Primate life histories
pp. 1527-1592
in: Winfried Henke, Ian Tattersall (eds), Handbook of Paleoanthropology, Berlin, Springer, 2015Abstract
The life history of any species is determined by traits that characterize its developmental and reproductive rates as well as the reproductive effort spent over its lifetime. This chapter will present an overview of the current knowledge on the diversity of primate life history. It will explore potential links between life history and major biological factors, which are suggested as a partial explanation for the existing interspecific variations in life history. Furthermore, it will outline general principles and current hypotheses on the evolution of primate life history. This review will show that extant primates ranging from nocturnal ancestral primates to apes provide an important biological substrate illuminating the evolutionary roots and selective forces that shaped human life history.