Evolutionary Anthropology team seminar - Maria van Noordwijk, Primatologist: Male reproductive success in orangutans

"Orangutan life cycle: slow but sure".

Among our closest extant relatives, the lives of orangutans remain the least documented and understood, mainly due to their solitary lifestyle. Based on a 15-year study of Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii), our research aims to combine behavioral, movement, genetic and demographic data to (re)construct the reproductive histories of females and males. Compared to other great apes, (early) survival in orangutans is very high, but birth intervals are extremely long and reproduction is delayed in both sexes. This pattern helps us to understand the factors that have led to the remarkable variation in the social and mating systems of all great apes, including humans.