1
|
Ross CT, Hooper PL, Smith JE, Jaeggi AV, Smith EA, Gavrilets S, Zohora FT, Ziker J, Xygalatas D, Wroblewski EE, Wood B, Winterhalder B, Willführ KP, Willard AK, Walker K, von Rueden C, Voland E, Valeggia C, Vaitla B, Urlacher S, Towner M, Sum CY, Sugiyama LS, Strier KB, Starkweather K, Major-Smith D, Shenk M, Sear R, Seabright E, Schacht R, Scelza B, Scaggs S, Salerno J, Revilla-Minaya C, Redhead D, Pusey A, Purzycki BG, Power EA, Pisor A, Pettay J, Perry S, Page AE, Pacheco-Cobos L, Oths K, Oh SY, Nolin D, Nettle D, Moya C, Migliano AB, Mertens KJ, McNamara RA, McElreath R, Mattison S, Massengill E, Marlowe F, Madimenos F, Macfarlan S, Lummaa V, Lizarralde R, Liu R, Liebert MA, Lew-Levy S, Leslie P, Lanning J, Kramer K, Koster J, Kaplan HS, Jamsranjav B, Hurtado AM, Hill K, Hewlett B, Helle S, Headland T, Headland J, Gurven M, Grimalda G, Greaves R, Golden CD, Godoy I, Gibson M, Mouden CE, Dyble M, Draper P, Downey S, DeMarco AL, Davis HE, Crabtree S, Cortez C, Colleran H, Cohen E, Clark G, Clark J, Caudell MA, Carminito CE, Bunce J, Boyette A, Bowles S, Blumenfield T, Beheim B, Beckerman S, Atkinson Q, Apicella C, Alam N, Mulder MB. Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2220124120. [PMID: 37216525 PMCID: PMC10235947 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2220124120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 04/16/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
To address claims of human exceptionalism, we determine where humans fit within the greater mammalian distribution of reproductive inequality. We show that humans exhibit lower reproductive skew (i.e., inequality in the number of surviving offspring) among males and smaller sex differences in reproductive skew than most other mammals, while nevertheless falling within the mammalian range. Additionally, female reproductive skew is higher in polygynous human populations than in polygynous nonhumans mammals on average. This patterning of skew can be attributed in part to the prevalence of monogamy in humans compared to the predominance of polygyny in nonhuman mammals, to the limited degree of polygyny in the human societies that practice it, and to the importance of unequally held rival resources to women's fitness. The muted reproductive inequality observed in humans appears to be linked to several unusual characteristics of our species-including high levels of cooperation among males, high dependence on unequally held rival resources, complementarities between maternal and paternal investment, as well as social and legal institutions that enforce monogamous norms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cody T. Ross
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM87501
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig04103, Germany
| | - Paul L. Hooper
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM87501
- Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM87131
| | | | - Adrian V. Jaeggi
- Institut für Anthropologie und Anthropologisches Museum, University of Zürich, Zürich8006, Switzerland
| | - Eric Alden Smith
- Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA98195
| | - Sergey Gavrilets
- Departments of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Mathematics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN37996
| | - Fatema tuz Zohora
- International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Dhaka1000, Bangladesh
| | - John Ziker
- Department of Anthropology, Boise State University, Boise, ID83725
| | | | | | - Brian Wood
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig04103, Germany
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA90095
| | | | - Kai P. Willführ
- Institute for Social Science, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg26129, Germany
| | - Aiyana K. Willard
- Centre for Culture and Evolution, Brunel University, LondonUB8 3PH, United Kingdom
| | - Kara Walker
- College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC27695
| | | | - Eckart Voland
- Institute for Philosophy, Justus-Liebig University, Giessen35390, Germany
| | | | - Bapu Vaitla
- Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA02115
| | - Samuel Urlacher
- Department of Anthropology, Baylor University, Waco, TX76706
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, CAM5G 1M1
| | - Mary Towner
- Department of Integrative Biology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK74078
| | - Chun-Yi Sum
- College of General Studies, Boston University, Boston, MA02215
| | | | - Karen B. Strier
- Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI53706
| | | | - Daniel Major-Smith
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol, BristolBS8 1QU, United Kingdom
| | - Mary Shenk
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA16802
| | - Rebecca Sear
- Department of Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, LondonWC1E 7HT, United Kingdom
| | - Edmond Seabright
- Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM87131
| | - Ryan Schacht
- Department of Anthropology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC27858
| | - Brooke Scelza
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA90095
| | - Shane Scaggs
- Department of Anthropology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH43210
| | - Jonathan Salerno
- Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO80523
| | - Caissa Revilla-Minaya
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig04103, Germany
| | - Daniel Redhead
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig04103, Germany
| | - Anne Pusey
