Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: Development of Efficient Foraging Behavior in Aye-Ayes

该项目将在杜克大学灵长类动物中心（DUPC）研究限制未成熟的猕猴（Daubentonia madagascar）有效觅食技能发展的因素。采用实验方法，本研究将评估成年水平觅食能力达到的年龄，并将确定缺乏经验、体型小和/或神经肌肉控制不良是否会阻碍幼年眼鼠有效地觅食。研究结果将检验学习复杂觅食技能所需的时间是否可以解释aye-aye发育异常缓慢的原因。狐猴觅食效率的个体发生研究对于理解包括人类在内的其他灵长类动物的缓慢发育或缓慢生活史的进化具有重要意义。人类的生活史特征，包括漫长的幼年期和寿命，可以用饮食转向更专门的、难以获得的食物（如肉、幼虫）来解释。此外，人类的行为，如与后代分享食物，可能与缓慢的生活史有关。最近，人类学家开始用来自狩猎采集者群体的长期数据来检验这一假设，并特别关注经验和体型对觅食效率的相对重要性。按照这一思路，拟议中的项目将是首批通过实验测试生命史进化假说的项目之一。因为像人类一样，眼睛也以相对缓慢的生活史和专门的、营养丰富的饮食为特征，这项研究与我们对衍生的人类生活史特征的理解直接相关。更广泛地说，这个研究项目将为促进教育和参与研究提供多种机会。初步数据是在三名学生研究助理的帮助下收集的，他们接受过行为观察方面的培训，并使用手持电脑收集数据。拟议的研究将继续为学生研究助理的教育和培训提供机会。此外，DUPC是一个教育设施，每年向数千名游客提供有关狐猴及其生态系统的信息。参观中心的人将有机会观察数据收集过程，并通过教育材料了解这个研究项目。这项研究也更广泛地适用于理解人类饮食的发展。就像非人类灵长类动物和其他哺乳动物一样，人类也被观察到通过社交来学习食物。饮食模式，包括肥胖和节食，似乎在整个童年时期逐渐形成。了解非人类灵长类动物觅食行为的发展可以帮助我们了解人类饮食发展的潜在阶段，并可能为食物相关疾病的预防性治疗提供见解。最后，本研究将为兔眼和其他哺乳动物重新引入野外提供有益的信息，从而对保护具有重要意义。在保护和野生动物管理中，放生在其现有或以前活动范围内的动物变得越来越重要，但灵长类动物的恢复似乎不如其他哺乳动物成功。了解灵长类动物是如何学会觅食的，将有助于我们预测年幼的动物在什么年龄达到觅食能力，足以独立生存，以及重新引入的动物是否能够在一个新的环境中觅食。这对因栖息地丧失和狩猎而受到高度威胁的阿耶耶来说尤其重要。

This project will investigate the factors that limit the development of efficient tap-foraging skills in immature aye-ayes (Daubentonia madagascariensis) at the Duke University Primate Center (DUPC). Using experimental methods, this study will assess the age at which adult-level foraging proficiency is reached, and will determine whether lack of experience, small body size, and/or poor neuromuscular control prevent young aye-ayes from foraging efficiently. Results will test whether the time needed to learn complex foraging skills can explain the remarkably slow development of the aye-aye.Study of the ontogeny of lemur foraging efficiency has important implications for understanding the evolution of slow development, or slow life history, in other primates, including humans. Human life history features, including a long juvenile period and lifespan, may be explained by a dietary shift towards more specialized, hard-to-obtain foods (e.g. meat, larvae). Additionally, human behaviors, such as food sharing with offspring, can be associated with slow life history. Recently, anthropologists have begun to test this hypothesis with long-term data from hunter-gatherer groups, with specific attention to the relative importance of experience and size to foraging efficiency. Following in this vein, the proposed project will be among the first to experimentally test hypotheses for life history evolution. Because aye-ayes, like humans, are also characterized by a relatively slow life history and a specialized, nutrient-rich diet, this study is directly relevant to our understanding of derived human life history traits.More broadly, this research project will provide multiple opportunities for promoting education and participation in research. Preliminary data have been collected with the help of three student research assistants trained in behavioral observations and data collection techniques using hand-held computers. The proposed research will continue to provide opportunities for education and training of student research assistants. Additionally, the DUPC is an educational facility that provides information about lemurs and their ecosystems to thousands of visitors annually. Visitors to the center will have the opportunity to observe data collection sessions and to learn about this research project via educational materials.This research is also more broadly applicable to understanding human dietary development. Like non-human primates and other mammals, humans have been observed to learn about food socially. Eating patterns, including obesity and dieting, appear to develop gradually throughout childhood. Understanding the development of foraging behaviors in non-human primates can help us understand the underlying stages of human dietary development, and may provide insight into preventative treatment of food-related disorders.Finally, this research will provide helpful information for the reintroduction of aye-ayes and other mammals into the wild, and thus has important implications for conservation. While the release of animals within their current or former range is becoming increasingly important in conservation and wildlife management, primates in particular appear to rehabilitate less successfully than other mammals. Discerning how primates learn to forage will help us predict at what age young animals reach foraging proficiency adequate for independent survival, and whether reintroduced animals will be able to forage in a novel environment. This is particularly relevant for the aye-aye, which is highly threatened by habitat loss and hunting.