Niche partitioning in sympatric Gorilla and Pan from Cameroon: implications for life history strategies and for reconstructing the evolution of hominin life history.

ABSTRACT: Factors influencing the hominoid life histories are poorly understood, and little is known about how ecological conditions modulate the pace of their development. Yet our limited understanding of these interactions underpins life history interpretations in extinct hominins. Here we determined the synchronisation of dental mineralization/eruption with brain size in a 20th century museum collection of sympatric Gorilla gorilla and Pan troglodytes from Central Cameroon. Using δ13C and δ15N of individuals' hair, we assessed whether and how differences in diet and habitat use may have impacted on ape development. The results show that, overall, gorilla hair δ13C and δ15N values are more variable than those of chimpanzees, and that gorillas are consistently lower in δ13C and δ15N compared to chi

SUBMITTER: Macho GA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4108342 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature