Stable isotope records of nursing and weaning: A case study in elephants with implications for paleobiological investigations

Cherney, Michael D.; Fisher, Daniel C.; Hren, Michael T.; Shirley, Ethan A.

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110223

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Thus, offspring may continue to make nipple contact even after they are nutritionally independent. Several other studies (e.g., Harlow and Harlow 1965;Martin 1984;Rajpurohit and Mohnot 1991;Reitsema 2012;Cherney et al 2021) also illustrate that mother-infant nutritional and behavioral relationships can develop separately, despite considerable temporal overlap (Bădescu 2018). It is thus important to consider both physiological and behavioral aspects of the weaning process to understand maternal lactational investment.…”

Section: Measuring Lactation Effort Using Stable Nitrogen (δ 15 N) Is...mentioning

confidence: 96%

Maternal lactational investment is higher for sons in chimpanzees

Bădescu

Watts

Katzenberg

et al. 2022

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Maternal lactational investment can affect female reproductive rates and offspring survival in mammals and can be biased towards infants of one sex. We compared estimates of lactation effort among mothers, assessed as their potential milk contribution to age-specific infant diets (mother-infant differences in fecal stable nitrogen isotopes, δ15N), to the timing of weaning (infant age at last nursing bout) and to maternal inter-birth interval lengths for male and female infant chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) at Ngogo, Uganda. Infant males had greater proportions of milk in their age-specific diets, indicated by higher mother-infant differences in δ15N (Generalized Estimating Equation, GEE: p < 0.01). This may mean that mothers of sons showed greater lactation effort than mothers of daughters. Infant males stopped nursing at older ages than infant females (Kaplan–Meier product limit estimate, Breslow estimator: p < 0.05). Mothers of sons showed longer interbirth intervals than mothers of daughters (GEE: p < 0.01). All three measures indicated maternal lactational investment was higher for sons. Male infants may cost mothers more to ensure infant survival than female infants because males are more vulnerable and/or because maternal genetic returns on investment are greater for sons than daughters, as male philopatry means that chimpanzee mothers can have more influence on the reproductive success of sons. Chimpanzee females may trade off growth-related benefits of high lactational investment in male offspring against reduced reproductive rates. Significance statement Maternal investment via lactation affects the reproductive success of female mammals and their offspring and can be biased towards infants of one sex. We investigated lactational variation among wild chimpanzees in relation to infant sex using three proxies for maternal lactational investment: fecal stable nitrogen isotopes, a physiological biomarker that may provide an estimate of lactation effort; observations of nursing, which we used to establish weaning ages; and the lengths of intervals between births of surviving infants. Chimpanzee mothers biased lactational investment toward sons on all three indicators and showed reduced fecundity due to longer inter-birth intervals for mothers of sons than for mothers of daughters. These results would be expected if greater maternal investment toward sons leads to better condition and higher reproductive success for sons later in life, thus to greater inclusive fitness for mothers.

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Section: Measuring Lactation Effort Using Stable Nitrogen (δ 15 N) Is...mentioning

confidence: 96%

Maternal lactational investment is higher for sons in chimpanzees

Bădescu

Watts

Katzenberg

et al. 2022

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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“…Due to the diverse dataset, it was not possible to follow a rigid sampling procedure, e.g., only sampling specific skeletal element(s) or only adult (mature) animals. We acknowledge that these factors may result in data that are not entirely comparable due to minor isotopic differences caused by intraskeletal and interspecies variation in bone collagen turnover rates [72][73][74][75] and age-specific diets [54][55][56][57]. However, the discrepancies in laboratory protocol and analytical equipment between the two sets of analyzed data should not hinder their meaningful comparison as has been demonstrated by various inter-laboratory experiments [76,77].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because of the greater number of steps in the marine food chain, fish and marine mammals typically exhibit the highest δ 15 N values. Several factors can influence the nitrogen isotopic composition of plants and animals, e.g., climatic conditions such as precipitation and temperature [49,50], the usage of nitrogen-based fertilizers [51][52][53] and the 'nursing effect' observed in suckling animals [54][55][56][57].…”

Section: Stable Isotope Biogeochemistrymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multi-isotopic analysis of zooarchaeological material from Estonia (ca. 200–1800 CE): Variation among food webs and geographical regions

et al. 2022

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To better comprehend the dietary practices of past populations in the Eastern Baltic region we have created temporally and geographically restricted baselines for the time period of 200–1800 CE. In this multi-isotopic analysis, we report new δ13C, δ15N and δ34S values for 251 faunal bone collagen samples from various archaeological contexts in Estonia representing the most comprehensive set of Iron Age, Medieval and Early Modern Period faunal stable isotope values to date. The results map out the local carbon and nitrogen baselines and define isotopic ranges of local terrestrial, avian and aquatic fauna. We also demonstrate the potential application of sulfur stable isotope analysis in archaeological research. The results demonstrate a clear distinction between δ13C and δ34S values of marine and terrestrial species, however, freshwater fish display notable overlaps with both marine and terrestrial ranges for both δ13C and δ34S values. Herbivores show variation in δ34S values when grouped by region, explained by differences in the local biotopes. This study is the first attempt to connect the Eastern Baltic isotopic baselines and provides more detailed temporal and geographical references to study the local ecologies and interpret the human data.

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“…Almost a third (29.2%) of the pig specimens in our dataset were from juveniles/subadults (NISP = 1842). Very young animals who were still suckling can display the so-called nursing effect, which increases both carbon and nitrogen isotopic values by up to one trophic level, ca 3‰ for δ 15 N and 1‰ for δ 13 C (Jenkins et al 2001;Cherney et al 2021). It is thus feasible that some pigs with the highest δ 15 N values may have still been suckling before butchering.…”

Section: P I G K E E P I N Gmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zooarchaeology of livestock and game in medieval and early modern Estonia

Rannamäe,

Aguraiuja-Lätti

2023

EJA

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In this article, zooarchaeological evidence from 37 medieval and early modern sites in Estonia were assembled and examined. The analysis of over 69 000 mammal remains gave a comprehensive overview of the production and consumption of animal resources in the 13th to 18th century castles, towns, rural settlements, and one monastery. The focus was on domestic livestock: cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and horses. Cattle remains were most abundant, confirming it as the primary animal resource in the study period. Morphometrical analysis and tooth wear study supported the historical knowledge of a stronger tradition of draught oxen in the north and a possible focus on dairy husbandry in the south. Sheep and goat husbandry also had several purposes: kill-off times indicated lamb consumption and keeping the herd for wool and reproduction. Pigs, on the other hand, were raised only as a food resource. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses revealed differences in grazing areas and feed types between species and geographical regions. Compared to the main livestock, horses and also wild mammals had insignificant roles in providing primary resources but immense importance in manifesting status (horses and hunting) or in use for work and military purposes (horses). Overall, the animal husbandry of the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period developed towards the innovations and improvements of modern times, with native breeds being one example of the heritage of the past.

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Stable isotope records of nursing and weaning: A case study in elephants with implications for paleobiological investigations

Cited by 11 publications

References 55 publications

Maternal lactational investment is higher for sons in chimpanzees

Maternal lactational investment is higher for sons in chimpanzees

Multi-isotopic analysis of zooarchaeological material from Estonia (ca. 200–1800 CE): Variation among food webs and geographical regions

Zooarchaeology of livestock and game in medieval and early modern Estonia

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