thyroid hormone concentrations in female baboons: metabolic consequences of living in a highly seasonal environment

How female mammals adapt metabolically in response to environmental variation remains understudied in the wild, because direct measures of metabolic activity are difficult to obtain in wild populations. However, recent advances in the non-invasive measurement of fecal thyroid hormones, triiodothyronine (T3), an important regulator of metabolism, provide an opportunity to understand how female baboons living in the harsh Amboseli ecosystem in southern Kenya adapt to environmental variability and escape strict reproductive seasonality. Specifically, we assessed how a female's activity budget, diet, and concentrations of fecal T3 metabolites (mT3) changed over the course of the year and between years. We then tested which of several environmental variables (season, rainfall, and temperature) and behavioral variables (female activity budget and diet) best predicted mT3 concentrations. Finally, we determined if two important reproductive events – onset of ovarian cycling and conception of an..., Seasonal and annual variation in climate were determined using daily records of rainfall and temperature that were obtained at the research field camp (located within 2-17 km of the ranges of the baboon study groups) using a rain gauge and a min-max thermometer placed in the shade.
Our behavioral data are derived from 39,292 10-minute focal animal behavioral samples from 220 adult female subjects in all reproductive states, collected between 2005-2018. During each 10-minute sample, we recorded the activity of the focal baboon, categorized as feeding (including food processing), walking while not feeding, resting, or socializing (grooming, being groomed, other social activities).When the activity during a given point sample was feeding, the type of food was recorded and whenever possible the species and plant part identified. We categorized foods into eight major food types, with five types considered high-energy foods: grass blades, fruits, flowers, tree gum, and invertebrates; and thre..., , # Data from: thyroid hormone concentrations in female baboons: metabolic consequences of living in a highly seasonal environment

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.fn2z34v2w](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.fn2z34v2w)

## Description of the data and file structure

One excel file named 'Gesquiere et al. 2024' that contains 4 spreadsheets.

**-Spreadsheet 1: ‘Main dataset’:** the data used to support the analyses of objectives 1 and 2 in our manuscript.

**-Spreadsheet 2: ‘Data for Fig. 2’:** the percentage of time spent feeding on 8 different food types for each female point sample.

**-Spreadsheet 3: ‘Data for Fig. 3’:** the dates of occurrence of 4 reproductive events: menarche, resumption, conception and live birth.

**-Spreadsheet 4: ‘Data for Fig. 4’:** the mT3 concentrations in the 6-months prior to menarche, resumption and conception

 

Below is a list of descriptions for each column name in each of the spreadsheets. For each spreadsheet, each column is identified, followed by a desc...