Embedded Files
Early Life Adversity in Chimpanzees: The Role of Disease Exposure
Early Life Adversity in Chimpanzees: The Role of Disease Exposure
Grace Cayless and Elizabeth V. Lonsdorf
Department of Anthropology, Emory University
Early-life adversity (ELA) has been linked to poor behavioral and health outcomes in many long-lived social mammals, including humans. Currently, the long-term effects of cumulative adversity have only been studied in two primate species, with conflicting results—in female baboons, cumulative ELA predicted a shortened lifespan, while the experience of 3+ sources of ELA was correlated with a 70% reduction in later-life mortality risk for gorillas. Chimpanzees, like humans, exhibit lengthy, defined stages of development, during which they face various adversities while forming complex relationships with conspecifics. This makes them quality models for investigating how ELA influences health and survival outcomes, which will provide insights into human child development and resilience. Health adversity has not been addressed in previous primate studies of ELA, but respiratory outbreaks are known to impact energetic stress levels in wild chimpanzees. Therefore, exposure to respiratory disease during development is a potentially significant source of early life adversity. To explore this further, this project focuses on individual and maternal experiences of respiratory disease outbreak, utilizing long-term field data collected on wild chimpanzees at Gombe National Park, Tanzania. Preliminary research using this data indicates that in-utero disease exposure may significantly reduce lifespan, while limited disease exposure in the first 10 years of life may benefit longevity. Specifically, experiencing more than three outbreaks during development reduces lifespan, but two or fewer exposures do not have this effect. This work will contribute to a deeper understanding of the ways early-life adversity impacts individual mortality risk and shapes adult populations, and shed light on the connections between early life adversity, long-term health, and survival.
Early-life adversity (ELA) has been linked to poor behavioral and health outcomes in many long-lived social mammals, including humans. Currently, the long-term effects of cumulative adversity have only been studied in two primate species, with conflicting results—in female baboons, cumulative ELA predicted a shortened lifespan, while the experience of 3+ sources of ELA was correlated with a 70% reduction in later-life mortality risk for gorillas. Chimpanzees, like humans, exhibit lengthy, defined stages of development, during which they face various adversities while forming complex relationships with conspecifics. This makes them quality models for investigating how ELA influences health and survival outcomes, which will provide insights into human child development and resilience. Health adversity has not been addressed in previous primate studies of ELA, but respiratory outbreaks are known to impact energetic stress levels in wild chimpanzees. Therefore, exposure to respiratory disease during development is a potentially significant source of early life adversity. To explore this further, this project focuses on individual and maternal experiences of respiratory disease outbreak, utilizing long-term field data collected on wild chimpanzees at Gombe National Park, Tanzania. Preliminary research using this data indicates that in-utero disease exposure may significantly reduce lifespan, while limited disease exposure in the first 10 years of life may benefit longevity. Specifically, experiencing more than three outbreaks during development reduces lifespan, but two or fewer exposures do not have this effect. This work will contribute to a deeper understanding of the ways early-life adversity impacts individual mortality risk and shapes adult populations, and shed light on the connections between early life adversity, long-term health, and survival.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse