Investigating infant feeding development in wild chimpanzees using stable isotopes of naturally shed hair.

ABSTRACT: Measuring the relative contributions of milk and non-milk foods in the diets of primate infants is difficult from observations. Stable carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotopes in hair can be used to physiologically track infant feeding through development, but few wild studies have done so, likely due to the difficulty in collecting hair non-invasively. We assessed infant feeding at different ages in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) at Ngogo, Uganda using δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N of keratin in 164 naturally shed hairs from 29 infants (61 hairs), 6 juveniles (7 hairs), 28 mothers (67 hairs) and 14 adult males (29 hairs). Hairs were collected when they stuck to feces during defecation or from the ground after chimpanzees groomed or rested. We could not di

SUBMITTER: Badescu I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11650929 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature