Bercovitch F B, Harding R S
Caribbean Primate Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, Sabana Seca.
Folia Primatol (Basel). 1993;61(3):115-22. doi: 10.1159/000156738.
Most cercopithecines reproduce on a seasonal basis, but the proximate mechanisms influencing birth periodicity are often unclear. We analyze 10 years of data from the Gilgil Baboon Project (Kenya) in order to examine the relationship between annual birth patterns and rainfall. Savanna baboons at Gilgil copulated in all months of the year, and births did not occur on a seasonal basis. Annual rainfall patterns showed no association with annual birth patterns, but the chances of conception were significantly greater following the end of the long rainy season than at other times of the year. Nonseasonal reproduction is a general characteristic of savanna baboons (Papio cynocephalus subsp.) throughout Africa. The extreme dietary diversity of baboons enables them to utilize a wide variety of resources and facultatively manipulate the timing of different stages in the reproductive cycle in accordance with resource availability. We predict that nonseasonality of reproduction will be more likely to occur among species with a large dietary diversity than among species with a more restricted diet.
大多数猕猴在季节性基础上繁殖，但影响出生周期性的近因机制往往不清楚。我们分析了来自吉尔吉尔狒狒项目（肯尼亚）的10年数据，以研究年度出生模式与降雨之间的关系。吉尔吉尔的草原狒狒全年各月都有交配行为，且出生并非季节性发生。年降雨模式与年度出生模式没有关联，但在长雨季结束后受孕的几率明显高于一年中的其他时间。非季节性繁殖是整个非洲草原狒狒（豚尾狒狒亚种）的一个普遍特征。狒狒极端的饮食多样性使它们能够利用各种各样的资源，并根据资源可用性灵活地控制生殖周期中不同阶段的时间。我们预测，与饮食较为受限的物种相比，饮食多样性大的物种更有可能出现非季节性繁殖。
