High mortality associated with tapeworm parasitism in geladas (Theropithecus gelada) in the Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia

Despite increasing appreciation for parasitism as an important component of primate ecology and evolution, surprisingly few studies have demonstrated the costs of helminth parasitism in primates. Detecting parasite‐related costs in primates is particularly difficult because it requires detailed, long‐term data on individual host reproductive success, survival, and parasitism. The identification of the larval tapeworm Taenia serialis in geladas under intensive long‐term study in the Ethiopian Highlands (Nguyen et al. [2015] American Journal of Primatology, 77:579–594; Schneider‐Crease et al. [2013] Veterinary Parasitology 198:240–243) provides an opportunity to examine how an endemic parasite impacts host reproductive success and survival. We used survival analyses to assess the mortality risk associated with protuberant larval cysts characteristic of T. serialis using a decade of data from a gelada population in the Simien Mountains National Park (SMNP), Ethiopia. We demonstrated strikingly high mortality associated with T. serialis cysts in adult females, particularly for younger adults. The estimated effect of cysts on male mortality was similar, although the effect was not statistically significant, likely owing to the smaller sample size. Additionally, the offspring of mothers with cysts experienced increased mortality, which was driven almost entirely by maternal death. Mothers with cysts had such high mortality that they rarely completed an interbirth interv...
Source: American Journal of Primatology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research