Annual Birth Patterns of Savanna Baboons (Papio cynocephalus anubis) over a Ten-Year Period at Gilgil, Kenya

Bercovitch, Fred B.; Harding, Robert S. Ο.

doi:10.1159/000156738

Cited by 49 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Baboons typically show an even distribution of reproduction throughout the year, with no strong seasonal birth peaks (Altmann et al, 1988;Bercovitch and Harding, 1993). We found a slight seasonal trend in births but only for females in Park 5, with a peak in February and a trough in July-August.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 44%

Dominance and reproductive rates in captive female olive baboons,Papio anubis

Garcia

Lee

Rosetta

2006

Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.

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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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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 44%

Dominance and reproductive rates in captive female olive baboons,Papio anubis

Garcia

Lee

Rosetta

2006

Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.

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“…Late-life survival as seen today seldom (if ever) occurred among any human population before the advent of settled agriculture. Such extended late-life survival also does not exist among extant apes; even in captivity their maximum life span is well under 60 years (Bercovitch and Harding, 1993;Crews, 2003;Crews and Gerber, 2003). Rather, long life evolved because the development of culture reduced child and adult mortality hazards, provided a safe, secure and constant microenvironment conducive to growth and development of less physically mature offspring compared to other hominids, and released energetic supplies previously needed for PI and for the maintenance of one's own adult soma, to be invested in RC through greater SI (see Crews, 2003 for a more thorough review).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental Investment, Late Reproduction, and Increased Reserve Capacity Are Associated with Longevity in Humans

Larke

Crews

2006

J Physiol Anthropol

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Throughout the living world trade-offs between reproductive success and longevity have been observed. In general, two extremes of life history patterning are reported, r-and K-selected species. The latter tend toward larger body sizes, few offspring from any one pregnancy, few offspring over the female reproductive span, longer life spans, and greater parental investment (PI: all efforts and expenses associated with the production, gestation, post-natal care, feeding, and protection of young) (e.g., whales, elephants, hominids). r-selected species tend toward smaller body size, multiple births/litters per pregnancy, female production of many gametes and offspring over the life span, and low levels of PI (e.g., most plants, insects, mice). These differences have significant influences on physiological variation among human populations.Across human samples, reproductive success (RS: the number of offspring successfully birthed and reared to reproductive age) has been reported to vary positively, negatively, and not at all with longevity of women. This complexity may be in part due to the fact that both early-life and late-life fecundity are associated with longevity in women, while total parity seems a poor gauge of female longevity in humankind. Large variations in associations of RS with longevity in women suggest that multiple factors may confound this association. One confounding factor is that among women, RS is largely determined not by fecundity, but by the quality of PI available to offspring. Among modern humans, PI is more complex, longer lasting (both relatively and absolutely), and extensive than for any other mammal. This suggests that modern human life history is a reflection of the co-evolution of longevity and extensive PI as part of our species' biocultural evolution. The need for long-term PI has greatly shaped human physiological variation and patterns of longevity.

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“…In contrast, in populations living in nonseasonal environments or in areas with unpredictable mast years (some baboons and macaques), females conceive during peak food availability. [65][66][67] Here, ecological conditions act directly on the timing of conceptions. Birth seasons or peaks are the secondary consequence of conception peaks.…”

Section: Box 2 (Continued)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Birth seasons or peaks are the secondary consequence of conception peaks. 67 With regard to Hanuman langurs, Bishop 17 suggested that the timing of births was optimal because plant flowering and flushing in spring may indicate the availability of highquality food. In contrast, Kankane 59 and Sommer and Rajpurohit 11 proposed that the high abundance of food during the monsoon might improve the nutritional status of females, which in turn would enable the females to cycle and conceive.…”

Section: Box 2 (Continued)mentioning

confidence: 99%