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Primate Life Histories

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Handbook of Paleoanthropology

Abstract

The life history of any species is determined by traits that characterize its developmental and reproductive rates as well as the reproductive effort spent over its lifetime. This chapter will present an overview of the current knowledge on the diversity of primate life history. It will explore potential links between life history and major biological factors, which are suggested as a partial explanation for the existing interspecific variations in life history. Furthermore, it will outline general principles and current hypotheses on the evolution of primate life history. This review will show that extant primates ranging from nocturnal ancestral primates to apes provide an important biological substrate illuminating the evolutionary roots and selective forces that shaped human life history.

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  1. Institut für Zoologie, Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover, Bünteweg 17, 30559, Hannover, Germany

    Prof. Dr. Elke Zimmermann & Dr. Ute Radespiel

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  1. Prof. Dr. Elke Zimmermann
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  2. Dr. Ute Radespiel
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Correspondence to Elke Zimmermann .

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  1. Inst. Anthropologie, Universität Mainz FB 10 (1050), Mainz, Germany

    Winfried Henke

  2. American Museum of Natural History Division of Anthropology, New York, New York, USA

    Ian Tattersall

Appendix

Appendix

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Table 1 Primate database for life history traits compiled from the literature
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Zimmermann, E., Radespiel, U. (2013). Primate Life Histories. In: Henke, W., Tattersall, I. (eds) Handbook of Paleoanthropology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27800-6_38-7

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