Researchers use Species360 data to study reproduction in primates

A study published today in Biological Reviews, and using Species360 data, provides new insight to reproduction in primates living in in situ versus ex situ environments.

Thanks to the researchers at Clinic for Zoo Animals at the University of Zurich, for the discoveries involving data curated by the Species360 member community using ZIMS (Zoological Information Management System). Among the researchers, Marcus Clauss, Clinic for Zoo Animals at the University of Zurich, is also a member of the Species360 Conservation Science Alliance Research Committee.

Results vary by species and their in situ environments, and the researchers provide valuable insight to the differences. An article in SwissInfo says: “Many animals have fixed mating times in the wild, which are determined by the length of the day or the food available. But what about animals in zoos? The conclusion of a study: Many species of apes reproduce more evenly in zoos than in nature.”

Excerpt: A research group from the Clinic for Zoo, Domestic and Wildlife Animals at the University of Zurich investigated the extent to which zoo keeping influences the seasonality of reproduction in wild animals. After the ruminants and predators, they now examined the primates.

They found that 30 percent of the monkey species in zoos reproduce more evenly throughout the year than in the wild. Compared to 13 percent of predators and 10 percent of ruminants, this proportion is particularly high. For the study published in the specialist journal “Biological Reviews”, the researchers evaluated the birthdays of 132,712 monkeys of 141 different species. The data collected over decades by the organization Species360 was used.