Doctoral Dissertation Research: The reproductive ecology of the Kinda baboon

灵长类动物行为和进化的许多模型在很大程度上依赖于被广泛研究的狒狒属。然而，与其他狒狒物种相比，研究相对较少的Kinda狒狒表现出独特的身体和社会特征，这表明狒狒模型应该考虑更广泛的生殖策略。该项目将收集关于Kinda狒狒的新数据，以了解其不同寻常的生物学进化，促进未来灵长类动物交配系统多样性进化的比较研究，包括我们自己的人类谱系。该项目将促进研究生和本科生在多个方面的研究训练，包括实地数据收集和处理、计算方法和实验室工作。该项目将支持国际研究合作、向学生和当地社区推广科学、保护工作以及通过各种媒体传播数据。它们是我们唯一缺乏详细生物学数据的狒狒物种，也是检验灵长类动物进化模型预测的绝佳物种。小狒狒有一套独特的特征，包括减少两性二态性和雄性驱动的两性社会关系，这表明狒狒在繁殖策略上表现出比以前认为的更多的变化。这个项目将验证与其他狒狒相比，Kinda狒狒进化出的特征表明，雄性之间的直接竞争更弱，间接竞争更强。该项目有两个主要目标：1)描述在Kinda狒狒种群中观察到的交配系统和生殖竞争类型；2)描述这些特征对女性性信号的影响。我们将通过：i)女性生殖生活史的特征；生殖状况的激素评估；Iii)女性生殖同步性和男性生殖偏态的计算；iv)女性性信号在宣传女性生育能力中的可靠性。由于这些参数的数据存在于其他狒狒种群中，我们将能够将我们的结果与其他狒狒分类群的结果进行比较。这个项目将产生关于野生狒狒繁殖的第一个详细的纵向数据集，特别是与生理和性信号有关的数据集。该项目将促进未来灵长类动物和其他动物交配系统多样性进化的比较研究。此外，探索在金达狒狒和古人类中观察到的性别二型性减少的行为和生活史相关性，将为人类生殖策略的进化和导致衍生的现代人类特征的选择压力提供重要的见解。

Many models of primate behavior and evolution have relied heavily on the generally well-studied baboon genus. However, the relatively understudied Kinda baboon exhibits unique physical and social traits compared to other baboon species, suggestion a wider variety of reproductive strategies that should be considered in baboon models. This project will collect new data on the Kinda baboon to understand the evolution of their unusual biology, facilitating future comparative studies into the evolution of mating system diversity among primates including our own hominin lineage. This project will facilitate the training of graduate and undergraduate students in multiple aspects of research including field data collection and processing, computational methods, and laboratory work. The project will support international research collaborations, science outreach to students and local communities, conservation efforts, and data dissemination through various media. Kinda are the only baboon species for which we lack detailed biological data, and are an excellent species on which to test predictions of evolutionary models in primatology. Kinda baboons have a unique suite of characteristics, including reduced sexual dimorphism and male-driven intersexual social relationships, suggesting that baboons exhibit more variation in their reproductive strategies than previously thought. This project will test the hypothesis that compared to other baboons, Kinda baboons evolved traits indicative of weaker direct, and stronger indirect, male-male competition. This project has two major objectives, to: 1) characterize the mating system and types of reproductive competition observed in a population of Kinda baboons; and 2) characterize the consequences of these characteristics for female sexual signaling. We will achieve this through: i) the characterization of female reproductive life-history; ii) hormonal assessment of reproductive profiles; iii) the calculation of female reproductive synchrony and male reproductive skew; and iv) the reliability of female sexual signals in advertising female fertility. Since data on these parameters exist for other baboon populations, we will be able to compare our results to those of other baboon taxa. This project will result in the first detailed longitudinal dataset on wild Kinda baboon reproduction, particularly in relation to physiology and sexual signaling. The project will facilitate future comparative studies into the evolution of mating system diversity among primates and other animals. Further, exploring the behavioral and life-history correlates of reduced sexual dimorphism, a characteristic observed in Kinda baboons and also in hominins, will provide important insights into the evolution of hominin reproductive strategies and the selective pressures leading to the derived suite of modern human traits.