The biology of prolonged lactation in wild Macaca sinica: Interbirth intervals, maternal depletion, infant mortality
Data files
Dec 18, 2023 version files 272.37 KB
Abstract
A sample of 442 female toque macaques distributed among 39 independent social groups were briefly captured, sedated, and released (within one day) during 13 different years in the period 1986-2002 at the natural forest site of Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka, where long-term sociobiological research has been conducted (1968 to 2023). All macaques were individually identified and had known life-histories. Lactation was determined by testing females for the presence of absence of milk by manually massaging the mammary tissue. Female reproduction in this wild population was depicted from different perspectives. Firstly, lactation and weaning were linked to offspring age, as well as to female reproductive status (cycling, gestation, and quiescence). A second data set examines interbirth intervals in relation to lactation duration, diet, and somatic growth or parity. Differences in diet quality were also related to menarche. A third data set examined female body condition (using skinfold thickness as a measure of % body fat) to diet quality and differences in the expenditure of foraging time between lactating and non-lactating females. A fourth data set considered the relation between infant mortality during peak lactation and the depletion of female metabolic energy balance as indexed by early weaning (cessation of lactation) and a shift to female reproductive quiescence. In the publication some of these data were integrated with mother-infant behavioral relationships as cited from an independent study of the same population. A final data set indicates the names of participants who contributed to both the long-term demographic records, milk collections and estimates human effort for different phases of this research.
README
This readme file was generated on 2023-12-08 by Wolfgang Dittus
GENERAL INFORMATION
Title of Dataset: Dataset re lactation, weaning age, interbirth interval, offspring survival, female reproduction & behavior for wild Macaca s sinica in Sri Lanka (1971-2002).
Author/Principal Investigator Information
Name: Wolfgang P J Dittus (WD)
ORCID: 0000-0001-7981-3968
Institution: Smithsonian Institution USA, & National Institute of Fundamental Studies, Sri Lanka
Address: Washington, DC,20008
Email: wdittus@gmail.com; DittusW@SI.edu; Wolfgang.di@nifs.ac.lk
Author/Associate or Co-investigator Information
Name: Anne M. Baker (AB)
ORCID: n/a
Institution: Association for the Conservation of Primate Diversity
Address: Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka and Jonesboro, MA 04648
Email: annebaker@ix.network.com
Date of data collection:
Deomography (vital statistics), Ecology & Behavior: 1968/10/15 to 2002/10/15.(WD)
Mother-Infant behavioral relationships: 1977-1983 (AB)
Milk sampling: 1986/09/20 to 2002/10/15 (WD)
Geographic location of data collection:
Polonnaruwa Archaeological Reserve and Nature Sanctuary (the study area)
Latitude/longiture: 7.991474 / 80.99579
Town: Polonnaruwa, North Central Provinve, Sri Lanka
Smithsonian Primate Research Station (shown on Google map for Sri Lanka)
Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data (1968-2002):
Data relevant to the lactation study were 2 in kind:
(1) Milk related investiagtions (1986-2002). No direct funding, work was ancillary to genetic research (capture-process-release) under several grants listed below.\
(2) Long-term (1968-2002) vital statistics for individual animals. Data were integral to varied objectives supported by many grants 1968-2002 as listed below.
Smithsonian Institution: 1968-1972 (PI: John Eisenberg) NSF GB-3545.
Smithsonian Foreign Currency; 1968-1972 (PI:John Eisenberg) # SFC-7004
National Geographic Society: 1975-1986 (Wolfgang Dittus, WD)#1442
US National Science Foundation (NSF): 5 grants, 1976-1996 (WD #BNS-7619740,-7924057,-8300092,-8609665,-9104649)
US National Science Foundation (NSF): 1986-1989 joint grant (Don Melnick and WD) (#BNS-8608187,-8909775)
Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research: 1980. (WD) #3199
Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation: 2 grants, 1986-1992 (WD)
Smithsonian Institution Scholalry Studies: 3 grants, 1986-1998 (WD)
Smithsonian Institution, Sisley & Abbott Funds, 2 grants 1999-2003 (WD)
Earthwatch: 7 grants 1997-2007 (WD)
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, 1976-1978 (WD) #Di73/1
Deutsche Forschungsgeneinschaft, 1998-2000. (Peter Nuerberg and WD)
Association for the Conservation of Primate Diversity: 2004-2022 (WD)
SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION
Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: n/a
Links to publications that have used some of the data:
- Goto K, Fukuda K, Senda A, Saito T, Kimura K, Glander K, Hinde K, Dittus W, Miiligan L, Power M, Oftedal O, Urashima T. (2010). Chemical characterization of oligosaccharides in the milk of six species of New and Old world monkeys. Glycoconjugate Journal, 27, 703-715. doi:10.1007/s10719-010-9315-0
- Milligan L, Rapoport S, Cranfield M, Dittus W, Glander K, Oftedal O. . . Bazinet, R. P. (2008). Fatty acid composition of wild anthropoid primate milks. Comparaative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part B., 149, 74-82.doi: 10.1016/j.cbpb.2007.08.006
Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: to be determined
Links/relationships to ancillary data sets: to be determined
Was some data derived from another source?
