Collaborative Research: Hard Tissue evidence of weaning variation in primates

合作研究：灵长类动物断奶变异的硬组织证据

• 批准号: 1753651
• 负责人: Shannon McFarlin
• 金额: $ 39.77万
• 依托单位: George Washington University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-04-15 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1753651&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Hard; Tissue; evidence

Weaning (cessation of breastfeeding) is a critical developmental milestone with important consequences for maternal reproductive strategies and infant outcomes. Modern humans wean their young much earlier on average than the great apes, but the evolutionary origins of this uniquely human pattern are not well understood. This interdisciplinary research project will study behavioral, ecological, physiological, and developmental data for three different wild great ape species, to understand sources of weaning variation in a comparative primate framework. The project will generate a more comprehensive understanding of the biological, ecological and social correlates of weaning variation in our closest living relatives using approaches that are translatable to paleontological contexts, thus contributing to a framework for understanding the evolution of weaning in humans. This project will broaden participation of underrepresented groups in science through structured internships, mentoring and other enhanced training opportunities for students and early career scientists. Research infrastructure will be enhanced by establishing new collaborations and interdisciplinary datasets relevant to many questions at the intersection of primate conservation and human evolutionary biology. Results of this work will advance our understanding of the population dynamics and health of these critically endangered apes, and will be communicated to wildlife veterinarians and park managers to inform conservation strategies, as well as through online and other public venues.The timing of weaning represents a balance of maternal and offspring evolutionary interests, and is sensitive to physiological constraints as well as physical and social environments. However, behavioral observations of living primates cannot distinguish nutritive versus social functions of nursing, and methods for reconstructing weaning in paleontological contexts are limited in their ability to discriminate weaning variation among closely-related taxa. This comparative and multi-proxy study of weaning variation in wild great apes focuses on three ecologically-distinct populations that show pronounced variation in suckling behavior and maternal reproductive strategies: Virunga and Bwindi mountain gorillas, which differ markedly in ecology, and Gombe chimpanzees, which provide an important taxonomic contrast. This project integrates suckling and feeding behavior, physical development, and fecal stable isotope data collected from individuals in life, with chemical characterization of their foods, and morphological and dental trace element analyses of associated skeletons from these populations after death. This research investigates (1) what factors influence variability in weaning-related dietary transitions across living wild chimpanzees and gorillas, (2) how chemical proxies in biological tissues (fecal, dental) relate to behavioral and anatomical proxies of weaning, and (3) how reliably dental trace elements record variability in documented dietary histories at the individual and population levels.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

断奶（停止母乳喂养）是一个关键的发育里程碑，对孕产妇生殖策略和婴儿结局具有重要影响。现代人类平均比类人猿更早断奶，但这种独特的人类模式的进化起源还没有得到很好的理解。这个跨学科的研究项目将研究三种不同野生类人猿物种的行为、生态、生理和发育数据，以比较灵长类动物的框架来了解断奶变化的来源。该项目将利用可翻译为古生物学背景的方法，更全面地了解我们最亲近的亲缘动物断奶变化的生物学、生态和社会相关性，从而有助于建立一个理解人类断奶进化的框架。该项目将通过为学生和早期职业科学家提供有组织的实习、指导和其他加强培训的机会，扩大代表性不足的群体在科学领域的参与。研究基础设施将通过建立新的合作和跨学科数据集来加强，这些数据集与灵长类动物保护和人类进化生物学交叉的许多问题有关。这项工作的结果将促进我们对这些极度濒危的类人猿的种群动态和健康的了解，并将通过在线和其他公共场所与野生动物兽医和公园管理人员交流，以制定保护策略。断奶的时间代表了母亲和后代进化利益的平衡，并且对生理限制以及物理和社会环境敏感。然而，对现存灵长类动物的行为观察无法区分哺乳的营养功能和社会功能，在古生物背景下重建断奶的方法在区分密切相关分类群之间断奶差异的能力上受到限制。对野生类人猿断奶差异的比较和多代理研究集中在三个生态上截然不同的种群上，这些种群在哺乳行为和母亲生殖策略上表现出明显的差异：维龙加和布温迪山地大猩猩，它们在生态上存在显著差异，以及贡贝黑猩猩，它们提供了重要的分类对比。该项目整合了从个体在世时收集的哺乳和摄食行为、身体发育和粪便稳定同位素数据，以及它们食物的化学特征，以及这些种群死后相关骨骼的形态和牙齿微量元素分析。本研究探讨了(1)影响现存野生黑猩猩和大猩猩断奶相关饮食转变变异性的因素；(2)生物组织（粪便、牙齿）中的化学指标与断奶行为和解剖学指标之间的关系；(3)牙齿微量元素在个体和种群水平上记录饮食史中的变异性的可靠性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Variability of weaning age in mountain gorillas ( Gorilla beringei beringei )

山地大猩猩（Gorilla beringei beringei）断奶年龄的变异性

• DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24237
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: American Journal of Physical Anthropology
• 影响因子: 2.8
• 作者: Robbins, Martha M.;Robbins, Andrew M.
• 通讯作者: Robbins, Andrew M.

Automated, high-throughput image calibration for parallel-laser photogrammetry

用于并行激光摄影测量的自动化高通量图像校准

• DOI: 10.1007/s42991-021-00174-7
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Mammalian Biology
• 影响因子: 1.6
• 作者: Richardson, Jack L.;Levy, Emily J.;Ranjithkumar, Riddhi;Yang, Huichun;Monson, Eric;Cronin, Arthur;Galbany, Jordi;Robbins, Martha M.;Alberts, Susan C.;Reeves, Mark E.
• 通讯作者: Reeves, Mark E.

Facial asymmetry tracks genetic diversity among Gorilla subspecies.

• DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.2564
• 发表时间: 2022-02-23
• 期刊: Proceedings. Biological sciences
• 作者: McGrath K;Eriksen AB;García-Martínez D;Galbany J;Gómez-Robles A;Massey JS;Fatica LM;Glowacka H;Arbenz-Smith K;Muvunyi R;Stoinski TS;Cranfield MR;Gilardi K;Shalukoma C;de Merode E;Gilissen E;Tocheri MW;McFarlin SC;Heuzé Y
• 通讯作者: Heuzé Y