Higher offspring mortality with short interbirth intervals in free-ranging rhesus macaques.

ABSTRACT: Short birth intervals have long been linked to adverse child outcomes in humans. However, it remains unclear the extent to which the birth interval has a direct influence on offspring mortality, independent of the confounding effects of modern environments and human sociocultural practices on reproductive behavior. Outside of humans, the relationship between birth intervals and offspring mortality has been rarely tested, leaving an open question of how much the findings from humans imply evolutionarily conserved mechanisms. Here, using ∼9,000 birth records from ∼1,400 free-ranging rhesus macaque mothers, we show that short birth intervals preceding or succeeding the birth of an offspring are both associated with higher offspring mortality, after controlling for heterogeneity across mothers

SUBMITTER: Lee DS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6442614 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature