Predator Recognition in Wild and Captive-Born Mouse Lemurs (Microcebus)

捕食被认为对灵长类动物的行为和感觉系统的进化产生了实质性的影响。然而，很少有研究对野生灵长类动物如何应对捕食者进行实验研究，对野生夜间活动灵长类动物中捕食者与猎物的相互作用也知之甚少。鼠狐猴(Microcebus)是马达加斯加特有的小型夜间活动的独居灵长类动物，容易被大量捕食。这项拟议的研究将研究野生鼠狐猴使用哪些感觉模式(视觉、听觉和嗅觉)来识别捕食者，以及捕食者提供的感觉信息是否会导致行为变化。在野外和更受控制的实验室条件下，将向马达加斯加拉诺马法纳国家公园的野生棕鼠狐猴(M.Rufus)展示三种捕食者类型(哺乳动物、鸟类和蛇)的模型、气味和发声，以确定哪些会引起恐惧或回避反应。老鼠狐猴每天晚上都会被用活捕捉器捕获，并将在当晚再次被释放。首先，29种不同的捕食者和控制线索将在一个实验箱中呈现给至少20种已知的野生狐猴。每只狐猴每晚将接受一次4分钟的试验，每条线索只出现一次，然而，频繁地重新捕获相同的个体将确保在本研究期间向许多个体呈现大多数线索。11种恐惧和非恐惧行为的发生将被记录下来。在森林中的陷阱旁边，同样的线索将在更自然的条件下呈现，以检查老鼠狐猴是否会避开捕食者模型或气味的陷阱。线索将进一步呈现给圈养出生的个体，以调查识别机制是否从出生起就存在，或者可能需要学习。这将是第一次对相对大样本的野生灵长类动物进行三种捕食者类型的研究，并涉及三种感觉模式。灵长类动物和一般动物对认知、感觉和识别过程知之甚少。此外，老鼠狐猴可能是5000多万年前祖先灵长类动物的近亲，这一发现可能为了解捕食可能如何影响灵长类早期进化提供了洞察。马达加斯加是世界上最贫穷的国家之一。它的特点是动植物的高度地方性，正在进行的砍伐和焚烧农业已经摧毁了80%的森林覆盖。这项研究的发现将有助于更好地了解鲜为人知和受到威胁的棕色鼠狐猴，有助于制定有效的保护和物种管理措施。此外，这项研究将涉及两名研究生，一名来自美国大学，一名来自马达加斯加的一所大学。除了学习最新的现场方法外，还可以形成有价值的国际合作。此外，两名马达加斯加当地村民将受雇为研究技术人员并接受培训。对于未来的保护工作，当地科学家和非科学家参与研究并获得获得知识和技能的机会是重要的。

Predation is hypothesized to have had substantial impact on the evolution of primate behavior and sensory systems. However, few studies have investigated experimentally how wild primates deal with predators, and very little is known about predator-prey interactions in wild nocturnal primates. Mouse lemurs (Microcebus) are tiny nocturnal and solitary primates endemic to Madagascar and are subject to heavy predation. The proposed study will examine which sensory modalities (vision, hearing and smelling) wild mouse lemurs employ to recognize predators and if sensory information provided by predators induces a behavioral change. Models, odors, and vocalizations of three predator types (mammalian, avian and snake) will be presented to wild brown mouse lemurs ( M. rufus) in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar, under field and more controlled laboratory conditions to determine which evokes fear or avoidance responses. Mouse lemurs will be captured each evening using live traps, and will be released again later that night. First, twenty-nine different predator and control cues will be presented in an experimental box to a minimum of twenty known wild lemurs. Each lemur will receive one 4-minute trial per night and will be presented with each cue only once, however, frequent recapture of the same individuals will ensure that many individuals will be presented with most of the cues during this study. The occurrence of eleven fear and nonfear behaviors will be recorded. The same cues will be presented under more natural conditions alongside the traps in the forest, to examine whether mouse lemurs avoid traps with predator models or odors. Cues will further be presented to captive-born individuals to investigate whether recognition mechanisms are present from birth or may require learning. This will be the first study subjecting a relatively large sample size of wild primate to three predator types and addressing three sensory modalities. Cognitive, sensory and recognition processes are poorly understood in primates and in animals in general. Furthermore, mouse lemurs are probably the closets living approximation to the ancestral primate from more than 50 million years ago and findings may provide insight into how predation may have affected early primate evolution. Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world. It is characterized by a high endemism of its flora and fauna, and ongoing slash-and-burn agriculture has already destroyed 80 percent of its forest cover. Findings from this study will provide a better understanding of the poorly known and threatened brown mouse lemur can help develop effective conservation and species management measures. In addition this study will involve two graduate students, one from an American University and one from a University in Madagascar. In addition to learning the latest field methods, valuable international collaborations can be formed. Furthermore, two local Malagasy villagers will employed and trained as research technicians. For future conservation efforts it is important for local scientists and nonscientists to be involved in research and to receive to opportunity to gain knowledge and skills.