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC27708
| | - Benjamin Grant Purzycki
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig04103, Germany
- Department of the Study of Religion, Aarhus University, Aarhus8000, Denmark
| | - Eleanor A. Power
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM87501
- Department of Methodology, London School of Economics and Political Science, LondonWC2A 2AE, United Kingdom
| | - Anne Pisor
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig04103, Germany
- Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA99164
| | - Jenni Pettay
- Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku20014, Finland
| | - Susan Perry
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA90095
| | - Abigail E. Page
- Department of Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, LondonWC1E 7HT, United Kingdom
| | - Luis Pacheco-Cobos
- Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Veracruzana, Veracruz94294, Mexico
| | - Kathryn Oths
- Department of Anthropology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL35487
| | - Seung-Yun Oh
- Korea Insurance Research Institute, Seoul150-606, Korea
| | - David Nolin
- Department of Sociology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA01003
| | - Daniel Nettle
- Département d’Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Université PSL, Paris75230, France
| | - Cristina Moya
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, CA95616
| | - Andrea Bamberg Migliano
- Institut für Anthropologie und Anthropologisches Museum, University of Zürich, Zürich8006, Switzerland
| | - Karl J. Mertens
- Department of Anthropology, Boise State University, Boise, ID83725
| | - Rita A. McNamara
- School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington6012, New Zealand
| | - Richard McElreath
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig04103, Germany
| | - Siobhan Mattison
- Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM87131
| | - Eric Massengill
- Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM87131
| | - Frank Marlowe
- Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 1TN, United Kingdom
| | - Felicia Madimenos
- Department of Anthropology, Queens College (CUNY), New York, NY11367
| | - Shane Macfarlan
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT84112
| | - Virpi Lummaa
- Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku20014, Finland
| | - Roberto Lizarralde
- Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas1010A, Venezuela
| | - Ruizhe Liu
- Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM87131
| | - Melissa A. Liebert
- Department of Anthropology, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ86011
| | - Sheina Lew-Levy
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig04103, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, DurhamDH1 3LE, United Kingdom
| | - Paul Leslie
- Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC27599
| | | | - Karen Kramer
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT84112
| | - Jeremy Koster
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig04103, Germany
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH45221
| | | | | | - A. Magdalena Hurtado
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ85287
| | - Kim Hill
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ85287
| | - Barry Hewlett
- Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA99164
| | - Samuli Helle
- Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku20014, Finland
| | | | | | - Michael Gurven
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA93106
| | | | - Russell Greaves
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT84112
| | - Christopher D. Golden
- Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA02115
| | - Irene Godoy
- Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld33615, Germany
| | - Mhairi Gibson
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol, BristolBS8 1QU, United Kingdom
| | - Claire El Mouden
- School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford, OxfordOX1 2JD, United Kingdom
| | - Mark Dyble
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, LondonWC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Patricia Draper
- School of Global Integrative Studies, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE68588
| | - Sean Downey
- Department of Anthropology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH43210
| | | | | | - Stefani Crabtree
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM87501
- Department of Environment and Society, Utah State University, Logan, UT84322
| | - Carmen Cortez
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, CA95616
| | - Heidi Colleran
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig04103, Germany
| | - Emma Cohen
- School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford, OxfordOX1 2JD, United Kingdom
| | - Gregory Clark
- Department of Economics, University of California, Davis, CA95616
| | | | - Mark A. Caudell
- Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA99164
| | - Chelsea E. Carminito
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH45221
| | - John Bunce
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig04103, Germany
| | - Adam Boyette
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig04103, Germany
| | | | - Tami Blumenfield
- Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM87131
- School of Ethnology and Sociology, Yunnan University, Yunnan650106, China
| | - Bret Beheim
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig04103, Germany
| | - Stephen Beckerman
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA16802
| | - Quentin Atkinson
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland1010, New Zealand
| | - Coren Apicella
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | - Nurul Alam
- International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Dhaka1000, Bangladesh
| | - Monique Borgerhoff Mulder
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM87501
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig04103, Germany
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, CA95616
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Ozga AT, Gilby I, Nockerts RS, Wilson ML, Pusey A, Stone AC. Oral microbiome diversity in chimpanzees from Gombe National Park. Sci Rep 2019; 9:17354. [PMID: 31758037 PMCID: PMC6874655 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-53802-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2019] [Accepted: 10/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Historic calcified dental plaque (dental calculus) can provide a unique perspective into the health status of past human populations but currently no studies have focused on the oral microbial ecosystem of other primates, including our closest relatives, within the hominids. Here we use ancient DNA extraction methods, shotgun library preparation, and next generation Illumina sequencing to examine oral microbiota from 19 dental calculus samples recovered from wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) who died in Gombe National Park, Tanzania. The resulting sequences were trimmed for quality, analyzed using MALT, MEGAN, and alignment scripts, and integrated with previously published dental calculus microbiome data. We report significant differences in oral microbiome phyla between chimpanzees and anatomically modern humans (AMH), with chimpanzees possessing a greater abundance of Bacteroidetes and Fusobacteria, and AMH showing higher Firmicutes and Proteobacteria. Our results suggest that by using an enterotype clustering method, results cluster largely based on host species. These clusters are driven by Porphyromonas and Fusobacterium genera in chimpanzees and Haemophilus and Streptococcus in AMH. Additionally, we compare a nearly complete Porphyromonas gingivalis genome to previously published genomes recovered from human gingiva to gain perspective on evolutionary relationships across host species. Finally, using shotgun sequence data we assessed indicators of diet from DNA in calculus and suggest exercising caution when making assertions related to host lifestyle. These results showcase core differences between host species and stress the importance of continued sequencing of nonhuman primate microbiomes in order to fully understand the complexity of their oral ecologies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew T Ozga
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA. .,Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA. .,Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.
| | - Ian Gilby
- Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA.,School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Rebecca S Nockerts
- Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Michael L Wilson
- Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.,Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Anne Pusey
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Anne C Stone
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA.,Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA.,School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Wolf TM, Singer RS, Lonsdorf EV, Maclehose R, Gillespie TR, Lipende I, Raphael J, Terio K, Murray C, Pusey A, Hahn BH, Kamenya S, Mjungu D, Travis DA. Syndromic Surveillance of Respiratory Disease in Free-Living Chimpanzees. Ecohealth 2019; 16:275-286. [PMID: 30838479 PMCID: PMC6684380 DOI: 10.1007/s10393-019-01400-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2017] [Revised: 01/21/2019] [Accepted: 01/23/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Disease surveillance in wildlife is rapidly expanding in scope and methodology, emphasizing the need for formal evaluations of system performance. We examined a syndromic surveillance system for respiratory disease detection in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, from 2004 to 2012, with respect to data quality, disease trends, and respiratory disease detection. Data quality was assessed by examining community coverage, completeness, and consistency. The data were examined for baseline trends; signs of respiratory disease occurred at a mean frequency of less than 1 case per week, with most weeks containing zero observations of abnormalities. Seasonal and secular (i.e., over a period of years) trends in respiratory disease frequency were not identified. These baselines were used to develop algorithms for outbreak detection using both weekly counts and weekly prevalence thresholds and then compared retrospectively on the detection of 13 respiratory disease clusters from 2005 to 2012. Prospective application of outbreak detection algorithms to real-time syndromic data would be useful in triggering a rapid outbreak response, such as targeted diagnostic sampling, enhanced surveillance, or mitigation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tiffany M Wolf
- Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota, 495 Animal Science/Veterinary Medicine, 1988 Fitch Ave, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA.
