Primate life histories and dietary adaptations: A comparison of Asian colobines and Macaques

Abstract

Primate life histories are strongly influenced by both body and brain mass and are mediated by food availability and perhaps dietary adaptations. It has been suggested that folivorous primates mature and reproduce more slowly than frugivores due to lower basal metabolic rates as well as to greater degrees of arboreality, which can lower mortality and thus fecundity. However, the opposite has also been proposed: faster life histories in folivores due to a diet of abundant, protein-rich leaves. We compared two primate taxa often found in sympatry: Asian colobines (folivores, 11 species) and Asian macaques (frugivores, 12 species). We first described new data for a little-known colobine (Phayre's leaf monkeys, Trachypithecus phayrei crepusculus) from Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand. We then compared gestation periods, ages at first birth, and interbirth intervals in colobines and macaques. We predicted that heavier species would have slower life histories, provisioned populations would have faster life histories, and folivores would have slower life histories than frugivores. We calculated general regression models using log body mass, nutritional regime, and taxon as predictor variables. Body mass and nutritional regime had the predicted effects for all three traits. We found taxonomic differences only for gestation, which was significantly longer in colobines, supporting the idea of slower fetal growth (lower maternal energy) compared to macaques and/or advanced dental or gut development. Ages at first birth and interbirth intervals were similar between taxa, perhaps due to additional factors (e.g., allomothering, dispersal). Our results emphasize the need for additional data from wild populations and for establishing whether growth data for provisioned animals (folivores in particular) are representative of wild ones.

A deciduous and permanent dental wear stage system for assessing the age of Trachypithecus sp. specimens (Colobinae, Primates)

“…The early eruption of dp3 may then also be interpreted as an accelerated deciduous dental eruption. This particularity has already been observed by Borries et al (2011). The accelerated growth rate appears to be strongly correlated with diet, as this condition is found in many folivorous primates.…”

“…We can see that the fourth premolar has not fully erupted when the third premolar pierces the arch. permanent dental eruption in Colobines is thought to be accelerated by the early eruption of the M2 (Harvati, 2000;Harvati and Forst, 2007;Borries et al, 2011). The early eruption of dp3 may then also be interpreted as an accelerated deciduous dental eruption.…”

“…Both are informative for the construction of age-at-death profiles. Moreover, the relative length of tooth eruption is important for life histories (Harvati, 2000;King, 2004;Harvati and Frost, 2007;van der Geer and Dermitzakis, 2008;Borries et al, 2011). This point was already raised in the work of Schultz (1935), but has not been taken into account by all the later studies (King, 2004).…”

Beware of Primate Life History Data: A Plea for Data Standards and a Repository

“…To demonstrate potential effects of data quality and confounding factors on life history analyses we built upon our previous investigation of feeding adaptations and life history in Asian colobines and Asian macaques [63]. In this analysis we compared these two taxa because they likely evolved under similar ecological conditions [64], [65] and extant species have a similar body mass range [66], [67], which is advantageous for cross-taxa comparisons [68].…”

Neighboring groups and habitat edges modulate range use in Phayre’s leaf monkeys (Trachypithecus phayrei crepusculus)

“…Phayre's leaf monkeys are mid-sized monkeys (Smith and Jungers 1997) belonging to the subfamily of Colobinae characterized by ruminant-like digestion (Bauchop and Martucci 1968). Consequently, leaves dominate their diet (46%), but a substantial part is also (predominantly unripe) fruits and seeds (Borries et al 2011;Koenig and Borries 2012). In the study population, groups range in size between 6 and 33 animals; 48% of groups contain one adult male (one-male groups), and 52% contain 2-5 adult males (multimale groups; Koenig and Borries 2012).…”