Social and ecological factors influencing offspring survival in wild macaques.

ABSTRACT: Premature loss of offspring decreases direct fitness of parents. In gregarious mammals, both ecological and social variables impact offspring survival and may interact with each other in this regard. Although a number of studies have investigated factors influencing offspring loss in mammals, we still know very little on how different factors interact with one another. We therefore investigated fetal and infant mortality in 3 large groups of wild crested macaques (Macaca nigra) over a period of up to 5 years by including potential social causes such as maternal dominance rank, male immigration, between group encounters, and ecological conditions such as rainfall in a multivariate survival analysis using Cox proportional hazards model. Infant but not fetal survival was most impaired

SUBMITTER: Kerhoas D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4160111 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature