U.S.-Venezuela Planning Visit: Natal Dispersal and New Group Formation In Capybaras: Combining Behavioral and Genetic Information

0307090Tang-Martinez这项美国-委内瑞拉计划访问资助将允许Elizabeth Congdon女士，一位在圣路易斯密苏里大学Zuleyma Tang Martinez教授指导下工作的博士生，前往委内瑞拉帮助计划并参加委内瑞拉加拉加斯西蒙玻利瓦尔大学的Emilio Herrera教授的实地研究。这项研究将集中在世界上最大的啮齿动物水豚（Hydrochaeris Hydrochaeris）的行为生态学和扩散上，这将对两个机构的研究项目都有好处。更具体地说，康登女士将在2003年旱季开始对出生后的迁徙进行详细研究，收集迁徙前的行为数据，并利用无线电遥测技术监测动物在一段时间内的活动。Herrera教授将使用分子遗传学分析来研究社会群体中的父权模式以及群体之间和群体之间的关系。这些数据将被用于评估该物种的扩散策略以及该策略的遗传后果。这次计划访问的结果将用于condon女士的论文工作，并将有助于发展美国和委内瑞拉调查人员之间的合作。通过研究遗传结构与扩散之间的联系，本研究将有助于理解该物种的社会动态和一般的社会性进化。

0307090Tang-MartinezThis US-Venezuela Planning Visit grant will allow Ms. Elizabeth Congdon, a doctoral student working under the supervision of Professor Zuleyma Tang Martinez of the University of Missouri, St. Louis, to travel to Venezuela to help plan and participate in a field study with Professor Emilio Herrera of the Universidad Simon Bolivar in Caracas, Venezuela. The research will focus on the behavioral ecology and dispersal of the world's largest rodent, the capybara (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris), and will be of mutual benefit to the research programs at both institutions. More specifically, Ms. Congdon will begin a detailed study of natal dispersal during the dry season of 2003, collecting pre-dispersal behavioral data and monitoring animal movements over time using radio telemetry technology. Professor Herrera will use molecular genetic analyses to examine patterns of paternity in social groups and relatedness among and between groups. These data will then be used together toevaluate the dispersal strategy of this species and the genetic ramifications of that strategy. Results from this planning visit will be used in Ms. Congdon's thesis dissertation work and will help to develop the collaboration between US and Venezuelan investigators. By examining the connection between genetic structure and dispersal, this research will contribute to the understanding of the social dynamics of this species and the evolution of sociality in general.