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Gesquiere LR, Adjangba C, Wango TL, Oudu VK, Mututua RS, Warutere JK, Siodi IL, Campos FA, Archie EA, Markham AC, Alberts SC. Thyroid hormone concentrations in female baboons: Metabolic consequences of living in a highly seasonal environment. Horm Behav 2024; 161:105505. [PMID: 38364455 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2024.105505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2023] [Revised: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 02/18/2024]
Abstract
How female mammals adapt metabolically in response to environmental variation remains understudied in the wild, because direct measures of metabolic activity are difficult to obtain in wild populations. However, recent advances in the non-invasive measurement of fecal thyroid hormones, triiodothyronine (T3), an important regulator of metabolism, provide an opportunity to understand how female baboons living in the harsh Amboseli ecosystem in southern Kenya adapt to environmental variability and escape strict reproductive seasonality. Specifically, we assessed how a female's activity budget, diet, and concentrations of fecal T3 metabolites (mT3) changed over the course of the year and between years. We then tested which of several environmental variables (season, rainfall, and temperature) and behavioral variables (female activity budget and diet) best predicted mT3 concentrations. Finally, we determined if two important reproductive events - onset of ovarian cycling and conception of an offspring - were preceded by changes in female mT3 concentrations. We found female baboons' mT3 concentrations varied markedly across the year and between years as a function of environmental conditions. Further, changes in a female's behavior and diet only partially mediated the metabolic response to the environment. Finally, mT3 concentrations increased in the weeks prior to menarche and cycling resumption, regardless of the month or season in which cycling started. This pattern indicates that metabolic activation may be an indicator of reproductive readiness in female baboons as their energy balance is restored.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Tim L Wango
- Amboseli Baboon Research Project, PO Box 72211-0020, Nairobi, Kenya; Department of Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 30197-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Vivian K Oudu
- Amboseli Baboon Research Project, PO Box 72211-0020, Nairobi, Kenya; Department of Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 30197-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
| | | | | | - I Long'ida Siodi
- Amboseli Baboon Research Project, PO Box 72211-0020, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Fernando A Campos
- Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA
| | - Elizabeth A Archie
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
| | - A Catherine Markham
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
| | - Susan C Alberts
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA; Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
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2
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Zipple MN, Archie EA, Tung J, Mututua RS, Warutere JK, Siodi IL, Altmann J, Alberts SC. Five Decades of Data Yield No Support for Adaptive Biasing of Offspring Sex Ratio in Wild Baboons ( Papio cynocephalus). Am Nat 2023; 202:383-398. [PMID: 37792922 PMCID: PMC10998069 DOI: 10.1086/725886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 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] [Indexed: 10/06/2023]
Abstract
AbstractOver the past 50 years, a wealth of testable, often conflicting hypotheses have been generated about the evolution of offspring sex ratio manipulation by mothers. Several of these hypotheses have received support in studies of invertebrates and some vertebrate taxa. However, their success in explaining sex ratios in mammalian taxa-especially in primates-has been mixed. Here, we assess the predictions of four different hypotheses about the evolution of biased offspring sex ratios in the baboons of the Amboseli basin in Kenya: the Trivers-Willard, female rank enhancement, local resource competition, and local resource enhancement hypotheses. Using the largest sample size ever analyzed in a primate population (n = 1,372 offspring), we test the predictions of each hypothesis. Overall, we find no support for adaptive biasing of sex ratios. Offspring sex is not consistently related to maternal dominance rank or biased toward the dispersing sex, nor is it predicted by group size, population growth rates, or their interaction with maternal rank. Because our sample size confers power to detect even subtle biases in sex ratio, including modulation by environmental heterogeneity, these results suggest that adaptive biasing of offspring sex does not occur in this population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew N Zipple
- Laboratory for Animal Social Evolution and Recognition, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University
| | | | - Jenny Tung
- Dept of Primate Behavior and Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University
- Department of Biology, Duke University
| | | | | | | | - Jeanne Altmann
