The Effects of Prenatal Stress on the Life History Success of Male Yellow Baboons (Papio cynocephalus)

Abstract

Perturbations in the maternal environment are thought to have enduring consequences for a developing fetus. Maternal stress in particular has been implicated for various long-term behavioral and physiological disturbances in adulthood. This study investigated how a mother’s experience of (1) social stress, as measured by her dominance rank and (2) ecological stress of high temperature and low rainfall affect a son’s life history success in a wild population of baboons (Papio cynocephalus) of Amboseli, Kenya. Social stress deriving from low maternal rank in a dominance hierarchy consistently predicted developmental delays and higher testosterone levels in sons. Ecological stressors however seemed to prime sons for faster reproductive activity, as evidenced by greater peripubertal testosterone levels and earlier ages of sexual maturation. Further, prenatally stressed sons experienced delays in wound healing. These outcomes suggest that maternal experience of stress during pregnancy has long-term consequences on offspring lifetime fitness.