Eating for two: Behavioral and environmental correlates of gestation length among free-ranging baboons (Papio cynocephalus) |
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Authors: | Joan B Silk |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Anthropology, University of California, 90024 Los Angeles, California;(2) California Primate Research Center, University of California, 95616 Davis, California |
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Abstract: | Variation in environmental conditions during pregnancy and differences in the feeding behavior of females during pregnancy
were consistently associated with variation in gestation length among free-ranging yellow baboons, Papio cynocephalus,in Amboseli National Park, Kenya. Females whose pregnancies ended during the wet season gave birth after shorter pregnancies
than females whose pregnancies ended during the dry season. When rainfall is held constant, another source of variation in
gestation length emerges. Females that spent progressively less time feeding over the course of their pregnancies gave birth
after longer pregnancies than females that spent progressively more time feeding over the course of their pregnancies. These
two factors, which provide rough indices of maternal nutritional status, accounted for a substantial fraction of the observed
variation in gestation length among these female baboons. |
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Keywords: | gestation pregnancy baboon nutrition fetal development |
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