Premium
Determinants of postnatal weight in infant rhesus monkeys: Implications for the study of interindividual differences in neonatal growth
Author(s) -
Johnson Rodney L.,
Kapsalis Ellen
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330980307
Subject(s) - infant development , physiology , biology , developmental psychology , psychology
This paper provides an analysis of infant body weights obtained from a sample of 38 rhesus monkey infants ( Macaco mulatta ) aged 29–165 days, i.e., animals still nutritionally dependent on their mothers. We examine the data on neonatal weights in relation to a number of factors, most notably, the sex of the infants, and the age and adiposity of their mothers. The infant body weights represent cross‐sectional rather than longitudinal data; because they were mostly free‐ranging animals, the infants were weighed just once each. Nevertheless, the results of our analysis strongly suggest that early postnatal growth in free‐ranging rhesus is dependent on both maternal fatness and age. They also suggest that, although male infants are generally heavier than like‐aged female infants, they do not grow any faster during the early postnatal period. Here, we speculate that the associations between infant size and both maternal age and adiposity are the result of between‐mother differences in lactational output. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.