Yes, but only for Mother-infant behavioral relationships in Macaca sinica (1977-1983) by AB
Citation: Baker-Dittus, AM. (1985). Infant and juvenile directed behaviors in adult toque macaques Macca sinica. (Ph. D. dissertations), University of Maryland, College Park.
DATA & FILE OVERVIEW
File List:
File 1: Baseline variables and interrelationships relevant to lactation amomg wild toque macaques
involving female and offspring vital statistics, lactation, diet, female body condition, and reproduction.xlsx
Contents: (a) female identity, age, and survival;(b) offpsring identity, age, sex, and survival; (c) presenece or absence of milk,(d) duration of lactation, (e) weaning age, (f) female reproductive status (lactation, gestation or pregancy, cycling, quiescent and non-reproductive), (g) interbirth interval, (h) birth sequence (i) maternal diet quality, (j) female parity, (k) menarche, (l) maternal body condition (skinfold thickness).
File 2: Maternal foraging duration in relation to lactation.xlsx.
Contents: (a) Female and offspring identity, (b) offspring age and sex, (c) nursing behavior (lactation), (d) total observation times (e) maternal foraging duration and (f) daily proportion.
File 3: Research Participants and Roles.xlsx.
Contents: A list of personnel names, roles, and periods of participation relevant to lactational studies.
An estimate of proportions of overall effort devoted to different foci of macaque research 1968-2022.
Relationship between files, if important:
Raw data files (#1 and #2) are tied by sharing the same set of macaque individuals (and their basic vital statistics) involved in the study. The files differ in the objective of the analyses and tabulations derived.
Additional related data collected that was not included in the current data package:
Are there multiple versions of the dataset? no
If yes, name of file(s) that was updated: n/a
Why was the file updated? n/a
When was the file updated? n/a
METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION
Description of methods used for collection/generation of data:
Methods for processing the data:
Age and sex of individuals, dates of birth and death, were derived from long-term (1968-2003) project demographic records specific to the individuals used in the lactation study. See: National Research Council (1981). Techniques for aging and sexing primates. In: Techniques for the study of primate population ecology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, pp 81-134.https://doi.org/10.17226/18646, as well as Dittus, W. P. J. (1990). Manual for the identification of individual toque macaques (Macaca sinica). Smithsonian Primate Research Station. Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka.
Milk was expressed, or not, by massaging the mammary tissue of sedated females with sterile gloved fingers.
Instrument- or software-specific information needed to interpret the data:
EXCEL v 365 spread sheets were used for data compilation. Microsoft Corporation.
Statistical analyses (Survival analysis) and graphic displays were made using SigmaPlot version 14.5. SYSTAT Software Inc.
Standards and calibration information, if appropriate: n/a
Environmental/experimental conditions:
There were no experimental conditions used.
Environmental: All field procedured (demographic census, behavioral observations, capture and realese and milk sampling) were carried out in the natural forest habitat of the Polonnaruwa Nature Sanctuary and Archaeological Reserve, Sri Lanka.
The natural forest structure, climate, and geography and layout of the study site were described earlier in:
Dittus, W. P. J. (1977). The ecology of a semi-evergreen forest community in Sri Lanka. Biotropica, 9(4), 268-286. doi:10.2307/2388145. And
Dittus, W. P. J. (1985). The influence of cyclones on the dry evergreen forest of Sri Lanka. Biotropica, 17, 1-14. doi:10.2307/2388371. See also
Dittus, W. P. J. (2020). Shields on electric posts prevent primate deaths: a case study at Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka. Folia Primatologica, 91, 643-653. doi:10.1159/000510176
The process of capture and release was described in:
Hoelzer G, Dittus W, Ashley M, & Melnick D (1994). The local distribution of highly divergent mitochondrial DNA haplotypes in toque macaques Macaca sinica at Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka. Molecular Ecology, 3, 451-458. doi:1111/j.1365-294X.1994.tb00123.x
Capture, release and milk sampling were described in:
Milligan L, Rapoport S, Cranfield M, Dittus W, Glander K, Oftedal O. . . Bazinet, R. P. (2008). Fatty acid composition of wild anthropoid primate milks. Comparaative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part B., 149, 74-82.doi: 10.1016/j.cbpb.2007.08.006
Describe any quality-assurance procedures performed on the data:
Data quality input was assured through (a) the training of field staff according to in-house manuals of Macaque Individual Identification (e.g., Dittus 1990) and Research Protocols, (b) supervision by experienced staff. Clerical staff cross-checked data entries and assured that macaques names and their associated
data were consistent across data sets. All data are tied to identified individuals and their basic demographic variables.
