Maternal reproductive senescence shapes the fitness consequences of the parental age difference in ruffed lemurs

In this study, we analyse the fitness consequences of both parental age and parental age differences on litter size and offspring survival in two closely related species of lemurs living in captivity. As captive lemurs do not choose their reproductive partner, we were able to measure litter size and offspring survival across breeding pairs showing a wide range of parental age differences. However, we demonstrated that the effect of the parental age difference on litter size was fully accounted for by female reproductive senescence because females mating with much younger males were old females. On the other hand, both parental age difference and female reproductive senescence influenced offspring survival. Our results emphasize the importance of teasing apart the effect of parental reproductive senescence when investigating the health and fitness consequences of parental age differences and also provide new insights for conservation programmes of endangered species.

Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - September 12, 2018 Category: Biology Authors: Tidiere, M., Thevenot, X., Deligiannopoulou, A., Douay, G., Whipple, M., Siberchicot, A., Gaillard, J.-M., Lemaitre, J.-F. Tags: ecology, evolution Source Type: research