Long‐term data on reproductive output and longevity in captive female common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)

Abstract

The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is widely used in biomedical research, with many housed for breeding purposes world-wide. Significant variation in reproductive output among females has been found compared to other anthropoid primates. The present study explores this reproductive variation, focusing on potential predictors of dam longevity and litter size, as well as changes over time. Back-record analysis was conducted, yielding litter information and reproductive summaries of 360 dams housed at three UK marmoset colonies over 4 decades (1970s-2000s). Results revealed differences among the colonies, as well as within colonies over decades, suggesting environment may play an important role. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses revealed significant effects of mean litter size and yearly production on dam longevity. Decade, mean inter-birth interval and mean dam weight were found to be significant factors explaining dam longevity when looking at colonies individually. The most commonly recorded cause of death was 'poor condition'. Linear regression models found that no reproductive variable was useful in explaining mean litter size, except dam weight at conception, data which was only consistently recorded at one colony. While triplets were common at all three colonies, these larger litters were consistently associated with higher infant mortality, despite human intervention to improve survival. This study increases our understanding of marmoset reproduction, and possible improvements to practical aspects of colony management to enhance survival and welfare are discussed.

Defining predictive factors for reproductive output in captive common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)

“…The influence of the maternal body weight at conception as predictor of litter size may be related to energy availability as marmosets opportunistically adjust their reproductive output in response to changes in diet or energy resources (Jaquish, Tardif, Toal, & Carson, ; Tardif & Jaquish, ; Tardif et al, ). This confirms the link between higher maternal body weight (energy availability) and higher reproductive output (Ash & Buchanan‐Smith, ; Box & Hubrecht, ; Luke & Keith, ; Rutherford et al, ; Tardif & Bales, ; Tardif & Jaquish, ; Tardif et al, ; Tardif et al, ; Tardif, Ziegler, Power, & Layne, ). Most likely, maternal body condition rather than body weight will be a better indicator for litter size.…”

“…However, in captivity, twin and triplet litters are common, which is confirmed in this study. Larger litters have considerably greater perinatal mortality than twin litters, ranging from 30% of infants from triplet litters to 65% from quintuplets (Ash & Buchanan‐Smith, ; Jaquish, Gage, & Tardif, ). Poor coordination of cooperative parental behavior has been suggested as a cause of this loss (Tardif, Layne, Cancino, & Smucny, ), but also infant condition might play a role (Tardif, Layne, & Smucny, ).…”

“…The most commonly described factors, assumed to affect reproductive output, are maternal body weight, maternal age, parturition number, and increased energy‐protein content of the diet (Ash & Buchanan‐Smith, ; Hearn & Burden, ; Hearn, Lunn, Burden, & Pilcher, ; Jaquish, Cheverud, & Tardif, ; Rothe, Darms, & Koenig, ; Smucny et al, ; Tardif & Jaquish, ; Tardif et al, ; Tardif, Power, Layne, Smucny, & Ziegler, ). However, those studies focused mostly on the relationship between number of ovulations and the effect of intrauterine environments and dams’ longevity, but not on the number of infants produced per litter per parturition.…”

The common marmoset: An overview of its natural history, ecology and behavior

“…Females have a post‐partum estrus phase during which conception may occur (Tardif et al, ). They typically have two litters per year (Tardif et al, ), and the offspring are generally twins (Tardif et al, ; Ash and Buchanan‐Smith, ), among which chimerism may occur (Malukiewicz et al, ). Triplet records are especially common in laboratory animals (Tardif et al, ; Ash and Buchanan‐Smith, ), but litter mortality in these cases is high (Ash and Buchanan‐Smith, ).…”

Current models of the marmoset brain

“…As an animal model of non-human primates, the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), a New World monkey, has been used in a variety of biomedical studies that have ranged in topic from reproductive medicine to social behavioral science (Heig, 1999;Norscia and Palagi, 2011;Ash and Buchanan-Smith, 2014). The inevitable evolution of gene manipulation technologies means that the use of the common marmoset in these research fields will increase (Sasaki et al, 2005), Moreover, since genome of this species has been recently sequenced, it is anticipated that there will be rapid surge in the interest of primate biology (Marmoset Genome Sequencing and Analysis Consortium and Marmoset Genome Sequencing and Analysis Consortium, 2014).…”