This interplay can generate considerable variation among individuals in survival and reproduction. Here, I synthesize more than four decades of research on the baboons of the Amboseli basin in southern Kenya to illustrate how social and physical environments interact to affect reproduction and survival. For immature baboons, social behaviour can both mitigate and exacerbate the challenge of survival. Only c. 50% of live-born females and c. 44% of live-born males reach the median age of first reproduction. Variation in pre-adult survival, growth and development is associated with multiple aspects of the social environment. For instance, conspecifics provide direct care and are a major source of social knowledge about food and the environment, but conspecifics can also represent a direct threat to survival through infanticide. In adulthood, both competition (within and between social groups) and cooperative affiliation (i.e. collective action and/or the exchange of social resources such as grooming) are prominent features of baboon social life and have important consequences for reproduction and survival. For instance, adult females with higher social dominance ranks have accelerated reproduction, and adult females that engage in more frequent affiliative social interactions have higher survival throughout adulthood. The early life environment also has important consequences for adult reproduction and survival, as in a number of other bird and mammal species. In seasonal breeders, early life effects often apply to entire cohorts; in contrast, in nonseasonal and highly social species such as baboons, early life effects are more individual-specific, stemming from considerable variation not only in the early physical environment (even if they are born in the same year) but also in the particulars of their social environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan C. Alberts
- Departments of Biology and Evolutionary AnthropologyDuke UniversityDurhamNorth Carolina
- Institute of Primate ResearchNational Museums of KenyaKarenNairobiKenya
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Incidence and biomarkers of pregnancy, spontaneous abortion, and neonatal loss during an environmental stressor: Implications for female reproductive suppression in the cooperatively breeding meerkat. Physiol Behav 2018; 193:90-100. [PMID: 29730033 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.11.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2017] [Revised: 10/11/2017] [Accepted: 11/11/2017] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Meerkats are group-living, insectivorous herpestids in which subordinate members provide extensive care for the dominant female's young. In contrast to some cooperative breeders, subordinate female meerkats are physiologically able to reproduce and occasionally do so successfully; their attempts are more frequently 'suppressed' via eviction or infanticide by the dominant female. Spontaneous abortion and neonatal loss occur with some regularity, further negatively impacting reproductive success. Here, we compared the reproductive outcomes and endocrine profiles, including of serum progesterone (P4), serum estradiol (E2), and fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCm), of dominant and subordinate dams residing within their clans in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa. Our study spanned years of drought, which reduced insect abundance and represented a substantial environmental stressor. Meerkat pregnancies were identified at mid-term and culminated either in spontaneous abortions or full-term deliveries, after which pups were either lost prior to emergence from the natal den (usually within 2days of birth) or emerged at 2-3weeks. Neonatal loss exceeded fetal loss for all females, and contributed to narrowing the status-related disparity in female reproductive output seen during less arid periods. Although E2 concentrations were significantly lower in subordinate than dominant females, they were sufficient to support gestation. Absolute E2 concentrations may owe to androgenic precursors that also attain highest concentrations in dominant dams and may mediate aggression underlying female reproductive skew. Pregnancies terminating in fetal loss were marked by significantly lower P4 concentrations in mid-gestation and modestly lower E2 concentrations overall. Consistently high fGCm concentrations further increased across trimesters, particularly (but not consistently) in subordinates and in aborted pregnancies. Environmental stressors may modulate reproductive outcomes in meerkats through their influence on sex steroids and their effects on intragroup competition. The social and eco-physiological factors affecting intraspecific variation in reproductive output, even in obligate cooperative breeders, may be most apparent during extreme conditions, reflecting the benefits of long-term studies for assessing the impact of climate change.
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Gesquiere LR, Altmann J, Archie EA, Alberts SC. Interbirth intervals in wild baboons: Environmental predictors and hormonal correlates. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 166:107-126. [PMID: 29417990 PMCID: PMC5910269 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2017] [Revised: 12/27/2017] [Accepted: 12/29/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Interbirth intervals (IBIs) are a key metric of female reproductive success; understanding how they are regulated by environmental, social, and demographic factors can provide insight into sources of variance in female fitness. MATERIALS AND METHODS Using 36 years of reproductive data on 490 IBIs for 160 wild female baboons, we identified sources of variance in the duration of IBIs and of their component phases: postpartum amenorrhea (PPA), sexual cycling, and pregnancy. We also examined how body fat and fecal hormone concentrations varied during female IBIs. RESULTS We found that IBIs tended to be shorter (reproduction was accelerated) when female traits and environmental variables promoted energy acquisition, but with different specific effects for different component phases of the IBI. We also found that females lost a substantial amount of body fat during PPA, indicating that PPA imposes accumulating energetic costs as it progresses. Prior to cycle resumption females began to regain body fat; body fat was stable across the cycling phase and increased throughout most of pregnancy. However, body fat scores per se were not associated with the duration of any of the component phases. Finally, we found that fecal glucocorticoid concentrations decreased as PPA progressed, suggesting a decline in energetic stress over this phase. Fecal progestogen and estrogen concentrations changed over time during sexual cycling; the direction of these changes depended on the phase of the sexual cycle (luteal versus early or late follicular phases). DISCUSSION Our study lends insight into the energetic constraints on female primate reproduction, revealing how female environments, changes in body fat, and steroid hormone concentrations relate to IBI duration and to reproductive readiness.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jeanne Altmann
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
- Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Elizabeth A Archie
- Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana
| | - Susan C Alberts
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
- Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
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11
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Zernig G, Hiemke C. Making the Case for 'Power Abuse Disorder' as a Nosologic Entity. Pharmacology 2017; 100:50-63. [PMID: 28467994 DOI: 10.1159/000475600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2017] [Accepted: 04/10/2017] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
The development of societies and cultures arguably is based on the ability of human primates to form hierarchies in which some individuals acquire and wield power, that is, control resources and influence and control the behavior of their conspecifics. In the following, we focus on the type of human primate power wielding that (a) harms and (b) produces excessive negative emotions in (1) the victim(s) of the power wielder and (2) the power wielder her/himself. If such a harmful behavior of the power wielder is not accompanied by an ethically justifiable benefit for the involved human primate groups, it can be considered "power abuse." We propose to term the associated behaviors, cognitions, and emotions of the power wielder as "power abuse disorder" (PAD). This behavior results from what we consider addictive behavior of the power abuse disordered (PADed) power wielder. PAD can be diagnosed on the basis of the World Health Organization's criteria for "dependence syndrome" as listed in the International Classification of Diseases version 10. We will demonstrate that many PADed individuals may very likely carry the Zeitgeist diagnosis "burnout." This article reviews the current understanding of the neural correlates of PAD and suggests future research. Based on the available evidence, PAD seems to be associated with a dysfunction of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system, rendering PADed individuals vulnerable for psychostimulant abuse/dependence, and suggesting specific pharmacotherapeutic approaches to treat PAD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerald Zernig
- Experimental Psychiatry Unit, Department of Psychiatry 1, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
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12
