Fitness effects of seasonal birth timing in a long-lived social primate living in the equatorial forest

Abstract

Reproductive seasonality is the norm in mammals from temperate regions but less common at lower latitudes, where a broad diversity of reproductive phenology strategies is observed. Our knowledge of the evolutionary determinants shaping this diversity remains fragmentary and may reflect high phenotypic plasticity in individual strategies. Here we investigated the ecological determinants and fitness consequences of variation in birth timing across the annual cycle in a social primate endemic to the Congo basin, the mandrill, Mandrillus sphinx , which breeds seasonally. We further examined traits that modulate this variation within and across individuals. We used 9 years of ecological, life history and behavioural data from a natural population to characterize patterns of environmental and reproductive seasonality. We then investigated the consequences of variation in birth timing for pre- and postnatal offspring survival and maternal interbirth intervals. Finally, we studied the influence of within- (reproductive history and age) and between-individual (social rank) traits on variation in birth timing. We found that mandrills’ daily foraging time varied seasonally, with greater fluctuations for subordinate than dominant females. Birth timing was plastic, as females gave birth year round without detectable consequences for postnatal offspring survival. Giving birth within the birth peak, however, decreased interbirth intervals and probability of miscarriage. Finally, reproductive history and social rank mediated within- and between-individual variation in birth timing, respectively. Specifically, females that experienced a previous reproductive failure gave birth early in the next birthing season and dominant females bred less seasonally than subordinates, which may reflect their more even access to resources across the year. Overall, the selective pressures shaping mandrill reproductive seasonality differed from a classical scenario of seasonal fluctuations in resources limiting offspring survival. A complex interplay between social and ecological factors may thus determine within- and between-individual variation in phenology strategies of tropical and gregarious mammals. • Mandrills breed seasonally in an equatorial environment. • Dominant females breed less seasonally than subordinate ones. • Interbirth intervals are minimized when giving birth inside the birth peak. • Offspring survival is not affected by birth seasonality. • Miscarriage probabilities increase when conceiving late in the mating season.