Erin Vogel: Slow Life History in Wild Orangutans: Adaptations and Evolution (25 Feb 2026) скачать в хорошем качестве

Erin Vogel: Slow Life History in Wild Orangutans: Adaptations and Evolution (25 Feb 2026)

February 24th 2026, Erin Vogel, Rutgers University, USA Title: Slow Life History in Wild Orangutans: Adaptations and Evolution Summary: Wild orangutans (Pongo spp.) exhibit a semi-solitary social structure, a contrast to the more gregarious social structures of African apes. This strategy is thought to be a primary adaptation to the energetic constraints posed by Southeast Asia’s forest fruiting patterns, which are characterized by unpredictable and often low fruit yields. Physiologically, orangutans maintain a remarkably low basal metabolic rate and utilize a thrifty phenotype to maximize adipose storage during periods of fruit abundance and catabolize adipose and skeletal muscle tissues during episodes of fruit scarcity. Morphologically, they have robust jaws and thickly enameled, crenulated molars to maximize energy intake from tough, hard fallback foods. Their life-history traits, including pronounced sexual dimorphism, high survivorship, high maternal investment, and the longest inter-birth intervals of any extant primate, represent a specialized evolutionary trajectory tailored to the extreme nutrient fluctuations of Southeast Asian forests. ltimately, the high energetic cost of sociality in a low-density, unpredictable resource environment renders permanent social groups energetically unsustainable for this large arboreal ape. Suggested Readings: Vogel, E. R., Alavi, S. E., Watford, M., Brittain, R. S. A., Crowley, B. E., Naumenko, D. J., Aguado, W. D., Bransford, T. D., Zulfa, A., Moldawer, A., Farida, W. R., van Noordwijk, M. A., Setia, T. M., Utami Atmoko, S. S., Rothman, J. M., & Raubenheimer, D. (2025). Integrated behavioral and metabolically flexible responses of wild orangutans to ecologically driven dietary variation. Science Advances, 11(35), eadv7613. https://doi.org/doi:10.1126/sciadv.ad... van Noordwijk, M. A., Utami Atmoko, S. S., Knott, C. D., Kuze, N., Morrogh-Bernard, H. C., Oram, F., Schuppli, C., van Schaik, C. P., & Willems, E. P. (2018). The slow ape: High infant survival and long interbirth intervals in wild orangutans. Journal of Human Evolution, 125, 38- 49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2018... Kunz, J. A., Duvot, G. J., van Noordwijk, M. A., Willems, E. P., Townsend, M., Mardianah, N., Utami Atmoko, S. S., Vogel, E. R., Nugraha, T. P., Heistermann, M., Agil, M., Weingrill, T., & van Schaik, C. P. (2021). The cost of associating with males for Bornean and Sumatran female orangutans: a hidden form of sexual conflict? Behav Ecol Sociobiol, 75(1), 6. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-020-02...