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Post-reproductive lifespan in wild mountain gorillas
Nikolaos Smit1,2, Martha M Robbins1
1Department of Primate Behavior and Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany.
Summary
Postreproductive lifespan, where females stop reproducing but continue living, is observed in mountain gorillas. This finding in wild gorillas adds to understanding hominid life-history evolution.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Primatology
- Gerontology
Background:
- Maximizing fitness typically involves reproduction throughout adulthood.
- Some species exhibit a postreproductive lifespan, posing an evolutionary paradox.
- Limited data exists on this phenomenon in non-human primates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the prevalence of postreproductive lifespan in wild mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei).
- To contribute to the understanding of life-history evolution in hominids.
Main Methods:
- Utilized over three decades of life-history and behavioral data.
- Applied a commonly used criterion to identify postreproductive females.
- Calculated population-level measures of post-reproductive representation.
Main Results:
- Nearly one-third (7/25) of females in the study population exhibited a postreproductive lifespan.
- Postreproductive females lived over a decade past their last reproduction, representing at least a quarter of their adult life.
- A significant post-reproductive representation of 0.10 was found using conservative age estimates.
Conclusions:
- The study confirms the existence of a significant postreproductive lifespan in wild mountain gorillas.
- Findings align with observations in chimpanzees and humans, supporting a broader pattern in hominid evolution.
- This research is crucial for understanding the evolutionary significance of extended postreproductive lifespans.
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