Isbell Lynne A, Young Truman P, Jaffe Karin Enstam, Carlson Anne A, Chancellor Rebecca L
Int J Primatol. 2009 Feb;30(1):103-124. doi: 10.1007/s10764-009-9332-7. Epub 2009 Jan 27.
Mortality patterns are thought to be strong selective forces on life history traits, with high adult mortality and low immature mortality favoring early and rapid reproduction. Patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) have the highest potential rates of population increase for their body size of any haplorhine primate because they reproduce both earlier and more often. We report here 10 yr of comparative demographic data on a population of patas monkeys and a sympatric population of vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops), a closely related species differing in aspects of social system, ecology, and life history. The data reveal that 1) adult female patas monkeys have significantly higher mortality than adult female vervets; 2) infant mortality in patas monkeys is relatively low compared to the norm for mammals because it is not significantly different from that of adult female patas monkeys; and 3) infant mortality is significantly higher than adult female mortality in vervets. For both species, much of the mortality could be attributed to predation. An epidemic illness was also a major contributor to the mortality of adult female patas monkeys whereas chronic exposure to pathogens in a cold and damp microenvironment may have contributed to the mortality of infant vervets. Both populations experienced large fluctuations during the study period. Our results support the prediction from demographic models of life history evolution that high adult mortality relative to immature mortality selects for early maturation.
死亡率模式被认为是对生活史特征的强大选择力量，高成年死亡率和低未成年死亡率有利于早期和快速繁殖。赤猴（Erythrocebus patas）在所有灵长目简鼻亚目灵长类动物中，按体型计算具有最高的潜在种群增长率，因为它们繁殖既早且频繁。我们在此报告了关于一群赤猴和同域分布的一群绿猴（Cercopithecus aethiops）的10年比较人口统计学数据，绿猴是一个在社会系统、生态和生活史方面有所不同的近缘物种。数据显示：1）成年雌性赤猴的死亡率显著高于成年雌性绿猴；2）与哺乳动物的正常情况相比，赤猴的幼崽死亡率相对较低，因为它与成年雌性赤猴的死亡率没有显著差异；3）绿猴的幼崽死亡率显著高于成年雌性绿猴。对于这两个物种，大部分死亡可归因于捕食。一种流行病也是成年雌性赤猴死亡的主要原因，而在寒冷潮湿的微环境中长期接触病原体可能导致了绿猴幼崽的死亡。在研究期间，两个种群都经历了大幅波动。我们的结果支持了生活史进化人口统计学模型的预测，即相对于未成年死亡率而言的高成年死亡率会选择早期成熟。
