Dissertation Research: Social Organization and Mating Systems of Saguinus Mystax on Padre, Isla, Peru

该研究项目将调查秘鲁亚马逊河流域帕德雷岛上的一群红毛猴（Sanguinus mystax）的社会组织。长期以来，绢毛猴一直被认为是一种不寻常的灵长类动物，因为它具有一些罕见的社会性特征，比如只繁殖一只雌性，倾向于生双胞胎，以及雄性广泛参与照顾婴儿。然而，直到最近，人们对它们在野外的社会行为知之甚少；所有关于社会组织的推论都是基于对圈养动物的观察。在实地工作过程中，研究人员将记录部队的组成并分析个体间相互作用的模式。然后，学生将测试亲代投资理论在群体组成、交配系统和个体间行为方面的含义。对不同灵长类物种的研究对人类经验的生物学方面提供了丰富的信息。灵长类动物的研究为研究人类起源提供了一个比较的背景。关于营养物质的信息尤其重要，因为它提供了男性照顾婴儿的信息：成年男性和年轻人之间的照顾关系代表了人类和类人猿社会组织之间的深刻差异。

This research project will investigate the social organization of a population of Sanguinus mystax, or mustached tamarins, on Padre Isla in the Peruvian Amazon. Tamarins have long been recognized as unusual primates due to a number of rare sociosexual traits, such as the restriction of breeding to a single female, the tendency to bear twins, and the extensive participation of males in infant care. Until recently, however, little was known of their social behavior in the wild; all inferences of social organization were based on observations of captive animals. During the course of fieldwork the reseracher will document the composition of troops and analyze patterns of interindividual interaction. The student will then test the implications of parental investment theory with regard to group composition, mating systems and interindividual behavior. Research on different primate species is informative with regard to the biological spects of the human experience. Primate studies provide a comparative context for investigating human origins. Information on callitrichids is especially important since it provides information on male care of infants: care- giving relationships between adult males and young represent a prfound difference between human and great ape social organization.