RAPID: Preserving the endangered Cayo Santiago skeletal collection for studies linking genetics, behavior and morphology

75 年来，波多黎各圣地亚哥岛恒河猴野外遗址一直是遗传、行为和解剖数据的无与伦比的来源，相关的骨骼收藏是开发模型的宝贵资源，可从化石记录推断人类和灵长类动物的进化。该 RAPID 奖项支持拯救和延续圣地亚哥岛收藏的最紧迫方面。藏品的很大一部分将转移到纽约大学（NYU），在那里生物人类学和其他学科的科学研究人员可以将其用于研究将生物体的行为、遗传和软组织解剖特征与其骨骼特征联系起来。除了作为示范性研究资源外，该馆藏还将通过校园 K-12 学生项目、课堂现场参观、教师培训、公开讲座和虚拟资源，增加公众接触科学的机会。该项目通过本科生和研究生的实习机会，直接提高了传统上在 STEM 领域代表性不足的学者的代表性。该项目得到了 NSF 公共访问基金的支持。精确已知谱系（谱系）的灵长类种群非常罕见，圣地亚哥岛猕猴的独特之处在于它是自由放养的种群，具有悠久的历史记录和丰富的行为、遗传和解剖学研究项目。 该奖项支持建立圣地亚哥岛骨骼收藏纽约大学分支机构，该分支机构由无法容纳在现有收藏中的恒河猴骨骼（Macaca mulatta）和目前冷藏的尸体骨架化而成；两组遗骸都面临着失去个体标识符的危险，正是这些标识符使它们成为人类进化研究的重要研究资源。保存他们的遗骸并将其与生前收集的丰富的生物和行为属性数据库连接起来是未来研究的关键基础。 CPRC-NYU 骨架化过程将优先考虑对骨骼微结构、DNA 含量和同位素值产生最大完整性的方法。该收藏可用于解决生物人类学中的几个关键研究问题，这些问题涉及环境和遗传如何塑造骨骼的各个方面，以及对特定类型配偶的偏好如何塑造每种性别的骨骼，并为未来提供无限的研究机会。研究结果为理解人类进化奠定了基础。

The Cayo Santiago rhesus macaque field site in Puerto Rico has served as an unparalleled source of genetic, behavioral, and anatomical data for over 75 years, and the associated skeletal collection is a valuable resource for developing models to infer aspects of human and primate evolution from the fossil record. This RAPID award supports the most urgent aspects of saving and continuing the Cayo Santiago collection. A substantial portion of the collection will move to New York University (NYU) where it will be available to scientific researchers in biological anthropology and other disciplines for studies linking behavioral, genetic and soft tissue anatomical traits of living organisms to features of their skeletons. In addition to serving as an exemplary research resource, the collection will increase public access to science through on-campus K-12 student programs, classroom site visits, teacher training, public lectures, and virtual resources. The project directly enhances representation of scholars traditionally underrepresented in STEM through undergraduate and graduate student internship opportunities. This project is supported with NSF Public Access funds. Primate populations of precise known lineage (pedigree) are rare, and the Cayo Santiago macaques are unique in being free-ranging populations with a long documented history and rich behavioral, genetic and anatomical research programs. This award supports the establishment of a NYU-based branch of the Cayo Santiago skeletal collection, formed from rhesus macaque skeletons (Macaca mulatta) that cannot be accommodated in the existing collection and by skeletonization of cadavers currently in cold storage; both sets of remains are in danger of losing the individual identifiers that make them such important research resources for human evolutionary studies. Preserving their remains and connecting them with the rich database of biological and behavioral attributes collected during their lifetimes is a key foundation for future research. The CPRC-NYU skeletonization process will privilege methods that yield the greatest integrity to bone micro-structure, DNA content, and isotopic values. The collection can be used to address several key research questions in biological anthropology related to how environment and heredity shape aspects of the skeleton, and how preference for particular kinds of mates shapes the skeleton of each sex, as well as allowing unlimited future research opportunities. The results lay the foundation for understanding human evolution.