Age Patterning in Wild Chimpanzee Gut Microbiota Diversity Reveals Differences from Humans in Early Life.

Summary Survival in primates is facilitated by commensal gut microbes that ferment otherwise indigestible plant matter, resist colonization by pathogens, and train the developing immune system. 1 , 2 However, humans are unique among primates in that we consume highly digestible foods, wean early, mature slowly, and exhibit high lifelong investments in maintenance. 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 These adaptations suggest that lifetime trajectories of human-microbial relationships could differ from those of our closest living relatives. Here, we profile the gut microbiota of 166 wild chimpanzees aged 8 months to 67 years in the Kibale National Park, Uganda and compare the patterns of gut microbial maturation to those previously observed in humans. We found that chimpanzee gut microbial alpha-diversity, composition, density, interindividual variation, and within-individual change over time varied significantly with age. Notably, gut microbial signatures in infants