Dissertation Research: Radiation, Evolution, and Interaction of Two Sulawesi Macaque Species

物种形成是一个新的独立进化实体产生的过程，是今天我们看到的生物多样性的基础。由于这个原因，它一直是许多理论工作的焦点，导致了许多新物种如何产生的模型，以及许多经常有争议的物种定义。尽管如此，很少有灵长类动物的实证研究揭示了物种形成的动态。研究人员建议详细研究两个假定的猴种及其杂交品种，以便更清楚地了解地理分离和随后整合的遗传后果。这两个物种是猕猴群的成员，猕猴和M. tonkeana，生活在印度尼西亚的苏拉威西岛。遗传物质将从每个物种范围内的几百个个体和中间杂交区收集。利用自动化DNA测序技术，将对线粒体和核基因组进行调查，以获取信息标记，揭示杂交区基因流动的方向和速度，每个物种的雄性和雌性对杂交过程的相对贡献，以及杂交对每个物种长期进化完整性的遗传影响。雌性的贡献将使用mtDNA标记进行追踪，而雄性介导的基因流将使用nDNA微卫星进行重建。这项研究将揭示高等灵长类动物物种形成的过程，导致其随后崩溃的因素，以及为什么苏拉威西岛上有这么多种类的猕猴。

Speciation, a process whereby a new evolutionarily independent entity arises, underlies much of the biological diversity seen today. For this reason, it has been the focus of much theoretical work leading to many models of how new species arise and many, often controversial definitions of what a species is. Despite this work, few empirical studies of primates have shed light on the dynamics of speciation. The researchers propose to examine in detail two putative species of cercopithecine monkey and their hybrids, in order to gain a clearer understanding of the genetic consequences of geographic separation and subsequent intergradation. The two species are members of the macaque complex, Macaca maurus and M. tonkeana, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Genetic material will be collected from several hundred individuals within the range of each species and across the intervening hybrid zone. Using automated DNA sequencing technology, the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes will be surveyed for informative markers that reveal the direction and rate of gene flow across the hybrid zone, the relative contribution of males and females of each species to this hybridization process, and the genetic effects of hybridization on the long term evolutionary integrity of each species. Female contributions will be tracked using mtDNA markers, while male mediated gene flow will be reconstructed using nDNA microsatellites. This study will shed light on the process of species formation among higher primates, factors leading to its subsequent breakdown, and possibly why there are so many species of macaque monkeys on Sulawesi.