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University
| | - Susan C Alberts
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University
- Department of Biology, Duke University
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3
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Vilgalys TP, Fogel AS, Anderson JA, Mututua RS, Warutere JK, Siodi IL, Kim SY, Voyles TN, Robinson JA, Wall JD, Archie EA, Alberts SC, Tung J. Selection against admixture and gene regulatory divergence in a long-term primate field study. Science 2022; 377:635-641. [PMID: 35926022 PMCID: PMC9682493 DOI: 10.1126/science.abm4917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Genetic admixture is central to primate evolution. We combined 50 years of field observations of immigration and group demography with genomic data from ~9 generations of hybrid baboons to investigate the consequences of admixture in the wild. Despite no obvious fitness costs to hybrids, we found signatures of selection against admixture similar to those described for archaic hominins. These patterns were concentrated near genes where ancestry is strongly associated with gene expression. Our analyses also show that introgression is partially predictable across the genome. This study demonstrates the value of integrating genomic and field data for revealing how "genomic signatures of selection" (e.g., reduced introgression in low-recombination regions) manifest in nature; moreover, it underscores the importance of other primates as living models for human evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tauras P. Vilgalys
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA,Section of Genetic Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Arielle S. Fogel
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA,University Program in Genetics and Genomics, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Jordan A. Anderson
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | | | | | | | - Sang Yoon Kim
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Tawni N. Voyles
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | | | - Jeffrey D. Wall
- Institute for Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Elizabeth A. Archie
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
| | - Susan C. Alberts
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA,Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA,Duke University Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Jenny Tung
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA,Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA,Duke University Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA,Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Canada,Department of Primate Behavior and Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany,Corresponding author
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4
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Galezo AA, Nolas MA, Fogel AS, Mututua RS, Warutere JK, Siodi IL, Altmann J, Archie EA, Tung J, Alberts SC. Mechanisms of inbreeding avoidance in a wild primate. Curr Biol 2022; 32:1607-1615.e4. [PMID: 35216670 PMCID: PMC9007874 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.01.082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [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: 09/18/2021] [Revised: 01/27/2022] [Accepted: 01/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Inbreeding often imposes net fitness costs,1-5 leading to the expectation that animals will engage in inbreeding avoidance when the costs of doing so are not prohibitive.4-9 However, one recent meta-analysis indicates that animals of many species do not avoid mating with kin in experimental settings,6 and another reports that behavioral inbreeding avoidance generally evolves only when kin regularly encounter each other and inbreeding costs are high.9 These results raise questions about the processes that separate kin, how these processes depend on kin class and context, and whether kin classes differ in how effectively they avoid inbreeding via mate choice-in turn, demanding detailed demographic and behavioral data within individual populations. Here, we address these questions in a wild mammal population, the baboons of the Amboseli ecosystem in Kenya. We find that death and dispersal are very effective at separating opposite-sex pairs of close adult kin. Nonetheless, adult kin pairs do sometimes co-reside, and we find strong evidence for inbreeding avoidance via mate choice in kin classes with relatedness ≥0.25. Notably, maternal kin avoid inbreeding more effectively than paternal kin despite having identical coefficients of relatedness, pointing to kin discrimination as a potential constraint on effective inbreeding avoidance. Overall, demographic and behavioral processes ensure that inbred offspring are rare in undisturbed social groups (1% of offspring). However, in an anthropogenically disturbed social group with reduced male dispersal, we find inbreeding rates 10× higher. Our study reinforces the importance of demographic and behavioral contexts for understanding the evolution of inbreeding avoidance.9.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allison A Galezo
