Birth timing generates reproductive trade-offs in a non-seasonal breeding primate.

ABSTRACT: The evolutionary benefits of reproductive seasonality are often measured by a single-fitness component, namely offspring survival. Yet different fitness components may be maximized by different birth timings. This may generate fitness trade-offs that could be critical to understanding variation in reproductive timing across individuals, populations and species. Here, we use long-term demographic and behavioural data from wild chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) living in a seasonal environment to test the adaptive significance of seasonal variation in birth frequencies. We identify two distinct optimal birth timings in the annual cycle, located four-month apart, which maximize offspring survival or minimize maternal interbirth intervals (IBIs), by respectively matching the annual food pe

SUBMITTER: Dezeure J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8113908 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature