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Modeling variation in the growth of wild and captive juvenile vervet monkeys in relation to diet and resource availability.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:To compare longitudinal weight gain in captive and wild juvenile vervet monkeys and conduct an empirical assessment of different mechanistic growth models. METHODS:Weights were collected from two groups of captive monkeys and two consecutive cohorts of wild monkeys until the end of the juvenile period (~800?days). The captive groups were each fed different diets, while the wild groups experienced different ecological conditions. Three different growth curve models were compared. RESULTS:By 800?days, the wild juveniles were lighter, with a slower maximum growth rate, and reached asymptote earlier than their captive counterparts. There were overall differences in weight and growth rate across the two wild cohorts. This corresponded to differences in resource availability. There was considerable overlap in growth rate and predicted adult weight of male and females in the first, but not the second, wild cohort. Maternal parity was not influential. While the von Bertalanffy curve provided the best fit to the data sets modeled together, the Logistic curve best described growth in the wild cohorts when considered separately. CONCLUSIONS:The growth curves of the two captive cohorts are likely to lie near the maximum attainable by juvenile vervets. It may be helpful to include deviations from these rates when assessing the performance of wild vervet monkeys. The comparison of wild and captive juveniles confirmed the value of comparing different growth curve models, and an appreciation that the best models may well differ for different populations. Choice of mechanistic growth model can, therefore, be empirically justified, rather than theoretically predetermined.

SUBMITTER: Jarrett JD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7449506 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Modeling variation in the growth of wild and captive juvenile vervet monkeys in relation to diet and resource availability.

Jarrett Jonathan D JD Bonnell Tyler T Jorgensen Matthew J MJ Schmitt Christopher A CA Young Christopher C Dostie Marcus M Barrett Louise L Henzi Stephanus Peter SP

American journal of physical anthropology 20191101 1

<h4>Objectives</h4>To compare longitudinal weight gain in captive and wild juvenile vervet monkeys and conduct an empirical assessment of different mechanistic growth models.<h4>Methods</h4>Weights were collected from two groups of captive monkeys and two consecutive cohorts of wild monkeys until the end of the juvenile period (~800 days). The captive groups were each fed different diets, while the wild groups experienced different ecological conditions. Three different growth curve models were ...[more]

PMID: 31675103

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Project description:Intersexual dominance relations are important for female mammals, because of their consequences for accessing food and for the degree of sexual control females experience from males. Female mammals are usually considered to rank below males in the dominance hierarchy, because of their typical physical inferiority. Yet, in some groups or species, females are nonetheless dominant over some males (partial female dominance). Intersexual dominance, therefore, also depends on traits other than sexual dimorphism, such as social support, social exchange, group adult sex-ratio, and the widespread self-reinforcing effects of winning and losing fights, the "winner-loser effect." The importance of sex-ratio and the winner-loser effect remains poorly understood. A theoretical model, DomWorld, predicts that in groups with a higher proportion of males, females are dominant over more males when aggression is fierce (not mild). The model is based on a small number of general processes in mammals, such as grouping, aggression, the winner-loser effect, the initially greater fighting capacity of males than females, and sex ratio. We expect its predictions to be general and suggest they be examined in a great number of species and taxa. Here, we test these predictions in four groups of wild vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) in Mawana game reserve in Africa, using 7 years of data. We confirm that a higher proportion of males in the group is associated with greater dominance of females over males; a result that remains when combining these data with those of two other sites (Amboseli and Samara). We additionally confirm that in groups with a higher fraction of males there is a relatively higher (a) proportion of fights of males with other males, and (b) proportion of fights won by females against males from the fights of females with any adults. We reject alternative hypotheses that more dominance of females over males could be attributed to females receiving more coalitions from males, or females receiving lowered male aggression in exchange for sexual access (the docile male hypothesis). We conclude that female dominance relative to males is dynamic and that future empirical studies of inter-sexual dominance will benefit by considering the adult sex-ratio of groups.

Dataset Information

Modeling variation in the growth of wild and captive juvenile vervet monkeys in relation to diet and resource availability.

Publications

Modeling variation in the growth of wild and captive juvenile vervet monkeys in relation to diet and resource availability.

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