Collaborative Research: The Function and Mechanism of Male Relationships In A Primate System

社会关系模型有助于解释社会群体如何以及为什么在灵长类物种之间形成、维持和变化。这些模型通常关注一个社会群体中存在的雄性数量，以及雄性之间是合作还是竞争。该项目调查了一种野生灵长类动物的社会行为、人口统计学、激素和家谱，以了解雄性社会关系的原因和后果。该项目将通过提供有关濒危灵长类动物栖息地的宝贵知识来支持保护工作，并向当地居民示范保护的经济价值。这项研究将通过就业和培训机会为新一代科学家和保护专业人士提供支持。本科生和研究生将参与数据收集和分析，获得在美国和国外的实践研究经验，建立他们的研究工具包，并磨练他们的批判性思维技能。此外，该项目将通过为少数民族和第一代本科生提供指导机会，增加生物人类学的多样性。值得注意的是，通过将一名高中教师纳入研究，该项目将改善K-12科学课程的开发。来自物种多样性的最新数据使研究人员对标准灵长类动物行为模型的各个方面提出了质疑。尽管雄性社会关系的模型试图将雄性之间存在的社会多样性纳入其中，但这些模型仍然难以解释为什么许多灵长类动物种群表现出单雄性和多雄性的社会群体，并预测这些可变的群体模式何时发生。此外，虽然男性的影响被纳入女性社会关系模型，但男性社会关系模型往往将女性视为惰性资源，很少考虑到女性的影响。马达加斯加的韦罗狐猴提供了一个极好的机会来研究雄性联系和结合的解释，因为这个物种以多雄性群体的可变存在和雌性对雄性的统治而闻名。该项目将使用最新的分析工具，研究多年来来自多个社会群体的行为、人口、基因、健康、激素和体型数据，以测试新的和现有的假设，并为狐猴社会提供信息和开发一个模型，该模型可以解释动态的长期模式。它将探索如何修改当前模型的多种新建议，包括(1)超越简单的合作-竞争二分法的更广泛和细致的模型，(2)女性在影响男性交往模式和社会关系中的作用，以及(3)从将群体中的男性数量视为物种稳定的转变为新的强调可变和动态的分组模式。

Models of social relationships help to explain how and why social groups form, are maintained, and vary across primate species. These models typically focus on the number of males present in a social group and whether males are cooperative or competitive with each other. This project investigates the social behavior, demography, hormones, and genealogy of a wild primate species to understand the causes and consequences of male social relationships. The project will support conservation efforts by contributing valuable knowledge about an endangered primate in a poorly understood habitat and exemplifying to local residents the economic value of conservation. The research will support a new generation of scientists and conservation professionals via employment and training opportunities. Undergraduate and graduate students will be involved in data collection and analysis, gaining hands-on research experience in the US and abroad, building their research toolkits, and honing their critical thinking skills. Additionally, the project will increase diversity in biological anthropology by creating mentoring opportunities for minority and first generation undergraduates. Notably, by including a high school teacher in the research, the project will improve K-12 scientific curriculum development.Recent data from a greater diversity of species has led researchers to question aspects of standard primate behavior models. Although models of male social relationships have sought to incorporate the social diversity that is present among males, these models continue to struggle to explain why numerous primate populations exhibit both single-male and multi-male social groups, and to predict when these variable grouping patterns occur. Moreover, while male influences are incorporated into models of female social relationships, models of male social relationships often treat females as inert resources and rarely account for female influences. Verreaux's sifaka in Madagascar provides an excellent opportunity to investigate explanations of male association and bonding because the species is renowned for both the variable presence of multi-male groups and female dominance over males. This project will examine behavioral, demographic, genetic, health, hormone, and body size data from multiple social groups over multiple years using the latest analytical tools to test new and existing hypotheses, and to inform and develop a model of sifaka societies that accounts for dynamic long-term patterns. It will explore multiple new suggestions for how current models can be modified, including (1) a more expansive and nuanced model that moves beyond a simple cooperation-competition dichotomy, (2) a role for females in influencing male association patterns and social relationships, and (3) a shift from viewing the number of males in a group as stable for a species to a new emphasis on variable and dynamic grouping patterns.