U.S.-Venezuela Planning Visit: Natal Dispersal and New Group Formation In Capybaras: Combining Behavioral and Genetic Information

0307090唐-马丁内斯这美国-委内瑞拉规划访问赠款将允许伊丽莎白Congdon女士，博士生工作的密苏里州，圣路易斯大学教授Zuleyma唐马丁内斯的监督下，前往委内瑞拉，以帮助规划和参与与西蒙玻利瓦尔大学教授埃米利奥埃雷拉在加拉加斯，委内瑞拉实地考察。 该研究将侧重于世界上最大的啮齿动物水豚（Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris）的行为生态学和扩散，并将对两个机构的研究项目互惠互利。更具体地说，Congdon女士将开始详细研究2003年旱季期间的纳塔尔扩散情况，收集扩散前的行为数据，并利用无线电遥测技术监测动物随时间的移动情况。 Herrera教授将使用分子遗传分析来研究社会群体中的亲子关系模式以及群体之间的关系。这些数据将被用于评估该物种的扩散策略和该策略的遗传后果。 这次计划访问的结果将用于Congdon女士的论文工作，并将有助于发展美国和委内瑞拉调查人员之间的合作。 通过研究遗传结构和扩散之间的联系，这项研究将有助于理解这个物种的社会动力学和社会性的进化。

0307090Tang-MartinezThis US-Venezuela Planning Visit grant will allow Ms. Elizabeth Congdon, a doctoral student working under the supervision of Professor Zuleyma Tang Martinez of the University of Missouri, St. Louis, to travel to Venezuela to help plan and participate in a field study with Professor Emilio Herrera of the Universidad Simon Bolivar in Caracas, Venezuela. The research will focus on the behavioral ecology and dispersal of the world's largest rodent, the capybara (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris), and will be of mutual benefit to the research programs at both institutions. More specifically, Ms. Congdon will begin a detailed study of natal dispersal during the dry season of 2003, collecting pre-dispersal behavioral data and monitoring animal movements over time using radio telemetry technology. Professor Herrera will use molecular genetic analyses to examine patterns of paternity in social groups and relatedness among and between groups. These data will then be used together toevaluate the dispersal strategy of this species and the genetic ramifications of that strategy. Results from this planning visit will be used in Ms. Congdon's thesis dissertation work and will help to develop the collaboration between US and Venezuelan investigators. By examining the connection between genetic structure and dispersal, this research will contribute to the understanding of the social dynamics of this species and the evolution of sociality in general.