After short interbirth intervals, captive callitrichine monkeys have higher infant mortality
Brett M. Frye,
Dakota E. McCoy,
Jennifer Kotler,
Amanda Embury,
Judith M. Burkart,
Monika Burns,
Simon Eyre,
Peter Galbusera,
Jacqui Hooper,
Arun Idoe,
Agustín López Goya,
Jennifer Mickelberg,
Marcos Peromingo Quesada,
Miranda Stevenson,
Sara Sullivan,
Mark Warneke,
Sheila Wojciechowski,
Dominic Wormell,
David Haig,
Suzette D. Tardif
Affiliations
Brett M. Frye
Department of Biology, Emory & Henry College, Emory, VA 24327, USA; Corresponding author
Dakota E. McCoy
Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Jennifer Kotler
Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Amanda Embury
Department of Wildlife Conservation and Science, Zoos Victoria, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
Judith M. Burkart
Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
Monika Burns
Division of Comparative Medicine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Simon Eyre
Wellington Zoo, Newtown, Wellington 6021, New Zealand
Peter Galbusera
Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp (RZSA), Antwerp, Belgium
Jacqui Hooper
Wellington Zoo, Newtown, Wellington 6021, New Zealand
Arun Idoe
Apenheul Primate Park, Apeldoorn, the Netherlands
Agustín López Goya
Faunia-ParquesReunidos, Madrid, Spain
Jennifer Mickelberg
Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, GA 30315, USA
Marcos Peromingo Quesada
Faunia-ParquesReunidos, Madrid, Spain
Miranda Stevenson
Bristol Zoo Gardens, Bristol, UK
Sara Sullivan
Chicago Zoological Society, Brookfield, IL 60513, USA
Mark Warneke
Chicago Zoological Society, Brookfield, IL 60513, USA
Sheila Wojciechowski
Chicago Zoological Society, Brookfield, IL 60513, USA
Dominic Wormell
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Jersey, Channel Islands, UK
David Haig
Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Suzette D. Tardif
Southwest National Primate Research Center, San Antonio, TX 78245, USA
Summary: Life history theory predicts a trade-off between the quantity and quality of offspring. Short interbirth intervals—the time between successive births—may increase the quantity of offspring but harm offspring quality. In contrast, long interbirth intervals may bolster offspring quality while reducing overall reproductive output. Further research is needed to determine whether this relationship holds among primates, which have intensive parental investment. Using Cox proportional hazards models, we examined the effects of interbirth intervals (short, normal, or long) on infant survivorship using a large demographic dataset (n = 15,852) of captive callitrichine monkeys (marmosets, tamarins, and lion tamarins). In seven of the nine species studied, infants born after short interbirth intervals had significantly higher risks of mortality than infants born after longer interbirth intervals. These results suggest that reproduction in callitrichine primates may be limited by physiologic constraints, such that short birth spacing drives higher infant mortality.
