Postnatal Growth of Nonhuman Primates: The Problem of the Adolescent Spurt

Document Type

Article

Authors

Elizabeth S. Watts, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana
James A. Gavan, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri

Abstract

An exponential regression equation was fitted to longitudinal growth data for the limb segments of sixteen rhesus monkeys and twelve chimpanzees. The fit was good but systematic age-related deviations of the actual from the predicted dimensions were found. The patterned deviations indicate that, as in man, both a juvenile deceleration and an adolescent acceleration occur in the growth curves of these higher primates. The adolescent spurt is closely related to secondary sex character changes in male rhesus monkeys and female chimpanzees. No data on puberty were available for the male chimpanzees. In female rhesus monkeys puberty pre­cedes the growth spurt and shows little relation to it.

Recommended Citation

Watts, Elizabeth S. and Gavan, James A. (1982) "Postnatal Growth of Nonhuman Primates: The Problem of the Adolescent Spurt," Human Biology: Vol. 54: Iss. 1, Article 8.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol54/iss1/8