Dissertation Research: Evolutionary Genetics of Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in Nigeria and Cameroon

两种非洲森林黑猩猩是公认的，“普通”黑猩猩（Pan troglodytes）和侏儒黑猩猩，或倭黑猩猩（Pan paniscus）。生物学家和人类学家传统上认为泛穴居人有三个不同的亚种。然而，一项涉及尼日利亚实地工作和实验室线粒体DNA分析的试点研究表明，可能存在四个泛穴居人亚种，这些亚种之间的分布和关系与通常描述的不同。这项拟议中的研究旨在通过更广泛地实地收集西非黑猩猩熟睡巢穴中的毛发，以及在实验室中分析更广泛的线粒体和核基因，来扩展试点研究。研究结果将与其他非洲森林灵长类动物的分布和进化关系的信息进行比较，目的是重建我们最亲近的亲戚的进化史的更清晰的画面。研究结果也将与环境保护密切相关。黑猩猩正日益濒临灭绝，在保护它们的计划中，对基因上不同的种群给予适当的关注是至关重要的。

Two species of African forest chimpanzees are commonly recognized, the `common` chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and the pygmy chimpanzee, or bonobo (Pan paniscus). Biologists and anthropologists have traditionally regarded Pan troglodytes as having three distinct subspecies. However, a pilot involving field work in Nigeria and mitochondrial DNA analysis in the laboratory, has revealed that there may be four Pan troglodytes subspecies, and that the distribution and relationships among these subspecies are different than what is usually portrayed. This proposed research aims to extend the pilot study both by making much more extensive field collections of hairs from the sleeping nests of West African chimpanzees, and by analyzing a much wider range of mitochondrial and nuclear genes in the laboratory. The results of the research will be compared with information on the distribution and evolutionary relationships of other African forest primates with the goal of reconstructing a clearer picture of the evolutionary history of our closest relatives. The results will also be of great relevance to conservation. Chimpanzees are becoming increasingly endangered, and in planning for their conservation it is vital that genetically distinct populations are given proper attention.