| | - Randall S Singer
- Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota, 1971 Commonwealth Ave, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | | | - Richard Maclehose
- Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, 1300 S 2nd St, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA
| | - Thomas R Gillespie
- Emory University and Rollins School of Public Health, 400 Dowman Drive, Math and Science Center, Suite E510, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Iddi Lipende
- Gombe Stream Research Center, Jane Goodall Institute, PO Box 1182, Kigoma, Tanzania
| | - Jane Raphael
- Gombe National Park, Tanzania National Parks Authority, S L P 185, Kigoma, Tanzania
| | - Karen Terio
- Zoological Pathology Program, University of Illinois, 3300 Golf Rd, Brookfield, IL, 60513, USA
| | - Carson Murray
- George Washington University, 800 22nd St. NW, Suite 6000, Washington, DC, 20052, USA
| | - Anne Pusey
- Duke University, Box 90383, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
| | - Beatrice H Hahn
- Departments of Medicine and Microbiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 409 Johnson Pavilion, 3610 Hamilton Walk, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Shadrack Kamenya
- Gombe Stream Research Center, Jane Goodall Institute, PO Box 1182, Kigoma, Tanzania
| | - Deus Mjungu
- Gombe Stream Research Center, Jane Goodall Institute, PO Box 1182, Kigoma, Tanzania
| | - Dominic A Travis
- Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota, 495 Animal Science/Veterinary Medicine, 1988 Fitch Ave, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Wolf TM, Annie Wang W, Lonsdorf EV, Gillespie TR, Pusey A, Gilby IC, Travis DA, Singer RS. Optimizing syndromic health surveillance in free ranging great apes: the case of Gombe National Park. J Appl Ecol 2019; 56:509-518. [PMID: 30983624 PMCID: PMC6457473 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2018] [Accepted: 08/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
1. Syndromic surveillance is an incipient approach to early wildlife disease detection. Consequently, systematic assessments are needed for methodology validation in wildlife populations. 2. We evaluated the sensitivity of a syndromic surveillance protocol for respiratory disease detection among chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania. Empirical health, behavioural and demographic data were integrated with an agent-based, network model to simulate disease transmission and surveillance. 3. Surveillance sensitivity was estimated as 66% (95% Confidence Interval: 63.1, 68.8%) and 59.5% (95% Confidence Interval: 56.5%, 62.4%) for two monitoring methods (weekly count and prevalence thresholds, respectively), but differences among calendar quarters in outbreak size and surveillance sensitivity suggest seasonal effects. 4. We determined that a weekly detection threshold of ≥2 chimpanzees with clinical respiratory disease leading to outbreak response protocols (enhanced observation and biological sampling) is an optimal algorithm for outbreak detection in this population. 5. Synthesis and applications. This is the first quantitative assessment of syndromic surveillance in wildlife, providing a model approach to detecting disease emergence. Coupling syndromic surveillance with targeted diagnostic sampling in the midst of suspected outbreaks will provide a powerful system for detecting disease transmission and understanding population impacts.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tiffany M Wolf
- Veterinary Population Medicine Department, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108, USA
| | - Wenchun Annie Wang
- Department of Computer Science, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 5C9 Canada
| | - Elizabeth V Lonsdorf
- Department of Psychology, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17604, USA
| | - Thomas R Gillespie
- Emory University & Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA
| | - Anne Pusey
- Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA
| | - Ian C Gilby
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, 85287 USA
| | - Dominic A Travis
- Veterinary Population Medicine Department, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108, USA
| | - Randall S Singer
- Veterinary Biomedical Sciences Department, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108 USA
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Campos FA, Morris WF, Alberts SC, Altmann J, Brockman DK, Cords M, Pusey A, Stoinski TS, Strier KB, Fedigan LM. Does climate variability influence the demography of wild primates? Evidence from long-term life-history data in seven species. Glob Chang Biol 2017; 23:4907-4921. [PMID: 28589633 DOI: 10.10.1111/gcb.13754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2016] [Accepted: 04/04/2017] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Earth's rapidly changing climate creates a growing need to understand how demographic processes in natural populations are affected by climate variability, particularly among organisms threatened by extinction. Long-term, large-scale, and cross-taxon studies of vital rate variation in relation to climate variability can be particularly valuable because they can reveal environmental drivers that affect multiple species over extensive regions. Few such data exist for animals with slow life histories, particularly in the tropics, where climate variation over large-scale space is asynchronous. As our closest relatives, nonhuman primates are especially valuable as a resource to understand the roles of climate variability and climate change in human evolutionary history. Here, we provide the first comprehensive investigation of vital rate variation in relation to climate variability among wild primates. We ask whether primates are sensitive to global changes that are universal (e.g., higher temperature, large-scale climate oscillations) or whether they are more sensitive to global change effects that are local (e.g., more rain in some places), which would complicate predictions of how primates in general will respond to climate change. To address these questions, we use a database of long-term life-history data for natural populations of seven primate species that have been studied for 29-52 years to investigate associations between vital rate variation, local climate variability, and global climate oscillations. Associations between vital rates and climate variability varied among species and depended on the time windows considered, highlighting the importance of temporal scale in detection of such effects. We found strong climate signals in the fertility rates of three species. However, survival, which has a greater impact on population growth, was little affected by climate variability. Thus, we found evidence for demographic buffering of life histories, but also evidence of mechanisms by which climate change could affect the fates of wild primates.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fernando A Campos
- Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | | | - Susan C Alberts
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Jeanne Altmann
- Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Diane K Brockman
- Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC, USA
| | - Marina Cords
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Anne Pusey
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Tara S Stoinski
- The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Karen B Strier
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Linda M Fedigan
- Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Campos FA, Morris WF, Alberts SC, Altmann J, Brockman DK, Cords M, Pusey A, Stoinski TS, Strier KB, Fedigan LM. Does climate variability influence the demography of wild primates? Evidence from long-term life-history data in seven species. Glob Chang Biol 2017; 23:4907-4921. [PMID: 28589633 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2016] [Accepted: 04/04/2017] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Earth's rapidly changing climate creates a growing need to understand how demographic processes in natural populations are affected by climate variability, particularly among organisms threatened by extinction. Long-term, large-scale, and cross-taxon studies of vital rate variation in relation to climate variability can be particularly valuable because they can reveal environmental drivers that affect multiple species over extensive regions. Few such data exist for animals with slow life histories, particularly in the tropics, where climate variation over large-scale space is asynchronous. As our closest relatives, nonhuman primates are especially valuable as a resource to understand the roles of climate variability and climate change in human evolutionary history. Here, we provide the first comprehensive investigation of vital rate variation in relation to climate variability among wild primates. We ask whether primates are sensitive to global changes that are universal (e.g., higher temperature, large-scale climate oscillations) or whether they are more sensitive to global change effects that are local (e.g., more rain in some places), which would complicate predictions of how primates in general will respond to climate change. To address these questions, we use a database of long-term life-history data for natural populations of seven primate species that have been studied for 29-52 years to investigate associations between vital rate variation, local climate variability, and global climate oscillations. Associations between vital rates and climate variability varied among species and depended on the time windows considered, highlighting the importance of temporal scale in detection of such effects. We found strong climate signals in the fertility rates of three species. However, survival, which has a greater impact on population growth, was little affected by climate variability. Thus, we found evidence for demographic buffering of life histories, but also evidence of mechanisms by which climate change could affect the fates of wild primates.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fernando A Campos
- Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | | | - Susan C Alberts
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Jeanne Altmann
- Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Diane K Brockman
- Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC, USA
| | - Marina Cords
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Anne Pusey
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Tara S Stoinski
- The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Karen B Strier
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Linda M Fedigan
- Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Bronikowski AM, Cords M, Alberts SC, Altmann J, Brockman DK, Fedigan LM, Pusey A, Stoinski T, Strier KB, Morris WF. Female and male life tables for seven wild primate species. Sci Data 2016; 3:160006. [PMID: 26928014 PMCID: PMC4772651 DOI: 10.1038/sdata.2016.6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2015] [Accepted: 01/12/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
We provide male and female census count data, age-specific survivorship, and female age-specific fertility estimates for populations of seven wild primates that have been continuously monitored for at least 29 years: sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi) in Madagascar; muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxanthus) in Brazil; capuchin (Cebus capucinus) in Costa Rica; baboon (Papio cynocephalus) and blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis) in Kenya; chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) in Tanzania; and gorilla (Gorilla beringei) in Rwanda. Using one-year age-class intervals, we computed point estimates of age-specific survival for both sexes. In all species, our survival estimates for the dispersing sex are affected by heavy censoring. We also calculated reproductive value, life expectancy, and mortality hazards for females. We used bootstrapping to place confidence intervals on life-table summary metrics (R0, the net reproductive rate; λ, the population growth rate; and G, the generation time). These data have high potential for reuse; they derive from continuous population monitoring of long-lived organisms and will be invaluable for addressing questions about comparative demography, primate conservation and human evolution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anne M Bronikowski
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA
| | - Marina Cords
