Doctoral Dissertation Research: Female Counterstrategies to Male Aggression Among Primates

本研究主要研究非人灵长类动物Hamadryas Baboons的雌雄互动生殖策略，这种非人灵长类具有独特而复杂的多层次社会系统，其中雄性在社会单位之间转移雌性。Hamadryas社会系统可能与任何非人类灵长类动物的人类有更多的相似之处，因此这项研究对于增强我们对人类社会进化的理解具有巨大的潜力。此外，这项研究将提供来自野生动物的经验数据，以改进美国动物园的圈养动物管理，并可能为人类产科和妇科提供参考。该项目将支持研究人员培训、保护意识、预防人与野生动物冲突，以及改善研究地点周围地区蛇咬伤的治疗方案。Hamadryas的接管涉及到大量的男性攻击性；它们导致女性生育延迟，以及更高的杀婴和婴儿死亡率。研究人员将利用观察到的行为数据和从埃塞俄比亚Filoha野生哈马德兰狒狒雌性粪便中收集的激素样本进行内分泌测量，研究可能起到抵消这种胁迫作用的雌性策略及其影响。例如，哺乳期的雌性可能在接管后向雄性显示性接受的错误信号，从而防止失去依赖的婴儿。此外，怀孕的女性可以在接管后使用终止怀孕的策略，从而减少最终对后代的投资损失。该项目将是第一个提供任何灵长类物种欺骗性肿胀的荷尔蒙证据，也是第一个提供Hamadryas巴布亚怀孕失败的荷尔蒙证据的项目。更广泛地说，这项研究的结果将填补有关性选择、性冲突和男性和女性生殖策略共同进化的理论科学文献的空白。

This study focuses on the interacting male and female reproductive strategies of hamadryas baboons, a nonhuman primate with a unique and complex multilevel social system in which males transfer females between social units. The hamadryas social system may have more parallels to humans of any nonhuman primate, thus this study has great potential to enhance our understanding of human social evolution. In addition, this study will provide empirical data from wild animals to improve captive animal management in zoological parks in the USA and may also inform human obstetrics and gynecology. The project will support researcher training, conservation awareness, prevention of human-wildlife conflict, and improvement of snake-bite treatment options in areas surrounding the research site. Hamadryas takeovers involve substantial male aggression; they lead to delayed reproduction in females as well as higher rates of infanticide and infant mortality in general. Using observational behavioral data and endocrine measures from fecal hormone samples collected from wild hamadryas baboon females at Filoha, Ethiopia, the investigators will study female strategies that may function to counteract this coercion and its implications. For example, lactating females may display false signals of sexual receptivity to males post-takeover, thereby preventing the loss of a dependent infant. In addition, pregnant females may use a strategy of pregnancy termination post-takeover, thus mitigating the eventual loss of investment in offspring. This project would be the first to provide hormonal evidence of deceptive swellings in any primate species, as well as the first to provide hormonal evidence for pregnancy failure in hamadryas baboons. More broadly, the results of this study will fill gaps in the theoretical scientific literature on sexual selection, sexual conflict, and the co-evolution of male and female reproductive strategies.