Maternal Condition Does Not Influence Birth Sex Ratios in Anubis Baboons (Papio anubis)
نویسندگان
چکیده
Trivers and Willard predicted that when parental condition has differential effects on the fitness of male and female offspring, parents who are in good condition will bias investment toward the sex that benefits most from additional investment. Efforts to test predictions derived from Trivers and Willard's model have had mixed results, perhaps because most studies have relied on proxy measures of parental condition, such as dominance rank. Here, we examine the effects of female baboons condition on birth sex ratios and post-natal investment, based on visual assessments of maternal body condition. We find that local environmental conditions have significant effects on female condition, but maternal condition at conception has no consistent relationship with birth sex ratios. Mothers who are in poorer condition at the time of conception resume cycling significantly later than females who are in better condition, but the sex of their infants has no effect on the time to resumption of cycling. Thus, our findings provide strong evidence that maternal condition influences females' ability to reproduce, but females do not facultatively adjust the sex ratio of their offspring in relation to their dominance rank or current condition.
منابع مشابه
Age at maturity in wild baboons: genetic, environmental and demographic influences.
The timing of early life-history events, such as sexual maturation and first reproduction, can greatly influence variation in individual fitness. In this study, we analysed possible sources of variation underlying different measures of age at social and physical maturation in wild baboons in the Amboseli basin, Kenya. The Amboseli baboons are a natural population primarily comprised of yellow b...
متن کاملCharacterisation of placental malaria in olive baboons (Papio anubis) infected with Plasmodium knowlesi H strain
Pregnant women have increased susceptibility to malaria infection. In these women, malaria parasites are frequently found sequestered in the placental intervillous spaces, a condition referred to as placental malaria (PM). Placental malaria threatens the health of the mother and the child’s life by causing still births and reduction in gestational age. An estimated 24 million pregnant women in ...
متن کاملOlive baboons, Papio anubis, adjust their visual and auditory intentional gestures to the visual attention of others
متن کامل
The pathology of experimental lead encephalopathy in the baboon (Papio anubis).
Hopkins, A. P., and Dayan, A. D. (1974). British Journal of Industrial Medicine, 31, 128-133. The pathologyof experimental leadencephalopathy in the baboon (Papio anubis). Baboons(Papio anubis) were intoxicated by intratracheal injections of lead carbonate. The main pathological findings were of widespread cerebral oedema and focal cortical necroses. The mechanism by which lead produces these c...
متن کاملGenetic structure in a dynamic baboon hybrid zone corroborates behavioural observations in a hybrid population.
Behaviour and genetic structure are intimately related: mating patterns and patterns of movement between groups or populations influence the movement of genetic variation across the landscape and from one generation to the next. In hybrid zones, the behaviour of the hybridizing taxa can also impact the incidence and outcome of hybridization events. Hybridization between yellow baboons and anubi...
متن کامل