Costs of reproduction in a long-lived female primate: injury risk and wound healing.

ABSTRACT: Reproduction is a notoriously costly phase of life, exposing individuals to injury, infectious disease, and energetic tradeoffs. The strength of these costs should be influenced by life history strategies, and in long-lived species, females may be selected to mitigate costs of reproduction because life span is such an important component of their reproductive success. Here we report evidence for two costs of reproduction that may influence survival in wild female baboons-injury risk and delayed wound healing. Based on 29 years of observations in the Amboseli ecosystem, Kenya, we found that wild female baboons experienced the highest risk of injury on days when they were most likely to be ovulating. In addition, lactating females healed from wounds more slowly than pregnant or cycling femal

SUBMITTER: Archie EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4097819 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature