Behavioral observations can provide clues about female reproductive status. However, the study of the endocrine dynamics that underlie processes such as puberty, ovulation, conception, and gestation, may help increase our understanding of female reproductive biology. We used noninvasive methods to study female reproductive endocrinology in wild woolly monkeys (genus Lagothrix). We extracted ovarian steroid hormones from fecal samples collected non-invasively to examine changes in the concentrations of progesterone and estrogen metabolites (pregnanediol-3-glucuronide and estrone-3-glucuronide, respectively) during periods of female puberty, ovarian cyclicity, and pregnancy. The two subadult females in our study showed significant increases in ovarian hormone concentrations before disappearing and presumably dispersing, suggesting that they might reach the onset of puberty before emigrating from their natal groups. Ovarian cycle length in adult females was, on average, ~22 days (N = 21). Of the 10 cycling females, five conceived and four gave birth to offspring, with an average gestation period of ~214 days, but the infant born to the female with the shortest estimated gestation period (182 days) disappeared within a month after parturition. The fact that less than half of all cycling females conceived, and that only three out of five of those females gave birth to offspring that survived past the first month, suggests that reproduction is energetically costly for female woolly monkeys. Ovarian cycle length and gestation period among woolly monkeys are similar to those in their closest relatives, spider monkeys and muriquis suggesting that reproductive physiology may be highly conserved among females within the Tribe Atelini.

中文翻译：

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青春期、卵巢周期和妊娠期间野生雌性羊毛猴 (Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii) 的生殖内分泌学

行为观察可以提供有关女性生殖状况的线索。然而，研究青春期、排卵、受孕和妊娠等过程背后的内分泌动力学，可能有助于增加我们对女性生殖生物学的理解。我们使用非侵入性方法研究野生毛猴（Lagothrix属）的雌性生殖内分泌学). 我们从非侵入性收集的粪便样本中提取卵巢类固醇激素，以检查女性青春期、卵巢周期和怀孕期间黄体酮和雌激素代谢物（分别为孕二醇-3-葡糖苷酸和雌酮-3-葡糖苷酸）浓度的变化。我们研究中的两只亚成年雌性在消失并可能分散之前显示卵巢激素浓度显着增加，这表明它们可能在从出生群体移出之前进入青春期。成年女性的卵巢周期长度平均约为 22 天（N = 21). 10 名骑自行车的女性中，5 名怀孕，4 名生下后代，平均妊娠期约为 214 天，但估计妊娠期最短（182 天）的女性所生婴儿在分娩后一个月内消失。事实上，只有不到一半的骑自行车的雌性怀孕了，而且这些雌性中只有五分之三的后代在第一个月后存活下来，这表明繁殖对雌性毛猴来说是非常耗费精力的。毛猴的卵巢周期长度和妊娠期与它们的近亲蜘蛛猴和鼠猴相似，这表明 Atelini 部落的雌性生殖生理学可能高度保守。