Abstract
Our research aims to further knowledge on the adaptive significance of reproductive processes in female primates, using a comparative approach. Our studies in semi-free ranging olive baboons (Papio anubis) show that sampled baboon mothers resume cycling and reconceive when their infants reach a relatively constant threshold mass, as predicted from interspecies life history theory. We suggest that the duration of maternal investment acted as a facultative adjustment to infant growth rates, and depends on the maternal physical and social characteristics (e.g. body mass and social rank). Energetic costs associated with reproduction are surprisingly low in our sample. Energy intake and energy expenditure do not closely predict the time to resumption of cycling. We also find a positive correlation between maternal energy expenditure and infant growth rates. Using the baboon model, this study places these results on infant growth and reproductive energetics into a broader perspective on primate life history, and explores the question of how costly non-human primate infants are. We have divided these expenditures into time and energy costs, investigating each of these during the early phase of growth.
Résumé
Notre recherche a pour objectif de permettre, grâce à une démarche comparative, une meilleure compréhension de la signification adaptative des processus reproductifs chez les femelles primates. Nos études chez le babouin olive (Papio anubis) en semi-liberté montrent que les femelles babouins de notre échantillon reprennent une cyclicité ovarienne et conçoivent à nouveau quand leurs bébés atteignent un poids seuil relativement constant, tel que celui prédit par la théorie d’histoire de vie interspécifique. Nous suggérons que la durée d’investissement maternel agit comme un ajustement facultatif aux taux de croissance du jeune, et dépend des caractéristiques physiques et sociales de la mère (e.g. masse corporelle et rang social). Les coûts énergétiques associés à la reproduction sont étonnamment faibles dans notre échantillon. Les apports alimentaires et la dépense énergétique des femelles ne prédisent pas précisément la durée de blocage de la fonction ovarienne. La dépense énergétique de la mère et les taux de croissance du jeune sont positivement corrélés. En utilisant le modèle babouin, nous replacerons ces résultats sur la croissance du jeune et l’énergétique de la reproduction dans une perspective plus large d’histoire de vie des primates, et nous explorerons la question du coût (temps et énergie) d’un jeune primate non-humain au cours de la phase précoce de croissance.
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Garcia, C. Cost of reproduction in female non-human primates: an anthropological perspective. BMSAP 26, 154–160 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13219-014-0106-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13219-014-0106-1