Am J Biol Anthropol
November 2024
Objectives: Allomaternal care (AMC) is suggested to be energetically beneficial to mothers and costly to allomothers. However, among primates, AMC is a heterogeneous phenomenon and its implications are less clear especially in female dispersal species. Here, we investigated infant care in a female dispersal species, Phayre's leaf monkeys (Trachypithecus phayrei crepusculus), to evaluate whether mothers were constrained by infant care and benefitted energetically from AMC, whether AMC was energetically costly for allomothers and how maternal experience was associated with AMC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGroup living may entail local resource competition (LRC) which can be reduced if the birth sex ratio (BSR) is biased towards members of the dispersing sex who leave the group and no longer compete locally with kin. In primates, the predicted relationship between dispersal and BSR is generally supported although data for female dispersal species are rare and primarily available from captivity. Here, we present BSR data for Phayre's leaf monkeys () at the Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand ( = 104).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Biol Anthropol
February 2024
Objectives: Raising offspring imposes energetic costs, especially for female mammals. Consequently, seasons favoring high energy intake and sustained positive energy balance often result in a conception peak. Factors that may weaken this coordinated effect include premature offspring loss and adolescent subfertility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEstimating global and multi-level Thermosphere Neutral Density (TND) is important for studying coupling processes within the upper atmosphere, and for applications like orbit prediction. Models are applied for predicting TND changes, however, their performance can be improved by accounting for the simplicity of model structure and the sampling limitations of model inputs. In this study, a simultaneous Calibration and Data Assimilation (C/DA) algorithm is applied to integrate freely available CHAMP, GRACE, and Swarm derived TND measurements into the NRLMSISE-00 model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlobal estimation of thermospheric neutral density (TND) on various altitudes is important for geodetic and space weather applications. This is typically provided by models, however, the quality of these models is limited due to their imperfect structure and the sensitivity of their parameters to the calibration period. Here, we present an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF)-based calibration and data assimilation (C/DA) technique that updates the model's states and simultaneously calibrates its key parameters.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: It seems to be commonly accepted that gestation length within the subfamily Colobinae lasts several weeks longer in the African tribe (Colobini) than in the Asian tribe (Presbytini) even though closely related taxa of similar body mass should have similar life histories. Suspecting problems with data provenance to cause the difference, we revisited the published records expecting similar gestation lengths in both tribes if based on vetted, accurate data.
Materials And Methods: We compiled published gestation length data for Colobini and Presbytini, labeling them as "unspecified" (n = 16) if the primary reference could not be located, methods were not described, and/or conceptions, the beginning of gestation, were determined based on sporadic observations of mating.
Studies in multiple host species have shown that gut microbial diversity and composition change during pregnancy and lactation. However, the specific mechanisms underlying these shifts are not well understood. Here, we use longitudinal data from wild Phayre's leaf monkeys to test the hypothesis that fluctuations in reproductive hormone concentrations contribute to gut microbial shifts during pregnancy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVariation in the relationship between gestation length and body mass can arise because different types of tissue require varying amounts of energy to build, and not all species build such tissues in the same proportions. Given that a pregnant female has a finite amount of energy, trade-offs between investment in different tissues may occur. Here we examine if dental precocity accounts for variation in primate gestation length.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Geophagy has several hypothesized functions, among them (1) detoxification of plant secondary compounds, for example, tannins, (2) buffering stomach pH to alleviate acidosis caused by high sugar intake, and (3) supplementing the diet with mineral nutrients. We tested these hypotheses in Nepal gray langurs (Semnopithecus schistaceus), a foregut fermenter for which fruits and leaves dominate the diet at different times of the year.
Materials And Methods: We collected data on feeding time per food item for 21 unprovisioned adult langurs at Ramnagar, Nepal, for 1 year using instantaneous sampling (773 observation hours).