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA
| | - Susan C Alberts
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.,Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Jeanne Altmann
- Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 88001, USA
| | - Diane K Brockman
- Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina 28223, USA
| | - Linda M Fedigan
- Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4
| | - Anne Pusey
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA
| | - Tara Stoinski
- The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International and Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia 30315, USA
| | - Karen B Strier
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
| | - William F Morris
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
O'Malley RC, Stanton MA, Gilby IC, Lonsdorf EV, Pusey A, Markham AC, Murray CM. Reproductive state and rank influence patterns of meat consumption in wild female chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii). J Hum Evol 2016; 90:16-28. [PMID: 26767956 PMCID: PMC4715263 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.09.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2015] [Revised: 09/12/2015] [Accepted: 09/15/2015] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
An increase in faunivory is a consistent component of human evolutionary models. Animal matter is energy- and nutrient-dense and can provide macronutrients, minerals, and vitamins that are limited or absent in plant foods. For female humans and other omnivorous primates, faunivory may be of particular importance during the costly periods of pregnancy and early lactation. Yet, because animal prey is often monopolizable, access to fauna among group-living primates may be mediated by social factors such as rank. Wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) across Africa habitually consume insects and/or vertebrates. However, no published studies have examined patterns of female chimpanzee faunivory during pregnancy and early lactation relative to non-reproductive periods, or by females of different rank. In this study, we assessed the influence of reproductive state and dominance rank on the consumption of fauna (meat and insects) by female chimpanzees of Gombe National Park, Tanzania. Using observational data collected over 38 years, we tested (a) whether faunivory varied by reproductive state, and (b) if high-ranking females spent more time consuming fauna than lower-ranking females. In single-factor models, pregnant females consumed more meat than lactating and baseline (meaning not pregnant and not in early lactation) females, and high-ranking females consumed more meat than lower-ranking females. A two-factor analysis of a subset of well-sampled females identified an interaction between rank and reproductive state: lower-ranking females consumed more meat during pregnancy than lower-ranking lactating and baseline females did. High-ranking females did not significantly differ in meat consumption between reproductive states. We found no relationships between rank or reproductive state with insectivory. We conclude that, unlike insectivory, meat consumption by female chimpanzees is mediated by both reproductive state and social rank. We outline possible mechanisms for these patterns, relate our findings to meat-eating patterns in women from well-studied hunter-gatherer societies, and discuss potential avenues for future research.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Robert C O'Malley
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, the George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA.
| | - Margaret A Stanton
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, the George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA.
| | - Ian C Gilby
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
| | - Elizabeth V Lonsdorf
- Department of Psychology and Biological Foundations of Behavior Program, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA 17603, USA; Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL 60614, USA.
| | - Anne Pusey
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
| | - A Catherine Markham
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, the George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA; Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
| | - Carson M Murray
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, the George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Plooij FX, van de Rijt-Plooij H, Fischer M, Wilson ML, Pusey A. An archive of longitudinal recordings of the vocalizations of adult Gombe chimpanzees. Sci Data 2015; 2:150027. [PMID: 26029380 PMCID: PMC4443877 DOI: 10.1038/sdata.2015.27] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2015] [Accepted: 04/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies of chimpanzee vocal communication provide valuable insights into the evolution of communication in complex societies, and also comparative data for understanding the evolution of human language. One particularly valuable dataset of recordings from free-living chimpanzees was collected by Frans X. Plooij and the late Hetty van de Rijt-Plooij at Gombe National Park, Tanzania (1971-73). These audio specimens, which have not yet been analysed, total over 10 h on 28 tapes, including 7 tapes focusing on adult individuals with a total of 605 recordings. In 2014 the first part of that collection of audio specimens covering the vocalizations of the immature Gombe chimpanzees was made available. The data package described here covers the vocalizations of the adult chimpanzees. We expect these recordings will prove useful for studies on topics including referential signalling and the emergence of dialects. The digitized sound recordings were stored in the Macaulay Library and the Dryad Repository. In addition, the original notes on the contexts of the calls were translated and transcribed from Dutch into English.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Frans X. Plooij
- International Research-institute on Infant Studies, 6814 CE Arnhem, the Netherlands
| | | | - Martha Fischer
- Macaulay Library, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
| | - Michael L. Wilson
- Departments of Anthropology and Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St Paul, MN 55455, USA