People involved with sample collection, processing, analysis and/or submission:
The file: Research participants and roles.xlsx indicates the names of research participants involving: demographic census, ecology, behavior, and monkey capture-process-release relevant to the lactation study on toque macaques (Macaca s sinica) at Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka (1986-2002)
- DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR FILE #1: Baseline variables and interrelationships involving female and offspring vital statistics, lactation, diet, female body condition, and reproduction.xlsx
Data specific information for File#1. Baseline raw and derived variables and tabulations concerning lactation in wild toque mcaques.xlsx.
There are 3 worksheets in this file
Worksheet #1: Data raw, derived & tabulated. Variables relevant to lactation in relation to infant age & female reproductive status (columns B to AM), interbirth intervals, diet, maternal body condition, infant mortality as well as tabulations and analyses (after column AO) for one Table 1 and 11 Figures indicating the relation between different sets of variables. Empty or blank cells indicated the absence of data. Color coded cells or columns imparted no specific information. Colors were used by the author as a guide in the construction of the worksheet.
Worksheet #2: Column labels and tabulations. Description of variables (headings and data content) for columns A to AM in Worksheet #1
Worksheet #3: Definition reproductive status. Definition of variables under female reproductive status "codes" (Column AG) used in Worksheet #1 and all other data sets.
Terms used to describe female reproductive conditions are also defined in the Methods section of the publication.
Number of variables: n= 23 actively used variables in figures (B to AJ), baseline variables, n= 41
Number of cases/rows: 814
Variable List: Described in Worksheets #2 (n= 23) and Worksheet #3 (n=20)
Missing data codes: none, see Worksheet #2 for definitions.
Specialized formats or other abbreviations used: See Worksheet #2 for information.
DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR FILE#2. Foraging time versus lactation Macaca s sinica (1971)
There is one worksheet in this file.
Number of variables used in the Figure = 3: Proportion of day foraging, vs lactation and non-lactation\
Number of baseline variables for derivations = 10, namely: Name of Mother, Date Sampled, Name of Offspring, Offspring Birth Date, Infant Age at Sample Date, Nursing, Total Min Observed, Total Foraging Time, Proportion of Day Foraging.DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR FILE #3: Research participants and roles.xlsx
Research participants involving: long-term demographic census, ecology, behavior, & monkey capture-process-release relevant to the lactation study on toque macaques (Macaca s sinica) at Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka (1971-2002)Descriptive variables: Researcher name, Researcher main focus of work (7 variables); Year of research participation; Position; Institution.
Number of variables/rows: 73 persons over 54 years. 17 persons involved in procedure not exclusive to but related to milk collection (1986-2002).
The long-term demograpahic monitoring of individually identified toque macaques from 1968-2022 makes up (38%) of personnel man-years.
Record collation involved (30%) and capture and release proceedure for milk sampling (3.6% )personnel in the relatively brief period (1986-2002).
Methods
Individual animal identification: The methods involve hand-written notes of field observation of individually identified macaques in their natural habitat at Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka, according to established protocols as described in earlier publications.National Research Council (1981). Techniques for aging and sexing primates. In: Techniques for the Study of Primate Population Ecology. pp 81-134. Washington, DC, National Academy Press. Also: Dittus, WPJ (1990). Manual for the Identification of Individual Toque Macaque, unpublished training manual, Smithsonian Primate Biology Program. All research staff are trained in these methods.
Vital statistics: (dates of birth and death, age, survival, death, sex, reproductive conditiion) are based on monthly census of all macaque groups by trained field staff. During the birth season females were observed more frequenlty in order to poinpoint dates of birth.
Milk sampling: Temporary capture and sedation of macaques was used for purposes of milk tests. Methods were published in: Milligan LA, Rapoport S, Cranfield MR, Dittus WPJ, Glander KE, Oftedal OT,... Bazinet RP. (2008). Faty acid composition of wild anthropoid primate milks. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, part B 149: 74-82. doi: 10.1016/jbpb.2007.08.006. Mammary tissue was manually massaged, or nipple stipped, to check for the presence or absence of milk.
Intergation of data sets: Information from different data logs were entered into EXCEL spreadsheets for examination of relationships among different variables: infant age, milk presence, lactation, weaning, infant and maternal death, interbirth intervals, female reproductive states, female body condition, foraging duration, diet quality. Reproductive states were defined in the 3rd wordsheet (tab) of the first data set as well as in the publication. Column headings (variables) were defined in the second tab of the first data set.
Definitions: All dataset files and variables were defined in the README_DITTUS_Lactation_interbirth_intervals_female_reproduction_maternal_depletion.txt
Usage notes
Microsoft 365 EXCEL for spreadsheet entries. (Microsoft corporation)
SigmaPlot 14.5 for statistical analysis and graphic figures. (SYSTAT software Inc.)
Microsoft 365 WORD for document format. (Microsoft Corporation)