Data from three African field sites on Pan troglodytes demonstrate an unambiguous pattern of a slower growth rate in wild vs. captive chimpanzee populations. A revised dental growth chronology for chimpanzees is similar to estimated timing of Homo erectus and therefore has implications for interpreting life history in hominins.
An extraordinary collection of 22 immature skeletons from Taı¨National Park, Coˆte d'Ivoire, has provided a rare opportunity to establish the timing of dental eruption and its correlation with skeletal fusion and morphometrics in wild chimpanzees of known chronological ages. Comparison of the immature Taıc himpanzees Pan troglodytes verus with adults from the same population show that sex differences in skeletal maturation apparently appear during the Juvenile II stage, about age 8. A few skeletons from other chimpanzee field sites conform to the dental and skeletal growth in Taı¨chimpanzees. The tempo of wild chimpanzee growth contrasts sharply with the rate demonstrated for captive individuals. Captive chimpanzees may mature as much as 3 years earlier. The ability to link physical development with field observations of immature chimpanzees increases our understanding of their life-history stages. These data provide an improved dataset for comparing the rates of growth among chimpanzees, Homo sapiens and fossil hominids.
A study was undertaken of a unique sample of 63 wild vervet monkeys Cercopithecus aethiops from a single population in Uganda collected over 35 days in 1947. Twenty-five were immature (12 females and 13 males) and 38 were adults (16 females and 22 males). Body mass, external measurements, masticatory and other masses were recorded for each individual at the time of collection, and for a few specimens, the development of the reproductive organs. Each individual was evaluated for cranial capacity, limb length and dental eruption. The comparison of immature and adult animals illustrates the mosaic nature of growth in the different body systems, as well as femalemale differences. An ancestral model is proposed for catarrhine growth and development, with particular reference to sex differences. This model provides a framework for assessment of immatures and for the reconstruction of socio-ecological effects on life-history stages in populations of fossil monkeys, apes and early hominids.
Isotopic studies of wild primates have used a wide range of tissues to infer diet and model the foraging ecologies of extinct species. The use of mismatched tissues for such comparisons can be problematic because differences in amino acid compositions can lead to small isotopic differences between tissues. Additionally, physiological and dietary differences among primate species could lead to variable offsets between apatite carbonate and collagen. To improve our understanding of the isotopic chemistry of primates, we explored the apparent enrichment (ε*) between bone collagen and muscle, collagen and fur or hair keratin, muscle and keratin, and collagen and bone carbonate across the primate order. We found that the mean ε* values of proteinaceous tissues were small (≤1‰), and uncorrelated with body size or phylogenetic relatedness. Additionally, ε* values did not vary by habitat, sex, age, or manner of death. The mean ε* value between bone carbonate and collagen (5.6 ± 1.2‰) was consistent with values reported for omnivorous mammals consuming monoisotopic diets. These primate-specific apparent enrichment values will be a valuable tool for cross-species comparisons. Additionally, they will facilitate dietary comparisons between living and fossil primates.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00442-010-1701-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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