Baboon Longevity Under Adversity

Description
This activity guides the analysis of a published scientific figure from a study on how adversity in early life impacts the long-term survival of baboons.
Experiencing poverty, abuse, and other adverse conditions in childhood may increase an individual’s risk for health issues as an adult. In this study, scientists analyzed long-term survival data from a baboon population in Kenya. The figure shows survival curves for 196 adult female baboons, grouped by the number of adverse conditions they had experienced early in life. The conditions included drought, overcrowding, low social status, maternal loss, and sibling rivalry.
The “Educator Materials” document includes a captioned figure, background information, graph interpretation, and discussion questions. The “Student Handout” includes a captioned figure and background information
Student Learning Targets
- Analyze and interpret data from a scientific figure.
- Read and compare survival curves for different groups.
Estimated Time
Key Terms
adverse condition, Kaplan-Meier plot, lifespan, stairstep graph, survival curve, survival probability, survivorship function
Primary Literature
Tung, Jenny, Elizabeth A. Archie, Jeanne Altmann, and Susan C. Alberts. “Cumulative early life adversity predicts longevity in wild baboons.” Nature Communications 7, 1 (2016): 11181. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11181.
Terms of Use
The resource is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. No rights are granted to use HHMI’s or BioInteractive’s names or logos independent from this Resource or in any derivative works.
Accessibility Level (WCAG compliance)
Version History
HS-LS2-8; SEP2, SEP4, SEP5
ENE-4.B, IST-5.A; SP1, SP4
C.5
Topic(s): 3.3, 3.5, 3.7
Learning Objectives & Practices: ERT-3.C, ERT-3.F, EIN-1.B, SP2, SP4, SP5,
2.1
ELA.RST.9-12.7
Math.S-ID.6, Math.S-IC.4; MP2, MP5
CC5; DP2, DP3