Data

This database contains individual-based life history data that have been collected from wild primate populations by nine working group participants over a minimum of 19 years. The purpose of collecting data of this type is to make comparative analyses that can shed light on the population dynamics and the social and ecological adaptations that have shaped both human and nonhuman primate evolution. Records in the database include mortality and fertility schedules across multiple primate taxa. The data are searchable and can be downloaded into csv format.

About example datasets

To illustrate the structure of the data, we provide example data sets, representing a subset of the actual database. Please visit the Biography page or Fertility page to download these files.

PLHDB version 2

• Technologies
  • Database: PostgreSQL 9.5 (or higher)
  • Website Theme: charitytrust
• Source Code
  • Source code is available at GitHub.

PLHDB version 1

• Technologies
  • Database: PostgreSQL 8.3
  • Database ORM : Hibernate
  • Programming Language: java
  • Web Framework: Spring
  • Other Libraries
    • c3p0 Database Connection Pooling
    • struts
    • dojo
  • Website Theme: charitytrust
• Source Code
  • Source code is available at GitHub.

Licensing

The software created by the PLHDB project is licensed under the GPL v3.

Credits

• Concept, content, and scientific requirements: the Evolutionary Ecology of Primate Life Histories Working Group, Susan C Alberts (Duke University, PI), Karen B Strier (University of Wisconsin-Madison, PI)
• Database and application programming: Hilmar Lapp (NESCent), Xianhua Liu (NESCent)

Publications

Alberts, S. C., Altmann, J., Brockman, D. K., Cords, M., Fedigan, L. M., Pusey, A., Stoinski, T. S., Strier, K. B., Morris, W. F., & Bronikowski, A. M. (2013). Reproductive aging patterns in primates reveal that humans are distinct. Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110(33), 13440–13445. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1311857110 

Bronikowski, A. M., Altmann, J., Brockman, D. K., Cords, M., Fedigan, L. M., Pusey, A., Stoinski, T., Morris, W. F., Strier, K. B., & Alberts, S. C. (2011). Aging in the natural world: comparative data reveal similar mortality patterns across primates. Science, 331(6022), 1325–1328. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1201571 

Bronikowski, A. M., Cords, M., Alberts, S. C., Altmann, J., Brockman, D. K., Fedigan, L. M., Pusey, A., Stoinski, T., Strier, K. B., & Morris, W. F. (2016). Female and male life tables for seven wild primate species. Scientific Data, 3(1), 160006. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2016.6 

Campos, F. A., Altmann, J., Cords, M., Fedigan, L. M., Lawler, R., Lonsdorf, E. V., Stoinski, T. S., Strier, K. B., Bronikowski, A. M., Pusey, A. E., & Alberts, S. C. (2022). Female reproductive aging in seven primate species: Patterns and consequences. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(20), e2117669119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2117669119 

Campos, F. A., Morris, W. F., Alberts, S. C., Altmann, J., Brockman, D. K., Cords, M., Pusey, A., Stoinski, T. S., Strier, K. B., & Fedigan, L. M. (2017). Does climate variability influence the demography of wild primates? Evidence from long-term life-history data in seven species. Global Change Biology, 23(11), 4907–4921. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13754 

Colchero, F., Aburto, J. M., Archie, E. A., Boesch, C., Breuer, T., Campos, F. A., Collins, A., Conde, D. A., Cords, M., Crockford, C., Thompson, M. E., Fedigan, L. M., Fichtel, C., Groenenberg, M., Hobaiter, C., Kappeler, P. M., Lawler, R. R., Lewis, R. J., Machanda, Z. P., … Alberts, S. C. (2021). The long lives of primates and the ‘invariant rate of ageing’ hypothesis. Nature Communications, 12(1), 3666. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23894-3 

Colchero, F., Rau, R., Jones, O. R., Barthold, J. A., Conde, D. A., Lenart, A., Nemeth, L., Scheuerlein, A., Schoeley, J., Torres, C., Zarulli, V., Altmann, J., Brockman, D. K., Bronikowski, A. M., Fedigan, L. M., Pusey, A. E., Stoinski, T. S., Strier, K. B., Baudisch, A., … Vaupel, J. W. (2016). The emergence of longevous populations. PNAS, 201612191–15. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1612191113 

Morris, W. F., Altmann, J., Brockman, D. K., Cords, M., Fedigan, L. M., Pusey, A. E., Stoinski, T. S., Bronikowski, A. M., Alberts, S. C., & Strier, K. B. (2011). Low Demographic Variability in Wild Primate Populations: Fitness Impacts of Variation, Covariation, and Serial Correlation in Vital Rates. The American Naturalist, 177(1), E14–E28. https://doi.org/10.1086/657443 

Strier, K. B., Altmann, J., Brockman, D. K., Bronikowski, A. M., Cords, M., Fedigan, L. M., Lapp, H., Liu, X., Morris, W. F., Pusey, A. E., Stoinski, T. S., & Alberts, S. C. (2010). The Primate Life History Database: a unique shared ecological data resource. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 1(2), 199–211. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2041-210x.2010.00023.x 

Zipple, M. N., Altmann, J., Campos, F. A., Cords, M., Fedigan, L. M., Lawler, R. R., Lonsdorf, E. V., Perry, S., Pusey, A. E., Stoinski, T. S., Strier, K. B., & Alberts, S. C. (2021). Maternal death and offspring fitness in multiple wild primates. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(1), e2015317118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2015317118