Collaborative Research: The Ecological Basis of Hunting and Meat Sharing in Female Savanna Chimpanzees

用工具狩猎可以使雌性黑猩猩在季节性的基础上定期摄取和分享肉类，而不需要由雄性提供。该项目将捕捉雌性黑猩猩用工具狩猎的饮食影响，并将这些发现与其他主要关注雄性黑猩猩狩猎行为的研究进行比较。该项目的发现将推进知识和拓宽有关灵长类动物模型的视角，以了解人类行为进化。该项目通过充分参与和支持当地合作伙伴和学生来提高黑猩猩研究的能力。这项研究是一项长期计划的一部分，该计划支持在受保护和未受保护的地区保护严重濒危的西部黑猩猩的栖息地。该研究通过积极研究保护遗传学，制定保护行动计划以及支持研究领域的当地研究和社区服务，进一步参与保护活动。该项目为本科生和研究生提供了特殊的研究机会，特别是代表性不足的少数民族和第一代学生，以更广泛地支持生物人类学和STEM的多样性和包容性工作。该项目还与普渡大学的EPICS计划（社区服务工程项目）接口，为本科生提供合作设计经验。性选择理论和模式的男性偏向狩猎和肉食黑猩猩（黑猩猩）传统上已与人类行为进化模型相结合。虽然对森林黑猩猩的这些行为有很好的了解，但黑猩猩如何在热带稀树草原上狩猎和吃肉存在重大差距。然而，人们对草原黑猩猩的狩猎和食肉行为知之甚少，这与典型的物种模式形成了鲜明的对比。在黑猩猩居住的最热、最干燥、最开阔的地方，工具的使用和雌性偏向的狩猎是狩猎策略的主要组成部分。这项研究将测试可能解释这种行为的环境压力。人们对雌性偏向狩猎知之甚少，因为这些胆小的黑猩猩不习惯于密集的行为采样，并且由于它们的保护地位加上婴儿偷猎的风险而不习惯于宠物贸易。为了应对这一挑战，该项目结合了行为，同位素，营养，遗传，视觉分析和地理方法来比较女性和男性之间的狩猎和肉类摄入，以及与气候和食物供应的关系。这项跨学科和多地点的研究是狩猎，营养，工具使用，生殖生态学和草原黑猩猩的肉类分享项目的一部分，以全面评估女性偏见狩猎。该项目将通过稳定同位素和摄食痕迹分析来测量肉类摄入量，并将这些特征与习惯性成年男性参考组中狩猎和肉类摄入的直接观察结果进行比较。此外，该项目还将把肉类摄入量与年度气候趋势以及食物和常量营养素的可用性进行比较。分子成分将使性别决定和个性化信息从头发和粪便。视频分析组件将从摄像头捕捉视频和静止图像远程测量哺乳动物（猎物）的可用性。该奖项反映了NSF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。

Hunting with tools may enable female chimpanzees to routinely ingest and share meat on a seasonal basis without the need for being provisioned by males. This project will capture the dietary impacts of female chimpanzee hunting with tools and compare these findings with other studies that have focused primarily on male chimpanzee hunting behaviors. The findings from this project will advance knowledge and broaden perspectives about primate models for understanding human behavioral evolution. This project increases capacity for chimpanzee research by fully engaging with and supporting local partners and students. The research is part of a long-term program that supports habitat preservation in protected and unprotected areas for the critically-endangered western chimpanzee. The research further engages in conservation activities through the active study of conservation genetics, development of conservation action plans, and support of local research and community services in the research area. The project provides exceptional research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, especially underrepresented minority and first-generation students to support diversity and inclusion efforts in biological anthropology and STEM, more broadly. This project also interfaces with Purdue University’s EPICS program (Engineering Projects in Community Service) to provide collaborative design experiences for undergraduate students.Sexual selection theory and patterns of male-biased hunting and meat eating for chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) have been traditionally integrated with models of human behavioral evolution. While there is a well-documented understanding of these behaviors in forest chimpanzees, a significant gap exists on how chimpanzees hunt and eat meat in savannas. What little is known about hunting and meat-eating in savanna chimpanzees, however, starkly contrasts with the typical species pattern. In the hottest, driest, and most open landscapes inhabited by chimpanzees, tool use and female-biased hunting comprise a major component of hunting strategy. This study will test for environmental pressures that may explain this behavior. Little is known about female-biased hunting because these timid chimpanzees are not habituated for intensive behavior sampling, and are not being habituated due to their conservation status combined with risk of infant poaching for the pet trade. To confront this challenge, the project combines behavioral, isotopic, nutritional, genetic, visual analytic, and geographic approaches to compare hunting and meat ingestion between females and males, and in relation to climate and food availability. This interdisciplinary and multi-site study is a part of the HUNTRESS project on HUnting, Nutrition, Tool-use, Reproductive Ecology, and meat Sharing in Savanna chimpanzees to holistically assess female-biased hunting. The project will measure meat ingestion with stable isotope and feeding trace analyses, and compare these signatures to direct observations of hunting and meat ingestion in a reference group of habituated adult males. Furthermore, the project will compare meat ingestion to annual climate trends as well as food and macronutrient availability. A molecular component will enable sex-determination and individualization information from hair and feces. The video analytics component will measure mammal (prey) availability remotely from camera-trap videos and still images. At the same, the research will advance machine-learning capabilities by incorporating domain knowledge to improve accuracy and precision of mammal localization.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.