Dissertation Research: Community Ecology and Positional Behavior

本项目将研究生活在马达加斯加同一低地雨林地区的两种截然不同的灵长类动物对姿势和运动的生态影响。这两个物种在体型、饮食适应和繁殖模式上都有所不同，但都是白天活动的，生活在同一个地区，而且关系密切。因此，这两个物种之间的差异可能更多地是由于适应，而不是由于它们的进化史上的差异。这里要验证的假设是，饮食的差异、食物在环境和季节中的分布模式、繁殖模式和体型的差异决定了动物在环境中活动方式和方式的主要差异。这个项目特别有价值，因为其中一种物种是濒危物种，这对保护有重大影响。

This project will study the the ecological effects on posture and locomotion in two very different primate species inhabiting the same lowland rain forest area in Madagascar. The two species differ in body size, dietary adaptations and reproductive patterns but are both day-active, live in the ame area, and are closely related.. Therefore, the differences between the two species may be due more to adaptation than to differences in their evolutionary history. The hypothesis to be tested here is that differences in diet, the distribution pattern of food in the environment and through the seasons, patterns of reproduction, and body size differences have determined the major differences in the manner and ways the animals move through the environment. The project is especially worth-while because one of the species, in particular, is endangered - this has major conservation ramifications.