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Abstract ObjectivesWeaning is a key life history milestone for mammals that represents both the end of nutritional investment from the perspective of mothers and the start of complete nutritional independence for the infants. The age at weaning may vary depending on ecological, social, and demographic factors experienced by the mother and infant. Bwindi mountain gorillas live in different environmental conditions and have longer interbirth intervals than their counterparts in the Virunga Volcanoes, yet other life history characteristics of this population remain less well known. We use long‐term data from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda to examine factors related to weaning age. Materials and methodsWe analyzed data on infants born in four mountain gorilla groups in Bwindi to quantify their age of weaning (defined as last nipple contact) and to test if the sex of offspring, parity, and dominance rank of mother influences age of weaning. We also compared the age at weaning and time to conception after resumption of mating in Bwindi and Virunga gorillas. ResultsBwindi gorillas were weaned at an average age of 57.5 months. No difference was found between age of weaning for primiparous and multiparous mothers, nor did maternal dominance rank influence age of weaning, but sons were weaned at a later age than daughters. The majority of Bwindi mothers were still suckling when they resumed mating and mothers generally conceived before they weaned their previous offspring. The age of weaning was significantly later in Bwindi than in Virunga gorillas. After mothers resumed mating, the time to conceiving the next offspring was not significantly longer for Bwindi females than Virungas females (6 vs. 4 months). DiscussionLater weaning age for sons than daughters is similar to findings of other studies of great apes. Bwindi mountain gorillas are weaned at approximately the same age as western gorillas and chimpanzees, which is more than a year later than Virunga mountain gorillas. The results of this study suggest that variation in ecological conditions of populations living in close geographic proximity can result in variation in life history patterns, which has implications for understanding the evolution of the unique life history patterns of humans.
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Sources of variation in weaned age among wild chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania
Abstract ObjectivesA key feature of human life history evolution is that modern humans wean their infants 2–4 years earlier on average than African apes. However, our understanding of weaning variation in apes remains limited. Here we provide the first such report in chimpanzees by examining weaned age variation using long‐term data from Gombe National Park, Tanzania. Material and MethodsWe analyzed 41 years of observational behavioral data from 65 offspring of 29 mothers to examine the relationships between weaned age (defined as cessation of suckling) in wild chimpanzees and maternal age, dominance rank and parity, and offspring sex. We used Cox proportional hazards regression with mixed effects to model time to weaning and to examine potential sources of variation in offspring weaned age. ResultsWe found that male offspring were less likely than female offspring to wean by a given age and that weaned age of males varied more than weaned age of females. In addition, maternal dominance rank interacted with offspring age, such that low‐ranking mothers were less likely to wean offspring early, but this effect decreased with offspring age. DiscussionWe found that male offspring and offspring of low‐ranking females were less likely to wean early, but did not find evidence for variable weaning according to maternal age or parity. As more data accumulate, we will be better able to disentangle the effects of maternal dominance rank, age and parity. Such studies will not only provide a richer understanding of living ape life history characteristics, but will also provide an important framework for understanding the evolution of early weaning in humans.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1753437
- PAR ID:
- 10458694
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- American Journal of Physical Anthropology
- Volume:
- 171
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 0002-9483
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 419-429
- Size(s):
- p. 419-429
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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