EAPSI: Comparing Tibetan Macaque (Macaca Thibetana) Daytime and Nighttime Social Behaviors

本项目将在中国安徽黄山野猴谷研究和比较一群自由放养的藏族猕猴（Macaca thibetana）白天和夜间的社会动态。自1986年以来，一直在对这些野生但已习惯（习惯于人类存在）的猕猴进行研究。猕猴的社会行为将在它们夜间睡觉的地方用相机陷阱观察和记录，在它们每天进食的地方用标准的行为观察程序观察和记录。本研究将与安徽大学的李金华博士和夏东坡博士合作进行，他们是研究黄山藏猕猴的专家。这个项目将有助于填补灵长类动物文献中的一个实质性空白：绝大多数关注于白天的行为，而忽略了夜间的行为，这包括灵长类动物生命的一半。了解日常周期如何影响猕猴的社会行为可能会提高我们对自己社会倾向的理解。了解白天活动的灵长类动物的夜间行为，为了解它们的社会性和适应群体生活提供了至关重要的信息。本项目将首次比较中国安徽黄山野猴谷一群自由放养、有食物供应的藏猕猴（Macaca thibetana）白天和夜间的社会行为。行为数据将通过扫描取样在白天的供给点和相机陷阱在睡眠点收集。收集后，对进食点和睡眠点的社会行为进行比较分析，将全面描述该物种的社会动态。记录睡眠地点及其周围的行为对于了解西藏猕猴的全部行为是必不可少的。这个项目将是第一个记录猕猴夜间活动模式的项目，并将影响未来研究如何考虑灵长类动物的社会性。该奖项由美国国家科学基金会和中国科技部共同资助，隶属于东亚和太平洋暑期研究所项目，支持美国研究生的暑期研究。

This project will examine and compare the daytime and nighttime social dynamics of a group of free-ranging, provisioned Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) at the Valley of the Wild Monkeys, Mt. Huangshan, Anhui, China. Ongoing research on these wild, but habituated (used to human presence), macaques has been conducted since 1986. The macaques' social behaviors will be observed and recorded at their nightly sleeping sites using camera traps and at their daily feeding sites using standard behavioral observation procedures. This research will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Jin-Hua Li and Dr. Dongpo Xia of Anhui University who are experts on the Tibetan macaques at Mt. Huangshan. This project will help fill a substantial gap in the primatological literature: the vast majority focuses on daytime behaviors and neglects nighttime behaviors, which include half of a primate's lifespan. Understanding how daily cycles influence macaque social behavior may improve our understanding of our own social tendencies.Understanding nighttime behaviors of diurnal primates provide crucial information on the full spectrum of sociality and adaptations to group living. For the first time, this project will compare the day and nighttime social behaviors of a group of free-ranging, provisioned, Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) at the Valley of the Wild Monkeys, Mt. Huangshan, Anhui, China. Behavioral data will be collected using scan sampling at the daytime provisioning site and camera traps at the sleeping sites. After collection, a comparative analysis of social behaviors at the feeding and sleeping sites will provide a comprehensive depiction of this species social dynamics. Documenting behaviors at and around sleeping sites is essential for understanding the full behavioral repertoire of Tibetan macaques. This project will be the first to document the nighttime activity pattern of macaques and will influence how future studies consider primate sociality.This award, under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program, supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.