Females of several catarrhine primate species exhibit exaggerated sexual swellings that change in size and coloration during the menstrual cycle and, in some species, gestation. Although their function remains under debate, studies indicate that swellings may contain information males could use to discern ovulation and the probability that a cycle will be conceptive. Here we combine visual ratings of swellings with hormonal data for a group of Sanje mangabeys (18 adult, 3 adolescent females) to determine if their swellings provide reliable information on female fertility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecent decades have seen rapid development of new analytical methods to investigate patterns of interspecific variation. Yet these cutting-edge statistical analyses often rely on data of questionable origin, varying accuracy, and weak comparability, which seem to have reduced the reproducibility of studies. It is time to improve the transparency of comparative data while also making these improved data more widely available.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Phys Anthropol
January 2017
Objectives: Infanticide by males is assumed to promote permanent male-female associations, although its importance for social monogamy is still debated. We examined the consequences of male membership change in the largest socially monogamous primate, the siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus), a species that also forms polyandrous groups and where males may provide offspring care. We examine (a) the potential risk of infanticide by documenting changes in female-offspring relationships following male change, expecting abrupt weaning; and (b) the potential importance of male care and polyandry for offspring survival.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn most group-living mammals, reproductive success declines with increasing age and increases with increasing rank. Such effects have mainly been studied in matrilineal and in "age positive" hierarchies, which are stable and in which high ranking females often outperform low ranking ones. These relationships are less well-understood in age-inversed dominance hierarchies, in which a female's rank changes over time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Phys Anthropol
June 2016
Objectives: Reproductive skew is proposed to link to despotism in dominance hierarchies. While studies illustrating male skew are plentiful, demonstrating the link to despotism is rare. Likewise, it is often unknown which factors (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn species with strong male-male competition, access to females in multimale-multifemale groups is usually regulated via a dominance hierarchy. The highest ranking (alpha) male often has priority of access and sires most offspring. The alpha male can change in three basic ways: (i) a recent immigrant or a resident challenges and becomes the new alpha; (ii) formation of a new group; (iii) succession-becoming alpha after higher ranking males have left.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Phys Anthropol
November 2014
Enamel thickness has played an important role in studies of primate taxonomy, phylogeny, and functional morphology, although its variation among hominins is poorly understood. Macaques parallel hominins in their widespread geographic distribution, relative range of body sizes, and radiation during the last five million years. To explore enamel thickness variation, we quantified average and relative enamel thickness (AET and RET) in Macaca arctoides, Macaca fascicularis, Macaca fuscata, Macaca mulatta, Macaca nemestrina, and Macaca sylvanus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn accurate description of reproductive characteristics and ovarian endocrinology is necessary to address questions about the reproductive strategies and life history of a species and for meaningful, cross species analyses. Here we used analysis of fecal estradiol (fE) and behavioral observations to determine for the first time the reproductive characteristics and endocrinology of a wild group (N = 18 adult and 3 adolescent females) of Sanje mangabeys (Cercocebus sanjei). The study was conducted in the Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Tanzania, from October 2008 through September 2010.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn primates and other mammals, weaning is an equivocal concept, as is reflected in the numerous ways it is measured: a) first intake of solid food, b) conflict over access to the nipple, c) ability to survive without mother, d) maternal resumption of cycling, or e) the cessation of nipple contact. The lack of a consistent definition means that weaning age, although it falls between gestation (fetal growth) and age at first reproduction (most energy diverted from growth), is currently not a reliable life history variable capturing offspring independence. Using data for wild Phayre's leaf monkeys (Trachypithecus phayrei crepusculus) at Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand (51 offspring, four groups), we asked whether the end of nipple contact indicates offspring independence as measured by survival to 3 years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe examined historical and ecological factors affecting current primate biodiversity in Southeast Asia. In Africa, Madagascar and South America, but not Southeast Asia, primate species richness is positively associated with average rainfall and distance from the equator (latitude). We predicted that Southeast Asia's non-conformance may be due to the effect of dispersed Pleistocene refuges (locations of constricted tropical forests during glacial maxima which today are at least 305 m in altitude).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLife history variables such as the age at first reproduction and the interval between consecutive births are measures of investment in growth and reproduction in a particular population or species. As such they allow for meaningful comparisons of the speed of growth and reproduction between species and between larger taxa. Especially in primates such life history research has far reaching implications and has led for instance to the "grandmother hypothesis".
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhilos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci
May 2013
Socio-ecological models aim to predict the variation in social systems based on a limited number of ecological parameters. Since the 1960s, the original model has taken two paths: one relating to grouping patterns and mating systems and one relating to grouping patterns and female social structure. Here, we review the basic ideas specifically with regard to non-human primates, present new results and point to open questions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecent advances in DNA and isotope analyses have allowed tentative reconstructions of dispersal strategies of Plio-Pleistocene hominins.(1,2) Comparing their findings to dispersal patterns of some extant apes and humans suggested groups of related males and unrelated females in Neandertals indicating patrilocality(2) and Pan-like male philopatry in australopiths.(1) Here we review the demographic, ethnographic, and genetic evidence of dispersal patterns in extant apes and humans and compare the results to the suggestions for Plio-Pleistocene hominins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAsian colobines typically live in small one-male groups (OMGs) averaging five adult females, but Simias concolor (simakobu or pig-tailed langur) is considered an exception because mostly adult male-female pairs have been reported. However, based on their phylogenetic position and marked sexual dimorphism, simakobu are also expected to form OMGs with multiple females. The preponderance of small groups could be the result of human disturbance (hunting or habitat disturbance) reducing group size in the recent past.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExtended sexual receptivity in primates is thought to facilitate paternity confusion, thus decreasing the risk of infanticide. However, females might also provide some indication of ovulation to attract preferred males during fertile periods. We examined female mate preferences across defined receptive periods (N = 59) in a group of wild Phayre's leaf monkeys (Trachypithecus phayrei crepusculus) at Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary (February-September 2006; 2,603 contact hours).
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