Dissertation Research: Adaptive Significance of Male Parental Care in Tamarins (Saguinus geoffroyi)

合作行为是进化生物学的一个重要问题，因为自然选择被认为有利于最大限度地传递个人基因的行为。Geoffroy‘s Tamarin(Saguinus Geoffroyi)为这种行为提供了一个例子：在这种小型灵长类动物中，一只繁殖的雌性与两只雄性交配产生异卵双胞胎，雄性合作照顾婴儿。护理主要包括抱着这对双胞胎10周，这对双胞胎的体重是成年体重的17%。考虑到雄性可能会照顾不属于自己的幼崽，而且这种照顾是如此昂贵，那么帮助动物有什么好处呢？研究将结合对野生罗望子群的观察和DNA分析来了解雄性照顾与家庭关系和婴儿的父亲关系的关系。这一方法将允许测试目前有争议的三个关于男性父母照顾的好处的假说：(I)通过父子关系的直接好处(Ii)帮助亲人的间接好处(Iii)通过继承繁殖地位而延迟的好处。这个项目将测试关于灵长类系统中的合作行为的假设，该系统已经显示出与人类的相似之处，并可能为我们自己的合作行为的进化提供新的见解。有关这种濒临灭绝的灵长类动物的交配系统和生态的数据将有助于国际保护工作。研究目前涉及对巴拿马大学学生的培训和指导。保持与地方当局和社区的积极沟通，以传播知识并让更多的公众参与保护。该项目的部分资金来自国际科学与工程办公室。

Cooperative behavior is an important question in evolutionary biology because natural selection is thought to favor behaviors that maximize the transmission of an individual's genes. Geoffroy's tamarin (Saguinus geoffroyi) provides an example of such behaviors: in this small primate a single breeding female mates with two males to produce fraternal twins and the males cooperate in caring for the infants. Care primarily consists of carrying the twins, which weigh 17% of adult body mass, for 10 weeks. Given that males may be caring for young that are not their own and such care is so costly, what are the benefits to the helping animal?Research will combine observations of wild tamarin groups with DNA analyses to understand how male care relates to family relationships and paternity of infants. This approach will allow testing of three currently debated hypotheses regarding the benefits of male parental care: (i) direct benefits through paternity of offspring (ii) indirect benefits of helping kin (iii) delayed benefits via inheritance of a breeding position.This project will test hypotheses regarding cooperative behavior in a primate system that has shown similarities to humans and may provide new insights into the evolution of our own cooperative behavior. Data on the mating system and ecology of this endangered primate will assist international conservation efforts. Research currently involves training and mentoring of students in the University of Panama. Active communication with local authorities and communities is maintained to disseminate knowledge and involve the greater public in conservation. This project is funded in part by the Office of International Science and Engineering.