Doctoral Dissertation Research: The development of social bonds in male apes

友谊是人类不可分割的一部分，亲密和合作的关系是成为成年人的关键。尽管如此，我们对友谊的本质、它的功能以及它在人类历史上什么时候出现都知之甚少。这些问题的答案可能在我们的近亲黑猩猩身上找到。像人类一样，成年雄性黑猩猩与不相关的个体形成强大的社会关系，这带来了包括互助在内的利益。这个项目将调查雄性黑猩猩的友谊是如何以及为什么发展的，它与合作、竞争和向成年的过渡有什么关系，以及在生活中友谊是什么时候形成的。这一发现可能有助于重建人类友谊的进化史。这项研究还将采用两种新的方法来评估野生黑猩猩的非侵入性生长。由于体型和生长是关键的生命史变量，这些方法将对生物人类学和相关领域具有深远的意义。该项目还将具有社会和保护效益。调查人员在乌干达农村和美国从事教育活动。此外，研究人员在基巴莱国家公园的持续存在将有助于保护整个东非最后的热带雨林之一，以及该地区黑猩猩的主要据点之一。这项拟议中的研究将调查生活在乌干达基巴莱国家公园Ngogo一个特别大的社区中的雄性黑猩猩的社会关系发展。将进行行为观察，以评估雄性黑猩猩之间的社会关系何时、为何以及如何形成。调查人员还将评估身体向成年期的转变。数码摄影，平行激光在照片中作为一个尺度，将被用来在一年的时间里无创地测量肢体长度。此外，胶原蛋白生物标志物将首次用于评估野生黑猩猩的生长。通过对青春期雄性黑猩猩的行为、生理和形态的系统研究，本研究旨在阐明友谊的发展和成年的意义。

Friendship is an integral part of being human, and intimate and cooperative relationships are key to becoming an adult. Despite this, little is known about the nature of friendship, its function, and when in our species' history it arose. Answers to these questions may be found in our closest living relatives, chimpanzees. Like humans, adult male chimpanzees form strong social bonds with unrelated individuals, which confer benefits, including mutual aid. This project will investigate how and why friendship develops for male chimpanzees, how it relates to cooperation, competition, and the transition to adulthood, and when in life friendships are forged. The findings may be useful for reconstructing the evolutionary history of human friendship. This research will also employ two novel methods to assess growth non-invasively in wild chimpanzees. Because body size and growth are key life history variables, these methods will have far-reaching importance for biological anthropology and related fields. This project will also have social and conservation benefits. The investigators engage in educational activities in rural Uganda and the United States. In addition, the continued presence of researchers in Kibale National Park will help protect one of the last tropical rainforests in all of East Africa, and one of the principal strongholds of chimpanzees in this area. The proposed research will investigate the development of social bonds in male chimpanzees living in an exceptionally large community at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. Behavioral observations will be carried out to assess when, why, and how social bonds between male chimpanzees are formed. The investigators will also assess the physical transition to adulthood. Digital photography, with parallel lasers acting as a scale in the photo, will be used to measure limb lengths non-invasively across a one-year period. In addition, collagen biomarkers will be implemented for the first time to assess growth in wild chimpanzees. Through a systematic study of adolescent male chimpanzee behavior, physiology, and morphology, this research aims to elucidate the development of friendship and the meaning of adulthood.