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Saxton KB, Gemmill A, Catalano RA. Reproductive suppression follows threats to child survival. J Evol Biol 2017; 30:889-897. [PMID: 28267227 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2016] [Revised: 02/14/2017] [Accepted: 02/28/2017] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Natural selection presumably conserved mechanisms that allow females to block or terminate gestation when environmental circumstances threaten the survival of offspring. One example of this adaptive reproductive suppression, the Bruce effect, has been identified in several species, both in the laboratory and in the wild. Although descriptive epidemiology reports low fertility among women experiencing stressful circumstances, attempts to detect a Bruce effect in humans have been rare and limited. We contribute to this limited work by examining the relationship between the odds of child death and the sex ratio at birth in Sweden for the years 1751-1840. We find evidence of a generalized Bruce effect in humans in that unexpected changes in child mortality predict opposite unexpected changes in the secondary sex ratio in the following year, even after adjusting for period life expectancy. Our analysis broadens the scope of the Bruce effect literature to include humans, suggesting that women, through noncognitive decisional biology, adjust reproductive strategies and investments in response to changing environmental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- K B Saxton
- Department of Biology, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA, USA
| | - A Gemmill
- Department of Demography, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - R A Catalano
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
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14
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Arlet ME, Isbell LA, Kaasik A, Molleman F, Chancellor RL, Chapman CA, Mänd R, Carey JR. Determinants of Reproductive Performance Among Female Gray-Cheeked Mangabeys (Lophocebus albigena) in Kibale National Park, Uganda. INT J PRIMATOL 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-014-9810-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Fernández D, Doran-Sheehy D, Borries C, Brown JL. Reproductive characteristics of wild Sanje mangabeys (Cercocebus sanjei). Am J Primatol 2014; 76:1163-74. [PMID: 24842495 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2013] [Revised: 03/29/2014] [Accepted: 04/13/2014] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
An accurate description of reproductive characteristics and ovarian endocrinology is necessary to address questions about the reproductive strategies and life history of a species and for meaningful, cross species analyses. Here we used analysis of fecal estradiol (fE) and behavioral observations to determine for the first time the reproductive characteristics and endocrinology of a wild group (N = 18 adult and 3 adolescent females) of Sanje mangabeys (Cercocebus sanjei). The study was conducted in the Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Tanzania, from October 2008 through September 2010. Average cycle length (±SD) was 29.3 ± 3.2 days in adults and 51.4 ± 5.5 days in adolescents. Menses appeared within 5.1 ± 2.1 days in adults and 4.8 ± 0.3 days in adolescents after the end of maximum tumescence, and lasted 6.7 ± 3.1 and 10.3 ± 5.0 days, respectively. Infant death tended to reduce the number of cycles to conception (4.3 ± 1.5 cycles after a surviving infant vs. 2.6 ± 1.0 cycles after infant death). Adolescents cycled for at least 16 months without conceiving. Implantation bleeding began 17.5 ± 0.7 days from the onset of detumescence, and lasted 10.0 ± 1.4 days. Gestation length averaged 171.8 ± 3.4 days. Postpartum amenorrhea lasted 6.7 ± 2.3 months while females whose infants had died resumed cycling within 14.3 ± 5.9 days. The interbirth interval after a surviving infant averaged 20.0 ± 4.3 months. These reproductive characteristics of the Sanje mangabey resembled those of other mangabeys and related cercopithecines, with the exception of an earlier onset and longer duration of menstruation and implantation bleeding. Further information on the physiology of the Sanje mangabey is needed to clarify what factors may cause the unusual characteristics of both, their menses and implantation bleeding.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Fernández
- Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York
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Abstract
During the latter half of the last century, evidence of reproductive competition between males and male selection by females led to the development of a stereotypical view of sex differences that characterized males as competitive and aggressive, and females as passive and choosy, which is currently being revised. Here, we compare social competition and its consequences for selection in males and females and argue that similar selection processes operate in both sexes and that contrasts between the sexes are quantitative rather than qualitative. We suggest that classifications of selection based on distinction between the form of competition or the components of fitness that are involved introduce unnecessary complexities and that the most useful approach in understanding the evolution and distribution of differences and similarities between the sexes is to compare the operation of selection in males and females in different reproductive systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- T. H. Clutton-Brock
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
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Clutton-Brock T, Huchard E. Social competition and its consequences in female mammals. J Zool (1987) 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 117] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - E. Huchard
- Department of Zoology; University of Cambridge; Cambridge UK
