The benefits of social capital: close social bonds among female baboons enhance offspring survival Export

@article{citeulike:4810412, abstract = {10.1098/rspb.2009.0681 Sociality has evolved in many animal taxa, but primates are unusual because they establish highly differentiated bonds with other group members. Such bonds are particularly pronounced among females in species like baboons, with female philopatry and male dispersal. These relationships seem to confer a number of short-term benefits on females, and sociality enhances infant survival in some populations. However, the long-term consequences of social bonds among adult females have not been well established. Here we provide the first direct evidence that social relationships among female baboons convey fitness benefits. In a group of free-ranging baboons, , the offspring of females who formed strong social bonds with other females lived significantly longer than the offspring of females who formed weaker social bonds. These survival benefits were independent of maternal dominance rank and number of kin and extended into offspring adulthood. In particular, females who formed stronger bonds with their mothers and adult daughters experienced higher offspring survival rates than females who formed weaker bonds. For females lacking mothers or adult daughters, offspring survival was closely linked to bonds between maternal sisters. These results parallel those from human studies, which show that greater social integration is generally associated with reduced mortality and better physical and mental health, particularly for women.}, author = {Silk, Joan B. and Beehner, Jacinta C. and Bergman, Thore J. and Crockford, Catherine and Engh, Anne L. and Moscovice, Liza R. and Wittig, Roman M. and Seyfarth, Robert M. and Cheney, Dorothy L.}, citeulike-article-id = {4810412}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.0681}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/rspb.2009.0681v1//.abstract}, citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/rspb.2009.0681v1//.full.pdf}, citeulike-linkout-3 = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19515668}, citeulike-linkout-4 = {http://www.hubmed.org/display.cgi?uids=19515668}, day = {7}, doi = {10.1098/rspb.2009.0681}, journal = {Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences}, keywords = {baboon, social-bonds, social-interactions, sociality, survival}, month = {September}, number = {1670}, pages = {3099--3104}, posted-at = {2009-06-11 11:18:57}, priority = {2}, title = {The benefits of social capital: close social bonds among female baboons enhance offspring survival}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.0681}, volume = {276}, year = {2009} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:4810412 L3 - citeulike-article-id:4810412 N2 - 10.1098/rspb.2009.0681 Sociality has evolved in many animal taxa, but primates are unusual because they establish highly differentiated bonds with other group members. Such bonds are particularly pronounced among females in species like baboons, with female philopatry and male dispersal. These relationships seem to confer a number of short-term benefits on females, and sociality enhances infant survival in some populations. However, the long-term consequences of social bonds among adult females have not been well established. Here we provide the first direct evidence that social relationships among female baboons convey fitness benefits. In a group of free-ranging baboons, , the offspring of females who formed strong social bonds with other females lived significantly longer than the offspring of females who formed weaker social bonds. These survival benefits were independent of maternal dominance rank and number of kin and extended into offspring adulthood. In particular, females who formed stronger bonds with their mothers and adult daughters experienced higher offspring survival rates than females who formed weaker bonds. For females lacking mothers or adult daughters, offspring survival was closely linked to bonds between maternal sisters. These results parallel those from human studies, which show that greater social integration is generally associated with reduced mortality and better physical and mental health, particularly for women. IS - 1670 JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences EP - 3104 TI - The benefits of social capital: close social bonds among female baboons enhance offspring survival VL - 276 SP - 3099 KW - baboon KW - social-bonds KW - social-interactions KW - sociality KW - survival AU - Silk, Joan AU - Beehner, Jacinta AU - Bergman, Thore AU - Crockford, Catherine AU - Engh, Anne AU - Moscovice, Liza AU - Wittig, Roman AU - Seyfarth, Robert AU - Cheney, Dorothy PY - 2009/09/07/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.0681 ER -