# Independent fitness consequences of group size variation in Verreaux’s sifakas

## TL;DR

This study finds that small group sizes provide the best fitness outcomes for Verreaux’s sifakas, contrary to expectations of intermediate group sizes being optimal.

## Contribution

The study reveals that mortality and reproductive rates in Verreaux’s sifakas vary independently with group size, challenging assumptions about optimal group sizes.

## Key findings

- Female reproductive rates are suppressed by the number of co-resident females, not total group size.
- Mortality rates increase significantly in larger groups.
- Net fitness benefits are highest in small group sizes, not intermediate ones.

## Abstract

The costs and benefits of group living are also reflected in intraspecific variation in group size. Yet, little is known about general patterns of fitness consequences of this variation. We use demographic records collected over 25 years to determine how survival and reproductive success vary with group size in a Malagasy primate. We show that female reproductive rates of Verreaux’s sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi) are not affected by total group size, but that they are supressed by the number of co-resident females, whereas mortality rates are significantly higher in larger groups. Neither annual rainfall nor the adult sex ratio have significant effects on birth and death rates. Hence, these sifakas enjoy the greatest net fitness benefits at small, and not the predicted intermediate group sizes. Thus, independent fitness proxies can vary independently as a function of group size as well as other factors, leading to deviations from optimal intermediate group sizes.

A demographic analysis reveals that mortality and female reproductive rates of Verreaux’s sifakas vary independently and differently as a function of group size.