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Huchard E, Raymond M, Benavides J, Marshall H, Knapp LA, Cowlishaw G. A female signal reflects MHC genotype in a social primate. BMC Evol Biol 2010; 10:96. [PMID: 20374634 PMCID: PMC2858743 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2148-10-96] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2009] [Accepted: 04/07/2010] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Males from many species are believed to advertise their genetic quality through striking ornaments that attract mates. Yet the connections between signal expression, body condition and the genes associated with individual quality are rarely elucidated. This is particularly problematic for the signals of females in species with conventional sex roles, whose evolutionary significance has received little attention and is poorly understood. Here we explore these questions in the sexual swellings of female primates, which are among the most conspicuous of mammalian sexual signals and highly variable in size, shape and colour. We investigated the relationships between two components of sexual swellings (size and shape), body condition, and genes of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) in a wild baboon population (Papio ursinus) where males prefer large swellings. RESULTS Although there was no effect of MHC diversity on the sexual swelling components, one specific MHC supertype (S1) was associated with poor body condition together with swellings of small size and a particular shape. The variation in swelling characteristics linked with the possession of supertype S1 appeared to be partially mediated by body condition and remained detectable when taking into account the possession of other supertypes. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest a pathway from immunity genes to sexual signals via physical condition for the first time in females. They further indicate that mechanisms of sexual selection traditionally assigned to males can also operate in females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elise Huchard
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, Université Montpellier 2, Place Eugène Bataillon, CC 065, 34 095 Montpellier cedex 05, France
- CNRS-UMR5554, Place Eugène Bataillon, CC 065, 34 095 Montpellier cedex 05, France
- Department of Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, Deutsches Primatenzentrum, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Michel Raymond
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, Université Montpellier 2, Place Eugène Bataillon, CC 065, 34 095 Montpellier cedex 05, France
- CNRS-UMR5554, Place Eugène Bataillon, CC 065, 34 095 Montpellier cedex 05, France
| | - Julio Benavides
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, Université Montpellier 2, Place Eugène Bataillon, CC 065, 34 095 Montpellier cedex 05, France
- CNRS-UMR5554, Place Eugène Bataillon, CC 065, 34 095 Montpellier cedex 05, France
| | - Harry Marshall
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
| | - Leslie A Knapp
- Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3DZ, UK
| | - Guy Cowlishaw
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
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Wells JCK. Maternal capital and the metabolic ghetto: An evolutionary perspective on the transgenerational basis of health inequalities. Am J Hum Biol 2010; 22:1-17. [PMID: 19844897 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.20994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 165] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
There is particular interest in understanding socioeconomic and ethnic variability in health status. The developmental origins of disease hypothesis emphasize the importance of growth patterns across the life-course in relation to noncommunicable disease risk. The physiological components of cardiovascular risk, collectively termed the metabolic syndrome, derive in part from a disparity between the homeostatic "metabolic capacity" of vital organs and the "metabolic load" induced by large tissue masses, a rich diet and sedentary behavior. From an evolutionary perspective, the risk of such disparity is decreased by maternal physiology regulating offspring growth trajectory during gestation and lactation. Maternal capital, defined as phenotypic resources enabling investment in the offspring, allows effective buffering of the offspring from nutritional perturbations and represents the environmental niche initially occupied by the offspring. Offspring growth patterns are sensitive to the magnitude of maternal capital during early windows of plasticity. Offspring life-history strategy can then respond adaptively to further factors across the life-course, but only within the context of this initial maternal influence on growth. Maternal somatic capital is primarily gained or lost across generations, through variable rates of fetal and infant growth. I argue that the poor nutritional experience of populations subjected to colonialism resulted in a systematic loss of maternal capital, reflected in downward secular trends in stature. Accelerating the recovery of somatic capital within generations overloads metabolic capacity and exacerbates cardiovascular risk, reflected in increased disease rates in urbanizing and emigrant populations. Public health policies need to benefit metabolic capacity without exacerbating metabolic load.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan C K Wells
- Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom.
