Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: The Ontogeny of Feeding Behavior in Nicaraguan Mantled Howler Monkeys (Alouatta palliata)

这项研究的目的是确定食物的机械特性如何影响灵长类动物的生长发育。这项研究有助于确定为什么灵长类动物的发育周期不同，并为人类发育延长提供了重要的见解。在整个年度周期中，pi将调查居住在尼加拉瓜La La de Ometepe的披毛吼猴（Alouatta palliata）如何发展饮食模式和觅食行为。这项研究验证了一种假设，即资源韧性（材料对裂纹扩展的抵抗力）和行为因素（包括社会支配地位和觅食技能的发展）都缩小了幼鱼比成年鱼可以吃的食物范围。量化成鱼和幼鱼所消耗资源的韧性将决定是否存在基于年龄的饮食韧性差异。收集到的关于所有吼叫年龄/性别阶层的喂养和社会行为的数据将表明，由于社会排斥或觅食技能降低，或两者兼而有之，幼崽遭受饮食缺乏的程度。这个项目的智力价值在于它应用了材料工程的概念来理解发展的生物学。先前的研究表明，食物韧性是决定灵长类动物资源消耗的主要因素；然而，这些研究只关注成年人。本研究为资源韧性与灵长类动物摄食行为的研究增加了生长成分。对幼崽饮食的研究至关重要，因为幼崽灵长类动物的觅食行为和饮食似乎与种群增长率密切相关。本研究对幼鱼的饮食进行了调查，以解释生活史策略、人口结构和饮食力学特性之间的关系。该项目的更广泛影响包括澄清了影响幼鱼饮食的因素。由于幼年时期的饮食习惯会对成年期产生影响，因此这项研究可以直接应用于开发动物模型来评估营养需求。吼猴相对于人类的寿命相对较短，这意味着早期喂养成功对成年期的长期影响（如果有的话）最终可以被评估。此外，这项调查确定了对冠吼草生长和发育至关重要的资源，并可用于实施成功的保护和生物多样性计划。为了实现这些目标，这项研究涉及与尼加拉瓜科学家的合作。与这些科学家合作，可以在世界上一个关键但尚未得到充分研究的领域扩大生物学研究。

The goal of this research is to determine the ways that the mechanical properties of foods affect growth and development in primates. This research helps determine why developmental periods differ in primates, and it provides important insights into human developmental prolongation. Through an entire annual cycle, the PIs will investigate how mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) inhabiting La Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua develop dietary patterns and foraging behaviors. This research tests hypotheses predicting that both resource toughness (a material's resistance to crack propagation) and behavioral factors (including social dominance and the development of foraging skill) narrow the range of foods that juveniles can eat in comparison to adults. Quantifying the toughness of resources consumed by adults and juveniles will determine whether or not age-based differences in dietary toughness exist. Data collected on the feeding and social behaviors of all howler age/sex classes will indicate the degree to which juveniles suffer dietary deficiencies because of either social exclusion or reduced foraging skill, or both.The intellectual merit of this project is its application of materials engineering concepts to understanding the biology of development. Previous studies demonstrate that food toughness is a major factor determining primate resource consumption; however, these studies have focused only on adults. The present research adds a growth component to studies relating resource toughness and primate feeding behaviors. Investigations of juvenile diet are crucial because foraging behaviors and diets of young primates appear to correlate strongly with population growth rates. The present research investigates juvenile diet in order to explain the relationships among life history strategies, demographic patterns, and dietary mechanical properties.The broader impacts of this project include its clarification of the factors that influence juvenile diets. Because the diet consumed during juvenility has consequences for adulthood, this research has direct applications to developing animal models to assess nutritional requirements. The relatively short lifespan of howler monkeys relative to humans means that the long term effects of early life feeding success, if any, on adulthood can ultimately be assessed. Additionally, this investigation identifies the resources crucial to mantled howler growth and development and can be used to implement successful conservation and biodiversity programs. In order to achieve these goals, this study involves collaboration with Nicaraguan scientists. Collaborating with these scientists enables the expansion of biological research in a critical, yet understudied, area of the world.