% pubman genre = article
@article{item_3605557,
title = {{Preliminary isotopic assessment of weaning in bonobos shows evidence for extended nursing, sibling competition and invested first{-}time mothers}},
author = {Oelze, Vicky M. and Ott, Kayla and Lee, Sean M. and O{\textquotesingle}Neal, Isabella and Hohmann, Gottfried and Fruth, Barbara},
language = {eng},
issn = {0275-2565; 1098-2345},
doi = {10.1002/ajp.23678},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-11},
abstract = {{Although considered a hallmark in early ontogeny, weaning from breastmilk is difficult to monitor in wild primates and weaning ages remain unknown for wild bonobos (Pan Paniscus). Here, we calculated inter-birth intervals from demographic data and measured the isotopic offsets ($\Delta$15N and $\Delta$13C) between mother (n {\textequals} 17) and offspring (n {\textequals} 28) fecal sample pairs (n {\textequals} 131, total n {\textequals} 246) in the LuiKotale bonobos to assess nutritional weaning for the first time. We tested the effects of infant age, female parity, and sibling competition on $\Delta$15N and $\Delta$13C values. We found bonobo inter-birth intervals ranging from 2.2 to 7.3 years (x{\={}} {\textequals} 4.7 $\pm$ 1.3 years) at LuiKotale. The $\Delta$15N and $\Delta$13C values suggested nutritional weaning on average by 6.6 and 7.0 years of age respectively, considerably exceeding weaning ages reported for chimpanzees (P. troglodytes) using the same approach. Our $\Delta$13C data suggested that the number of offspring present affected nursing, with first-time mothers nursing more and possibly longer. The $\Delta$15N and $\Delta$13C values decreased with the arrival of the next sibling, suggesting sibling competition reduces milk access. Nevertheless, offspring may continue nursing 2.5{\textendash}3 years after the birth of the next sibling, corresponding well with observations on low infant mortality. In conclusion, bonobo mothers provide remarkably enduring materna l support in the form of nursing concurrently to several offspring. {\copyright} 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.}},
journal = {{American Journal of Primatology}},
volume = {86},
number = {11},
eid = {e23678},
}