The early evolution of star clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud ( SMC ) has been the subject of significant recent controversy , particularly regarding the importance and length of the earliest , largely mass-independent disruption phase ( referred to as “ infant mortality ” ) .
Here , we take a fresh approach to the problem , using an independent , homogeneous data set of UBVR imaging observations , from which we obtain the SMC ’ s cluster age and mass distributions in a self-consistent manner .
We conclude that the ( optically selected ) SMC star cluster population has undergone at most \sim 30 per cent ( 1 \sigma ) infant mortality between the age range from about ( 3 - 10 ) Myr , to that of approximately ( 40 - 160 ) Myr .
We rule out a 90 per cent cluster mortality rate per decade of age ( for the full age range up to 10 ^ { 9 } yr ) at a > 6 \sigma level .
We independently affirm this scenario based on the age distribution of the SMC cluster sample .