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Box 90338, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Melina A Nolas
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Box 90383, Durham, NC 27708, USA; Center for Animals and Public Policy, Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, North Grafton, MA 01536, USA
| | - Arielle S Fogel
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Box 90383, Durham, NC 27708, USA; University Program in Genetics and Genomics, Duke University, Box 103855, Durham, NC 27705, USA
| | - Raphael S Mututua
- Amboseli Baboon Research Project, Amboseli National Park, Box 18, Namanga, Kenya
| | - J Kinyua Warutere
- Amboseli Baboon Research Project, Amboseli National Park, Box 18, Namanga, Kenya
| | - I Long'ida Siodi
- Amboseli Baboon Research Project, Amboseli National Park, Box 18, Namanga, Kenya
| | - Jeanne Altmann
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, 401 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Elizabeth A Archie
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 100 Galvin Life Sciences Center, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
| | - Jenny Tung
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Box 90338, Durham, NC 27708, USA; Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Box 90383, Durham, NC 27708, USA; Duke University Population Research Institute, Duke University, Box 90989, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Susan C Alberts
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Box 90338, Durham, NC 27708, USA; Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Box 90383, Durham, NC 27708, USA; Duke University Population Research Institute, Duke University, Box 90989, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
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5
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Grieneisen L, Dasari M, Gould TJ, Björk JR, Grenier JC, Yotova V, Jansen D, Gottel N, Gordon JB, Learn NH, Gesquiere LR, Wango TL, Mututua RS, Warutere JK, Siodi L, Gilbert JA, Barreiro LB, Alberts SC, Tung J, Archie EA, Blekhman R. Gut microbiome heritability is nearly universal but environmentally contingent. Science 2021; 373:181-186. [PMID: 34244407 DOI: 10.1126/science.aba5483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 93] [Impact Index Per Article: 31.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2020] [Revised: 01/25/2021] [Accepted: 05/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Relatives have more similar gut microbiomes than nonrelatives, but the degree to which this similarity results from shared genotypes versus shared environments has been controversial. Here, we leveraged 16,234 gut microbiome profiles, collected over 14 years from 585 wild baboons, to reveal that host genetic effects on the gut microbiome are nearly universal. Controlling for diet, age, and socioecological variation, 97% of microbiome phenotypes were significantly heritable, including several reported as heritable in humans. Heritability was typically low (mean = 0.068) but was systematically greater in the dry season, with low diet diversity, and in older hosts. We show that longitudinal profiles and large sample sizes are crucial to quantifying microbiome heritability, and indicate scope for selection on microbiome characteristics as a host phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Grieneisen
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
| | - Mauna Dasari
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
| | - Trevor J Gould
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Johannes R Björk
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
| | - Jean-Christophe Grenier
- Department of Genetics, CHU Sainte Justine Research Center, Montréal, Quebec H3T 1C5, Canada.,Research Center, Montreal Heart Institute, Montréal, Quebec H1T 1C8, Canada
| | - Vania Yotova
- Department of Genetics, CHU Sainte Justine Research Center, Montréal, Quebec H3T 1C5, Canada
| | - David Jansen
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
| | - Neil Gottel
- Marine Biology Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093
| | - Jacob B Gordon
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Niki H Learn
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | | | - Tim L Wango
- Amboseli Baboon Research Project, Amboseli National Park, Kenya.,The Department of Veterinary Anatomy and Animal Physiology, University of Nairobi, Kenya
| | | | | | - Long'ida Siodi
- Amboseli Baboon Research Project, Amboseli National Park, Kenya
| | - Jack A Gilbert
- Marine Biology Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093
| | - Luis B Barreiro
- Department of Genetics, CHU Sainte Justine Research Center, Montréal, Quebec H3T 1C5, Canada.,Section of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Susan C Alberts
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.,Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.,Duke Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Jenny Tung
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA. .,Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.,Duke Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.,Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1M1, Canada
| | - Elizabeth A Archie
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA.
