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不需要雄性提供的情况下，按季节定期进食和分享肉。这个项目将捕捉到雌性黑猩猩用工具狩猎对饮食的影响，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结果进行比较。该项目的研究成果将为理解人类行为进化提供知识和拓宽灵长类动物模型的视角。该项目通过充分参与和支持当地合作伙伴和学生，提高了黑猩猩研究的能力。这项研究是一个长期项目的一部分，该项目支持在受保护和未受保护的地区为极度濒危的西部黑猩猩保护栖息地。该研究通过积极研究保护遗传学、制定保护行动计划、支持当地研究和研究领域的社区服务，进一步参与保护活动。该项目为本科生和研究生，特别是代表性不足的少数民族和第一代学生提供了特殊的研究机会，以支持生物人类学和STEM领域的多样性和包容性努力。该项目还与普渡大学的EPICS项目（社区服务工程项目）相结合，为本科生提供协作设计经验。黑猩猩（类人猿）的性选择理论和雄性偏好的狩猎和食肉模式传统上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充分的了解，但在大草原上黑猩猩如何捕猎和吃肉方面存在重大差距。然而，我们对热带草原黑猩猩狩猎和食肉的了解很少，这与典型的物种模式形成了鲜明的对比。在黑猩猩居住的最炎热、最干燥和最开阔的地区，工具的使用和雌性偏好的狩猎构成了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。人们对雌性偏向性狩猎知之甚少，因为这些胆小的黑猩猩不习惯进行密集的行为采样，而且由于它们的保护状态以及为宠物贸易而偷猎幼崽的风险，它们还没有习惯。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，比较了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、多地点的研究是HUNTRESS项目的一部分，该项目研究热带草原黑猩猩的狩猎、营养、工具使用、生殖生态学和肉类分享，以全面评估雌性偏好的狩猎。该项目将通过稳定同位素和喂养痕迹分析来测量肉类摄入，并将这些特征与参考组成年男性狩猎和肉类摄入的直接观察结果进行比较。此外，该项目还将肉类摄取量与年度气候趋势以及食物和大量营养素的可用性进行比较。一种分子成分将从毛发和粪便中获得性别决定和个性化信息。视频分析组件将从摄像机陷阱视频和静止图像远程测量哺乳动物（猎物）的可用性。同时，该研究将通过结合领域知识来提高机器学习能力，以提高哺乳动物定位的准确性和精度。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。

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.