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Huchard E, Benavides JA, Setchell JM, Charpentier MJE, Alvergne A, King AJ, Knapp LA, Cowlishaw G, Raymond M. Studying shape in sexual signals: the case of primate sexual swellings. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2009. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-009-0748-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Schlabritz-Loutsevitch NE, Moore CM, Lopez-Alvarenga JC, Dunn BG, Dudley D, Hubbard GB. The baboon model (Papio hamadryas) of fetal loss: maternal weight, age, reproductive history and pregnancy outcome. J Med Primatol 2009; 37:337-45. [PMID: 19017195 DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0684.2008.00297.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Several risk factors are associated with the incidence of human stillbirths. The prevention of stillbirths in women is a pressing clinical problem. METHODS We reviewed 402 pathology records of fetal loss occurring in a large baboon (Papio spp.) colony during a 15-year period. Clinical histories of 565 female baboons with one or more fetal losses during a 20-year period were analyzed for weight, age, and reproductive history. RESULTS Fetal loss was most common at term (35.57%) and preterm (28.61%) and less common in the first half of gestation (11.20%) and post-term (5.22%). Greater maternal weight, older age, history of stillbirth and higher parity were independent predictors for stillbirth. An exponential increase in the incidence of fetal loss was observed beginning at age 14 years in baboons. CONCLUSIONS Fetal loss and maternal risk factors associated with stillbirths in baboons were similar to those documented in women.
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Garcia C, Lee PC, Rosetta L. Growth in colony living anubis baboon infants and its relationship with maternal activity budgets and reproductive status. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2009; 138:123-35. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.20909] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
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Setchell JM, Smith T, Wickings EJ, Knapp LA. Factors affecting fecal glucocorticoid levels in semi-free-ranging female mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx). Am J Primatol 2008; 70:1023-32. [DOI: 10.1002/ajp.20594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Sunderland N, Heffernan S, Thomson S, Hennessy A. Maternal parity affects neonatal survival rate in a colony of captive bred baboons (Papio hamadryas). J Med Primatol 2008; 37:223-8. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0684.2007.00277.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Garcia C, Lee PC, Rosetta L. Impact of social environment on variation in menstrual cycle length in captive female olive baboons (Papio anubis). Reproduction 2007; 135:89-97. [DOI: 10.1530/rep-06-0320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Can the Patterns of Sexual Swelling Cycles in Female Taï Chimpanzees be Explained by the Cost-of-Sexual-Attraction Hypothesis? INT J PRIMATOL 2007. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-007-9120-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Garcia C, Lee PC, Rosetta L. Dominance and reproductive rates in captive female olive baboons,Papio anubis. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2006; 131:64-72. [PMID: 16444730 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.20405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
The reproductive cycles of 23 captive olive baboons were studied over two successive parturitions. Interbirth intervals of 450 days were reduced by 60% in comparison to wild baboons, and consisted of 145 days of postpartum amenorrhea, 3.5 cycles, and a gestation of 185 days. Dominance rank was found to be one significant factor affecting female fertility. Low-ranking females had longer total intervals between successive births and, in particular, they experienced a longer delay to conception once they had resumed sexual cycles. Mothers of infants who were heavy for age resumed cycling more quickly and had fewer cycles before a subsequent conception. Mothers best able to sustain rapid early infant growth were those of high dominance rank and of high body mass; these females had more rapid reproductive rates. As female energy intake was unrelated to dominance, we suggest that social stresses are important suppressors of the hormonal and lactational competence of subordinate females.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Garcia
- Laboratoire de Dynamique de l'Evolution Humaine, CNRS UPR 2147, 75014 Paris, France
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30
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Perret M. Relationship between urinary estrogen levels before conception and sex ratio at birth in a primate, the gray mouse lemur. Hum Reprod 2005; 20:1504-10. [PMID: 15790612 DOI: 10.1093/humrep/deh802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In primates, including humans, bias of sex ratio at birth has been reported to depend on maternal condition at conception. In a Malagasy primate, the gray mouse lemur, male-biased sex ratio at birth occurred in captive parous females. The male bias was previously demonstrated to be pre-conceptual and independent of the female's nutritional state. It was hypothesized to be related to changes in hormonal state at ovulation. METHODS AND RESULTS The relationship between urinary estradiol (E2) levels during the follicular phase until estrus and litter production (number and sex of newborns) was assessed in 91 females mated under controlled conditions. Changes in E2 levels prior to ovulation followed the typical primate pattern characterized by a gradual rise during the 10 days preceding the sharp increase at estrus. A clear decline in E2 levels occurred with ageing. Direction of the sex ratio bias was unrelated to E2 levels at ovulation time but was significantly dependent on E2 levels during the follicular phase. Reduced E2 levels prior to estrus led to male-biased litters. CONCLUSION This study suggests that hormonal stimulation during the follicular phase plays a role in shifting sex ratio at conception through changes in the local environment of the ova. This hypothesis deserves testing by assessing estrogen levels throughout the follicular phase in other primate species including humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Perret
- Département d'Ecologie et Gestion de la Biodiversité, CNRS-MNHN, UMR 5176, 4 avenue du petit château, 91800 Brunoy, France.