| | - Ran Blekhman
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. .,Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
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6
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Levy EJ, Gesquiere LR, McLean E, Franz M, Warutere JK, Sayialel SN, Mututua RS, Wango TL, Oudu VK, Altmann J, Archie EA, Alberts SC. Higher dominance rank is associated with lower glucocorticoids in wild female baboons: A rank metric comparison. Horm Behav 2020; 125:104826. [PMID: 32758500 PMCID: PMC7541639 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2020] [Revised: 07/13/2020] [Accepted: 07/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
In vertebrates, glucocorticoid secretion occurs in response to energetic and psychosocial stressors that trigger the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Measuring glucocorticoid concentrations can therefore shed light on the stressors associated with different social and environmental variables, including dominance rank. Using 14,172 fecal samples from 237 wild female baboons, we test the hypothesis that high-ranking females experience fewer psychosocial and/or energetic stressors than lower-ranking females. We predicted that high-ranking females would have lower fecal glucocorticoid (fGC) concentrations than low-ranking females. Because dominance rank can be measured in multiple ways, we employ an information theoretic approach to compare 5 different measures of rank as predictors of fGC concentrations: ordinal rank; proportional rank; Elo rating; and two approaches to categorical ranking (alpha vs non-alpha and high-middle-low). Our hypothesis was supported, but it was also too simplistic. We found that alpha females exhibited substantially lower fGCs than other females (typical reduction = 8.2%). If we used proportional rank instead of alpha versus non-alpha status in the model, we observed a weak effect of rank such that fGCs rose 4.2% from the highest- to lowest-ranking female in the hierarchy. Models using ordinal rank, Elo rating, or high-middle-low categories alone failed to explain variation in female fGCs. Our findings shed new light on the association between dominance rank and the stress response, the competitive landscape of female baboons as compared to males, and the assumptions inherent in a researcher's choice of rank metric.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily J Levy
- Department of Biology, Duke University, 130 Science Drive, Durham, NC 27708, USA,.
| | - Laurence R Gesquiere
- Department of Biology, Duke University, 130 Science Drive, Durham, NC 27708, USA,.
| | - Emily McLean
- Oxford College of Emory University, 801 Emory Street, Oxford, GA 30054, USA.
| | - Mathias Franz
- Institute for Biology, Freie Universitaet Berlin, Königin-Luise-Strasse 1-3, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.
| | | | - Serah N Sayialel
- Amboseli Baboon Research Project, PO Box 72211-0020, Nairobi, Kenya
| | | | - Tim L Wango
- Amboseli Baboon Research Project, PO Box 72211-0020, Nairobi, Kenya; Department of Veterinary Anatomy and Animal Physiology, University of Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Vivian K Oudu
- Amboseli Baboon Research Project, PO Box 72211-0020, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Jeanne Altmann
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA; Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi 00502, Kenya,.
| | - Elizabeth A Archie
- Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi 00502, Kenya,; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA.
| | - Susan C Alberts
- Department of Biology, Duke University, 130 Science Drive, Durham, NC 27708, USA,; Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi 00502, Kenya,; Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, 130 Science Drive, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
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Altmann J, Alberts SC, Haines SA, Dubach J, Muruthi P, Coote T, Geffen E, Cheesman DJ, Mututua RS, Saiyalel SN, Wayne RK, Lacy RC, Bruford MW. Behavior predicts genes structure in a wild primate group. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1996; 93:5797-801. [PMID: 8650172 PMCID: PMC39141 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.93.12.5797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 259] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [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: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The predictability of genetic structure from social structure and differential mating success was tested in wild baboons. Baboon populations are subdivided into cohesive social groups that include multiple adults of both sexes. As in many mammals, males are the dispersing sex. Social structure and behavior successfully predicted molecular genetic measures of relatedness and variance in reproductive success. In the first quantitative test of the priority-of-access model among wild primates, the reproductive priority of dominant males was confirmed by molecular genetic analysis. However, the resultant high short-term variance in reproductive success did not translate into equally high long-term variance because male dominance status was unstable. An important consequence of high but unstable short-term variance is that age cohorts will tend to be paternal sibships and social groups will be genetically substructured by age.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Altmann
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, IL 60637, USA
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