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Female Age of First Reproduction at Cayo Santiago: Heritability and Shared Environments

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Bones, Genetics, and Behavior of Rhesus Macaques

Part of the book series: Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects ((DIPR))

Abstract

Sexual maturation is a major transition in mammalian life histories including relatively long-lived, late-maturing primates. Age of first reproduction (AFR) in female primates is widely documented to vary among population members and to correlate with population density and social dominance. Research with Cayo Santiago macaques was among the first to identify these patterns. While explanations for variation in female AFR have centered around priority of access to limited resources and avoidance of stress, less attention has been drawn to potential genetic variation for AFR. Furthermore, the “dual inheritance” of genes and dominance rank in nepotistic female macaques implies these effects may be confounded. Heritability estimates for AFR at Cayo Santiago are small (≈0.15), but significantly greater than zero implicating genetic variation in this life history trait. However, predicted breeding values for AFR are randomly distributed among rank-levels, which points to common environmental effects, rather than inter-matriline genetic differences, as the primary causes of rank-related variation in AFR. In addition, interannual variation in population density, climate, and colony management also result in strong cohort effects on AFR. Maternal identity explained no variance in AFR, although some maternal characteristics do influence AFR, which requires greater clarity in describing the presence or absence of maternal effects on this important life history trait.

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Acknowledgments

Cayo Santiago is part of the Caribbean Primate Research Center (CPRC) which is supported by the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The facility is also supported by Grant Number CM-5 P40 RR003640-20 from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of NIH. The contents of this chapter are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of NCRR or NIH. The genetic database from which paternity data were provided was originally created by John Berard, Fred Bercovitch, Matt Kessler, Michael Krawczak, Peter Nürnberg, and Jorg Schmidtke. The National Science Foundation, Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, University of Berlin, Deutsche Forschungsmeinschaft, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, NIH, and CPRC funded the creation of the genetic database. Additional funding for this research came from the University of Illinois Graduate College and the University of Missouri. Melissa Gerald, John Cant, Terry Kensler, Benedikt Hallgrimsson, and Jean Turnquist were all helpful resources while working with CPRC materials. Angel “Guelo” Figueroa, Edgar Davila, and Elizabeth Maldonado must be credited for the completeness and upkeep of the demographic records on Cayo Santiago. John Berard and Donald Sade provided the data and discussion on matriline social rank. Steve Leigh, Paul Garber, Charles Roseman, Rebecca Stumpf, and Jim Cheverud all provided helpful insights on this project. Comments from Martin Kowalewski and Melissa Raguet also improved parts of the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, 107 Swallow Hall, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    Gregory E. Blomquist

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    Qian Wang

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Blomquist, G.E. (2012). Female Age of First Reproduction at Cayo Santiago: Heritability and Shared Environments. In: Wang, Q. (eds) Bones, Genetics, and Behavior of Rhesus Macaques. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1046-1_9

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