Parturition Synchrony Index: A Method for Assessing Individual Parturition Synchrony Within a Group or Population.

ABSTRACT: The phenomenon of parturition synchrony at the population level has been studied for decades using various methods. To assess the tendency of individual mothers to synchronize their parturition timing with others, we developed a novel parturition synchrony index (PSI). The PSI quantifies an individual mother's degree of parturition synchrony within a group or population by detecting variation in the synchrony of parturitions, regardless of their actual timing within the season. A value of 1 indicates complete synchrony (i.e., a parturition occurring on the same day as others), whereas values approaching 0 reflect increasing asynchrony. To evaluate the robustness of the PSI, we conducted simulations examining how parturition-date distribution (completely synchronous, lognormal, normal, bimo

SUBMITTER: Dusek A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12758954 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature