Data and R code for: Survival to weaning in arid-country vervet monkeys

We addressed the relative contributions of maternal rank and sociability to the survival of infant vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) to nutritional independence (~210 days) in a resource-poor environment. Data from 153 infants across three troops and 10 birth cohorts indicated a pre-weaning mortality of 30% (Range: 9%-85%), with a median age at death of 50 days. In addition to the consequences of resource availability, increased infant survival was independently and equivalently associated with higher maternal rank and a greater number of maternal spatial partners. We use this outcome to suggest that apparent discrepancies in the relative importance of different maternal attributes in determining reproductive outcomes may be resolved by considering more closely local sources of infant mortality.本研究探讨了资源匮乏环境下，母猴等级与社交性对黑长尾猴（Chlorocebus pygerythrus）幼崽存活至营养独立期（约210日龄）的相对贡献。研究使用了来自3个猴群、10个出生队列的153只幼崽的数据，结果显示幼崽断乳前死亡率为30%（范围9%~85%），幼崽死亡的中位年龄为50日龄。除资源可获得性带来的影响外，幼崽存活率的提升还分别与更高的母猴等级、更多的母猴空间社交伙伴显著相关，且二者的关联强度等效。基于上述研究结果，我们提出，若更细致地考量幼崽死亡的本地诱因，或可解决不同母性特征在决定繁殖结局中相对重要性方面的表观分歧。