Ontogeny of ranging in wild chimpanzees
We examined the relationship between juvenile age and distance traveled per day, or day range, in Kanyawara chimpanzees. Because the energy cost of locomotion is greater for small-bodied animals, we predict that day range is constrained by body size, i.e., younger individuals tend to have shorter day ranges. To test this hypothesis, we measured day range for 200 day-ranges of groups in which we recorded the age of the youngest juvenile present. As predicted, day range correlated positively with age for juveniles. Comparisons of day range vs. estimated stature support the hypothesis that the increase in day range with age was a consequence of body size. To assess other sources of variation in day range, we also measured the effects of group size and the presence of a carried infant. While day range correlated significantly with group size, the presence of a carried infant had no effect on adult female day range. Our results suggest the size of a juvenile may constrain ranging for mothers and their offspring. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.
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- Behavioral Science & Comparative Psychology
- 3109 Zoology
- 0608 Zoology
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Published In
DOI
ISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Related Subject Headings
- Behavioral Science & Comparative Psychology
- 3109 Zoology
- 0608 Zoology