A longitudinal study of age-specific reproductive output and body condition among male rhesus macaques, Macaca mulatta
A longitudinal study of age-specific reproductive output and body condition among male rhesus macaques, Macaca mulatta
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DOI：
10.1007/s00114-003-0436-1
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发表时间：
2003-07-01
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Krawczak, M
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Bercovitch, FB;Widdig, A;Krawczak, M
在许多哺乳动物物种中，雄性繁殖成功率似乎在成年初期急剧上升，在壮年期间形成短暂的平台期，而在老年动物中则下降，这种模式通常归因于随着衰老而导致的身体状况下降。然而，缺乏确凿的证据来证实或反驳非人类灵长类动物中的这一特征。在这里，我们将十年来对自由放养的恒河猴（Macaca mulatta）的亲子关系进行的遗传分析与有关身体状况的信息结合起来，以评估形态变化如何影响雄性的特定年龄繁殖。我们发现，特定年龄的生殖成功与其他哺乳动物的生活史概况相同，但随着年龄的增长，生殖产出的减少与生存机会的减少有关，而不是伴随着身体状况的恶化。我们证明，男性开始生育年龄的方差是女性开始生育年龄的方差的三倍。我们提供了来自灵长类动物的第一个证据，表明雄性中特定年龄的生殖产出并不是与年龄相关的身体状况变化的结果，而是反映了社会和人口因素。
In many mammalian species, male reproductive success appears to climb sharply at young adulthood, form a brief plateau during prime ages, and decline among older animals, a pattern often attributed to reduced physical condition with ageing. However, solid evidence to either substantiate or refute this profile among nonhuman primates is lacking. Here, we combine a decade of genetic analysis of paternity among free-ranging rhesus macaques, Macaca mulatta, with information about body condition in order to evaluate how changes in morphology might govern age-specific reproduction among males. We show that age-specific reproductive success traverses the same life history profile as found in other mammals, but reductions in reproductive output with advanced age were associated with reduced chances of survivorship rather than accompanied by diminished body condition. We demonstrate that variance in male age at onset of reproduction is three times greater than variance in female age at onset of reproduction. We provide the first evidence from primates that age-specific reproductive output among males is not a consequence of age-related changes in body condition, but reflects social and demographic factors.