Lactation and fertility: an examination of nursing and interbirth intervals in cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus o. oedipus).

Breeding records from a colony of Saguinus o. oedipus were examined to determine the influence of nursing on the return to a fertile status in adult females. The overall interbirth interval (IBI) was 208.5 +/- 16.3 days. Nursing status (nursing vs. non-nursing) and number of infants nursed (0, 1, or 2) did not influence IBI. The lack of effects of nursing on fertility appears to be a general trait in callitrichid primates.