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31
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Setchell JM, Wickings EJ. Social and seasonal influences on the reproductive cycle in female mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx). AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2004; 125:73-84. [PMID: 15293333 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.10375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
We present 12 years of perineal swelling data for a semifree-ranging colony of mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx), and evaluate the influence of rank, parity, and seasonality on reproductive parameters. Female sexual swellings showed a seasonal pattern, with August the median month of ovulation. Overlapping periovulatory periods did not decrease the likelihood of conception. Females showed their first genital swelling at age 3.6 years (n = 28; range, 3.2-4.6 years), and higher-ranking females experienced their first swelling earlier than low-ranking females. Median postpartum amenorrhea (PPA) duration was 208 days (n = 92; range, 74-538 days). PPA was longer in primiparous females than in multiparous females, but PPA duration was unrelated to female rank. Median follicular phase duration was 24 days for the first cycle after parturition (n = 84; range, 12-40 days), shortening to 17 days in subsequent cycles (n = 55; range, 6-39 days). The follicular phase was longer in nulliparous females than in parous females, but was unrelated to female rank. Median cycle length (from one sexual swelling breakdown to the next) was 38 days (n = 57; range, 18-108 days). Eighty-seven percent of conceptions occurred within two cycles, and half of the nulliparous females conceived during their first swelling cycle. Lower-ranking females were more likely to require more cycles to conceive than higher-ranking females. The cycling phase was significantly longer in nulliparous females than in parous females, and was also significantly longer in lower-ranking females than in higher-ranking females. We discuss the influence of provisioning on female reproductive parameters, the influence of parity and rank on the different phases of the interbirth interval, and the evolution of long and variable follicular phases in mandrills.
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Altmann J, Alberts SC. Variability in reproductive success viewed from a life-history perspective in baboons. Am J Hum Biol 2003; 15:401-9. [PMID: 12704715 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.10157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 141] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Nonhuman primates, like humans, mature slowly and have low fertility during a relatively long life. As data have accumulated on life-history patterns of nonhuman primates, comparative studies have yielded important insights into the evolution of this slow life-history style of primates. However, in order to understand selection pressures and evolutionary potential within species, it is important to complement comparative studies with detailed studies of life-history variability within species and to identify sources of this variability. Here we present a summary of how foraging environment, social status, and group size (a measure of population density) contribute to within-population variance in reproductive success for savannah baboons. We also discuss the extent to which savannah baboons, with their highly flexible and adaptable behavior, change their foraging environments by shifting home ranges and seeking rich food sources and how low-ranking females, which disproportionately bear the costs of social life, may mitigate those costs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeanne Altmann
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
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Setchell JM, Kappeler PM. Selection in Relation to Sex in Primates. ADVANCES IN THE STUDY OF BEHAVIOR 2003. [DOI: 10.1016/s0065-3454(03)33003-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
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Johnson SE. Life history and the competitive environment: trajectories of growth, maturation, and reproductive output among chacma baboons. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2003; 120:83-98. [PMID: 12489139 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.10139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 120] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
The social environment is a key feature influencing primate life histories. Chacma baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus) are a female-bonded species with a strict linear dominance hierarchy. In this species, the allocation of energy to competing demands of growth and reproduction is hypothesized to vary as a function of competitive ability, which in turn increases with social rank. Since growth rate is a major component of life history models, measures of age-specific growth were used to analyze variation in life history traits across social ranks. Weights of 42 immature baboons were obtained without sedation or baiting from a troop of well-habituated chacma baboons in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Using demographic and weight data from this wild population, five main findings emerged: 1) Weight for age and growth rate of infant and juvenile females are positively associated with maternal rank. 2) Male growth is not influenced by maternal rank. 3) Female growth shows smaller variation across feeding conditions than male growth. 4) Low-ranking adult females continue investment in offspring through prolonged lactation until they reach a weight comparable to that of high-ranking infants. 5) The benefit of rank to reproductive success shown in this study is 0.83 additional offspring. Reproductive span determined predominantly by age at maturation contributes 27-38% to the difference in expected number of offspring by rank, vs. 62-73% due to reproductive rate. These findings have major implications for understanding the role of social environment in phenotypic plasticity of life history traits, and in the evolution of primate life histories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara E Johnson
- Department of Anthropology, California State University, Fullerton, CA 92834, USA.
