Date: March 17, 2016
Source: University of Toronto
Natural selection has shaped the ways in
which babies grow in different species, including the rate or speed with which
they develop.
A new study by Canadian researchers
suggests that some baby monkeys develop faster than others in the same
population, and that this is best explained by the threat of infanticide they
face.
The study, led by Iulia Bădescu, a PhD
candidate in evolutionary anthropology at the University
of Toronto (U of T), and Professor
Pascale Sicotte of the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Calgary
"Infanticide occurs in many animals,
including carnivores like lions and bears, rodents like mice, and in
primates," said Bădescu. "Typically, an adult male kills an infant
sired by another male so that he can mate with the mother and sire his own
infants with her."
Black-and-white colobus includes several
species of medium-sized monkeys found throughout equatorial Africa .
They have black bodies with white hair that sometimes forms a bushy white beard
and sideburns, or can extend down the back like a 'cape' and down the tail.
They are distinguished from many other monkeys by their lack of an opposable
thumb and their cow-like stomachs that allow them to digest the fibrous leaves
they eat.
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