| | - Anne Pusey
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Plooij FX, van de Rijt-Plooij H, Fischer M, Pusey A. Longitudinal recordings of the vocalizations of immature Gombe chimpanzees for developmental studies. Sci Data 2014; 1:140025. [PMID: 25977782 PMCID: PMC4322583 DOI: 10.1038/sdata.2014.25] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2014] [Accepted: 07/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Many researchers are interested in chimpanzee vocal communication, both as an important aspect of chimpanzee social behavior and as a source of insights into the evolution of human language. Nonetheless, very little is known about how chimpanzee vocal communication develops from infancy to adulthood. The largest dataset of audiorecordings from free-living immature chimpanzees was collected by the late Hetty van de Rijt-Plooij and Frans X. Plooij at Gombe National Park, Tanzania (1971-1973). These recordings have not yet been analysed. Therefore, the most extensive effort to study the development of chimpanzee vocalizations remains unfinished. The audiospecimens total over 10 h on 28 tapes, including 20 tapes focusing on 17 specific immature individuals with a total of 1,136 recordings. In order to make this dataset available to more researchers, the analogue sound recordings were digitized and stored in the Macaulay Library and the Dryad Repository. In addition, the original notes on the contexts of the calls were translated and transcribed from Dutch into English.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Frans X. Plooij
- International Research-institute on Infant Studies, 6814 CE, Arnhem The Netherlands
| | | | - Martha Fischer
- Macaulay Library, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York
14850, USA
| | - Anne Pusey
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, 27708 Durham, North Carolina, USA
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Abstract
The phenomenon of inbreeding depression is well documented and behavioral adaptations for inbreeding avoidance have been described. However, there is debate over whether inbreeding depression is always an important selective force on behavior. Here, we summarize recent evidence for inbreeding depression under natural conditions, review inbreeding avoidance mechanisms, and discuss how these are influenced by social structure. We also examine the idea that animals have evolved mechanisms to avoid outbreeding.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A Pusey
- Anne Pusey and Marisa Wolf are at the Dept of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, 1987 Upper Buford Circle, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
12
|
Bronikowski AM, Altmann J, Brockman DK, Cords M, Fedigan LM, Pusey A, Stoinski T, Morris WF, Strier KB, Alberts SC. Aging in the natural world: comparative data reveal similar mortality patterns across primates. Science 2011; 331:1325-8. [PMID: 21393544 PMCID: PMC3396421 DOI: 10.1126/science.1201571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 162] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Human senescence patterns-late onset of mortality increase, slow mortality acceleration, and exceptional longevity-are often described as unique in the animal world. Using an individual-based data set from longitudinal studies of wild populations of seven primate species, we show that contrary to assumptions of human uniqueness, human senescence falls within the primate continuum of aging; the tendency for males to have shorter life spans and higher age-specific mortality than females throughout much of adulthood is a common feature in many, but not all, primates; and the aging profiles of primate species do not reflect phylogenetic position. These findings suggest that mortality patterns in primates are shaped by local selective forces rather than phylogenetic history.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anne M. Bronikowski
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
| | - Jeanne Altmann
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 88001, USA
- Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Diane K. Brockman
- Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA
| | - Marina Cords
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Linda M. Fedigan
- Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary, Calgary, T2N 1N4 Canada
| | - Anne Pusey
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Tara Stoinski
- The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International and Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, GA 30315, USA
| | | | - Karen B. Strier
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Susan C. Alberts
- Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Abstract
1. Fertility is an important fitness component, but is difficult to measure in slowly reproducing, long-lived animals such as chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). 2. We measured fertility and the effect of measured covariates on fertility in a 43-year sample of birth intervals of chimpanzees from the Gombe National Park, Tanzania using Cox proportional hazards regression with individual-level random effects. 3. The birth hazard declined with mothers' age at a rate of 0·84 per year following age at first reproduction. This value is somewhat stronger than previous estimates. 4. Loss of the infant that opened the birth interval increased the birth hazard 134-fold. 5. Birth intervals following the first complete birth interval were shorter than this first interval, while sex of the previous infant had no significant effect. 6. Maternal dominance rank was significant at the P < 0·1 level when coded as high/middle/low but was highly significant when we simply considered high rank vs. others. 7. Individual heterogeneity had a substantial impact on birth interval duration. We interpret this individual effect as a measure of phenotypic quality, controlling for the measured covariates such as dominance rank. This interpretation is supported by the correlation of individual heterogeneity scores with similar independent measures of body mass.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- James Holland Jones
- Department of Anthropology, Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Bldg. 50, Stanford, CA 94305-2034, USA.
