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Charles L. Nunn,*John L. Gittleman,Janis Antonovics
The behavioral and ecological factors involved in immune
system evolution remain poorly explored. We present a phylogeneticanalysis of white blood cell counts in primates to test threehypotheses related to disease risk: increases in risk are expectedwith
group size or population density, exposure to soil-bornepathogens, and
mating promiscuity. White blood cell counts weresignificantly greater
in species where females have more matingpartners, indicating that the
risk of sexually transmitted diseaseis likely to be a major factor
leading to systematic differencesin the primate immune system.
Department of Biology, Gilmer Hall, University of Virginia,
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4328, USA.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
charlie.nunn{at}virginia.edu