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Maninger N, Sackett GP, Ruppenthal GC. Weaning, body weight, and postpartum amenorrhea duration in pigtailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina). Am J Primatol 2000; 52:81-91. [PMID: 11051443 DOI: 10.1002/1098-2345(200010)52:2<81::aid-ajp2>3.0.co;2-l] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Early permanent infant separation or weaning decreases the time interval between pregnancies and interbirth intervals for many female primates. At least part of the interpregnancy interval consists of postpartum amenorrhea, a period of non-menstruation lasting from the time of birth until the female begins to ovulate. This study investigated the effects of weaning age and dam's body weight on the duration of the interval between pregnancies, the duration of postpartum amenorrhea, and the number of cycles to conception in a year-round breeder. Female pigtailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina) have an observable perineal swelling that fluctuates throughout the menstrual cycle and provides a means of detecting ovulation. The perineal swelling records of socially housed pigtailed macaques were studied from July 1996 to September 1998. Postpartum amenorrhea data were obtained on 44 females who gave birth to normal, viable infants. As weaning age increased and dam's weight decreased, postpartum amenorrhea, and consequently the interval between pregnancies, increased in duration. The interpregnancy interval consisted almost entirely of the postpartum amenorrhea phase. Our finding that a higher dam's body weight decreased the length of postpartum amenorrhea duration lends support to the hypothesis that a minimum body weight is necessary for menstrual cycles to occur. Most females became pregnant on their first ovulation regardless of weaning age and whether or not they were carrying an infant. As the weaning age of the infant and the dam's weight increased, ovulation went from occurring after separation to occurring before separation.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Maninger
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
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Rhine RJ, Norton GW, Wasser SK. Lifetime reproductive success, longevity, and reproductive life history of female yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus) of Mikumi National Park, Tanzania. Am J Primatol 2000; 51:229-41. [PMID: 10941439 DOI: 10.1002/1098-2345(200008)51:4<229::aid-ajp2>3.0.co;2-c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
The relationship between longevity and lifetime reproductive success (LRS) was studied in free-ranging female baboons of Mikumi National Park, Tanzania. A severe population decline occurred between the 12th and 20th years of the study. The total sample consisted of 72 females born and reaching adulthood before the start of the population decline. There were 27 females who were adult at the start of the study and 45 who became adult within the 12 years prior to the decline. The subjects were studied until all 72 were dead and all of their offspring were either dead or at least six years old; this took 24 years. The relationship of longevity to LRS was statistically significant for the total sample and for both sub-samples, with 70% of the total variance in LRS accounted for by longevity. Longevity was linked to LRS via a chain of statistically significant relationships: The longer the life span, the longer the reproductive life; the longer the reproductive life, the more offspring produced; the more offspring produced, the higher the LRS. Mean LRS, life span, and reproductive longevity all differed between the two sub-samples. Since the sub-samples were time-linked to a population decline affecting longevity, either sub-sample separately would fail to reflect the broader picture. This illustrates the importance of appreciable sample sizes from long-term studies in helping understand the dynamics between life history estimates and ecological conditions in variable environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- R J Rhine
- Department of Psychology, University of California-Riverside, USA
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