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
14
|
Langergraber KE, Boesch C, Inoue E, Inoue-Murayama M, Mitani JC, Nishida T, Pusey A, Reynolds V, Schubert G, Wrangham RW, Wroblewski E, Vigilant L. Genetic and 'cultural' similarity in wild chimpanzees. Proc Biol Sci 2010; 278:408-16. [PMID: 20719777 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.1112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 98] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The question of whether animals possess 'cultures' or 'traditions' continues to generate widespread theoretical and empirical interest. Studies of wild chimpanzees have featured prominently in this discussion, as the dominant approach used to identify culture in wild animals was first applied to them. This procedure, the 'method of exclusion,' begins by documenting behavioural differences between groups and then infers the existence of culture by eliminating ecological explanations for their occurrence. The validity of this approach has been questioned because genetic differences between groups have not explicitly been ruled out as a factor contributing to between-group differences in behaviour. Here we investigate this issue directly by analysing genetic and behavioural data from nine groups of wild chimpanzees. We find that the overall levels of genetic and behavioural dissimilarity between groups are highly and statistically significantly correlated. Additional analyses show that only a very small number of behaviours vary between genetically similar groups, and that there is no obvious pattern as to which classes of behaviours (e.g. tool-use versus communicative) have a distribution that matches patterns of between-group genetic dissimilarity. These results indicate that genetic dissimilarity cannot be eliminated as playing a major role in generating group differences in chimpanzee behaviour.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kevin E Langergraber
- Primatology Department, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig 04103, Germany.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
15
|
Abstract
In order to compare evolved human and chimpanzees' life histories we present a synthetic life table for free-living chimpanzees, derived from data collected in five study populations (Gombe, Taï, Kibale, Mahale, Bossou). The combined data from all populations represent 3711 chimpanzee years at risk and 278 deaths. Males show higher mortality than females and data suggest some inter-site variation in mortality. Despite this variation, however, wild chimpanzees generally have a life expectancy at birth of less than 15 years and mean adult lifespan (after sexual maturity) is only about 15 years. This is considerably lower survival than that reported for chimpanzees in zoos or captive breeding colonies, or that measured among modern human hunter-gatherers. The low mortality rate of human foragers relative to chimpanzees in the early adult years may partially explain why humans have evolved to senesce later than chimpanzees, and have a longer juvenile period.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- K Hill
- Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131-1086, USA.
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
16
|
Abstract
Female chimpanzees often forage alone and do not display obvious linear dominance hierarchies; consequently, it has been suggested that dominance is not of great importance to them. However, with the use of data from a 35-year field study of chimpanzees, high-ranking females were shown to have significantly higher infant survival, faster maturing daughters, and more rapid production of young. Given the foraging behavior of chimpanzees, high rank probably influences reproductive success by helping females establish and maintain access to good foraging areas rather than by sparing them stress from aggression.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A Pusey
- Jane Goodall Institute's Center for Primate Studies, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, 1987 Upper Buford Circle, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
17
|
|
18
|
Abstract
Despite evidence from several bird, fish and mammal species that listeners can discriminate between the vocalizations of familiar and unfamiliar adult conspecifics, direct links between discriminatory abilities and fitness benefits have been difficult to identify. In free-ranging populations of African lions (Panthera leo), females with cubs face a substantial threat from one particular category of unfamiliar individuals: infanticidal males. Here we use playback experiments to demonstrate that females with cubs can distinguish immediately between roars from their own resident males (the fathers of the cubs) and those from unfamiliar, potentially infanticidal males. Although they remain relaxed when played roars from resident males, they immediately become agitated on hearing unfamiliar males and retreat rapidly with their cubs if the latter have reached about 4.5 months of age. These responses are not simply a function of the roarers being unfamiliar, for when played the roars of unfamiliar females, females with cubs consistently approach the loudspeaker. Furthermore, females often move toward the cubs in response to playbacks of unfamiliar males but not in response to playbacks of unfamiliar females or resident males. Our results suggest how females with cubs might, by quickly detecting and categorizing unfamiliar intruders within their territory, protect their cubs from infanticidal males and expel intruding females. Distinguishing between individuals on the basis of their vocal characteristics could therefore confer direct fitness benefits on discriminating lionesses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- K McComb
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, U.K
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
19
|
|