Japan (JSPS) Postdoctoral Program: Social Behavior and Demography of the Japanese Macaques

该奖项将提供补充支持，使耶鲁大学的David Spraogue博士能够与日本京都大学的Toshisada Nishida博士进行为期一年的合作研究。他们将调查八岛上日本猕猴的社会行为和人口学，以阐明跨越猕猴部队边界的交配过程，从而了解这个灵长类家庭的一般社会结构。将观察雌性与外来雄性交配的过程，以澄清雌性选择在这些雄性交配成功中的作用，以及雌性选择交配伙伴的标准。西田博士和他的同事根据他们在日本灵长类动物身上的经验，形成了一个受人尊敬的行为研究学派，他们解释灵长类动物行为的方法与西方灵长类动物学家有所不同，因此令人耳目一新。斯普拉格博士以前曾与他在京都的同事合作过，他们的经验将补充他在过去八年中在这个问题上积累的专业知识。

This award will provide supplementary support to enable Dr. David Sprague of Yale University to conduct collaborative research for one year with Dr. Toshisada Nishida at Kyoto University in Japan. They will investigate the social behavior and demography of Japanese Macaques on Yakushima Island, in order to illuminate the process of mating across the boundaries of macaque troops, and hence the social structure of this primate family generally. The processes by which females initiate mating consorts with alien males will be observed, in order to clarify the role of female choice in the mating success of these males and the criteria by which females choose mating partners. Dr. Nishida and his colleagues have developed a respected school of behavioral studies on the basis of their experience with Japanese primates, and their approaches to the explanation of primate behavior is somewhat different from, and therefore refreshing to, those of western primatologists. Dr. Sprague has worked with his Kyoto colleagues before and their experience will complement the expertise which he has developed on this subject over the past eight years.