Table 2.

Primary life history variables of female great apes, mainly for wild populations compared to those of modern humans, mainly foragers

Species	Maximum life span (years)	Age at first birth (years)	Gestation length (days)	Age at weaning (years)	Interbirth interval (years)	Age at last birth (years)	Adult female body mass (kg)
Orangutan (Pongo sp.)	58.7*	15.6§	260§§	7.0¶	8.05§	> 41§	37.81‡‡‡‡
Gorilla (Gorilla sp.)	54*	10.0¶	255§§	4.1***	4.40¶	< 42¶¶¶	95.2‡‡‡‡
Bonobo (P. paniscus)	50.0+†	14.2**	244¶¶		6.25†††		33.35‡‡‡‡
Chimpanzee (P. troglodytes)	53.4*	13.3††	225§§	4.5¶	5.46‡‡‡	42****	35.41‡‡‡‡
Modern human (H. sapiens)	85‡	19.5‡‡	270§§	2.8¶	3.69§§§	45††††	45.5§§§§

^*Judge & Carey (2000).

^†Erwin et al. (2002).

^‡Hill & Hurtado (1996); Howell (1979); Blurton Jones et al. (2002).

^§Wich et al. (2004).

^¶Alvarez (2000); for modern humans, only included data from two foraging populations, the Ache and !Kung.

^**Kuroda (1989).

^††Average age at first birth for five P. troglodytes populations: Bossou (10.9 years) Sugiyama (2004); Gombe (13.3 years) Wallis (1997); Mahale (14.56 years) Nishida et al. (2003); Tai (13.7 years) Boesch and Boesch-Achermann (2000); Kibale (15.4 years) Wrangham in Knott (2001).

^‡‡Average age at first reproduction from four modern human foraging groups: Ache (19.5 years) Hill & Hurtado (1996); !Kung (19.2 years) Howell (1979); Hadza (18.77 years), Blurton Jones (unpublished data); Hiwi (20.5 years) Kaplan et al. (2000).

^§§Harvey et al. (1987).

^¶¶de Waal & Lanting (1997): 190 report median gestation length for bonobos in captivity from Thompson-Handler et al. (1990).

^***Average of median age at last suckle of both species: G. gorilla(4.6 years) Nowell & Fletcher (2007); G. beringei (3.6 years) Fletcher (2001).

^†††Average of two P. paniscus populations: Wamba (4.5 years) Takahata et al. (1996); Lomako (8.0 years) Fruth in Knott (2001).

^‡‡‡Average interbirth interval of five P. troglodytes populations: Bossou (5.3 years) Sugiyama (2004); Gombe (5.2 years) Wallis (1997); Mahale (5.6 years) Nishida et al. (2003); Tai (5.7 years) Boesch & Boesch-Achermann (2000); Kanywara, Kibale (5.4 years) Brewer-Marsden et al. (2006); Budongo (5.6 years) Brewer-Marsden et al. (2006).

^§§§Average modern human interbirth interval averaged from three foraging groups: Ache (3.2 years) Hill & Hurtado (1996); !Kung (4.12 years) Howell (1979); Hiwi (3.76 years) Kaplan et al. (2000).

^¶¶¶Maximum reported age at last birth reported in captivity: Atsalis & Margulis (2006).

^****Average of maximum age at last birth in four P. troglodytes populations: Gombe (44 years) Goodall Institute; Mahale (39 years) Nishida et al. (2003); Tai (44 years) Boesch & Boesch-Achermann (2000); Bossou (41 years) Sugiyama (2004).

^††††Average age at last birth: Hill & Hurtado (1996); Howell (1979); Martin et al. (2003).

^‡‡‡‡Body mass reported for wild populations Plavcan & van Schaik (1997).

^§§§§Average of ethnographic sample reported in Jenike (2001; Table 5).