Doctoral Dissertation Research: Do social environments influence the timing of male maturation in a close human relative?

发育可塑性使有机体能够成为适应其生活环境的成体。这就是遗传相似的个体在发育期间暴露在不同环境中时可能产生不同特征的原因。在灵长类和其他社会性动物中，社会环境被认为是一个特别重要的发育影响因素。雄性灵长类动物是发育可塑性研究的特别有趣的对象，因为它们的发育期很长，它们产生的后代数量差异很大，它们用来竞争交配机会的策略也很多样化。然而，在许多灵长类物种中，甚至连基本的男性发育模式都没有得到很好的理解。在这个研究项目中，研究人员探索社会环境是否以及如何影响雄性类人猿的行为、荷尔蒙和身体发育。这些雄性类人猿的社会环境的多样性以及极端的身体特征使它们成为进行这项研究的优秀物种。除了有助于我们理解社会环境在决定人类近亲的成人特征方面所起的作用外，该项目还将对能力建设、教育和培训做出重大贡献。关于雄性灵长类动物的发育模式是如何受到发育条件的影响的，目前可获得的信息有限。这个研究项目探索了社会环境如何影响雄性大猩猩的行为、生理和形态轨迹。选定的物种特别适合进行这项研究，因为它的社会环境高度可变，而且有轶事报道称，在其漫长的生长轨迹中，它具有相当大的发育可塑性。该项目收集了非侵入性行为和摄影测量数据，以及从尿样和粪样中获得的睾酮和脱氢表雄酮-S代谢物，对生活在不同人口组成的社会群体中的约120只习惯性雄性大猩猩进行了研究。新获得的信息与可用的纵向数据相结合，以生成从婴儿期到成年期的荷尔蒙、身体和行为概况。这些数据被用来更好地理解发展变化发生的顺序，个体间发展变化的性质和程度，以及社会环境在预测这种变化中可能发挥的作用(S)。这一奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Developmental plasticity allows organisms to become adults that are well-adapted to the environment they live in. This is how genetically similar individuals may develop different traits when exposed to different environments during their developmental period. In primates, and other social animals, the social environment is believed to be an especially important developmental influence. Male primates are particularly interesting subjects for developmental plasticity research due to their long developmental periods, the high variance in how many offspring they produce, and the variety of tactics they use to compete for mating opportunities. In many primate species, however, even basic male developmental patterns are not well understood. In this research project, the investigators explore if and how social environments affect the behavioral, hormonal, and physical development in males of an ape species. The diversity of social environments along with the extreme physical characteristics of these male apes makes them an excellent species in which to conduct this research. In addition to contributing to our understanding of the role that social environments play in determining adult characteristics in a close human relative, this project will make significant contributions to capacity building, education, and training. Limited information is currently available regarding how male primate developmental patterns are shaped by developmental conditions. This research project explores how social environments influence the behavioral, physiological, and morphological trajectories of male gorillas. The chosen species is particularly well suited for this research due to its highly variable social environments and anecdotal reports of considerable developmental plasticity across its long growth trajectories. This project collects non-invasive behavioral and photogrammetry data, along with testosterone and DHEA-S metabolites obtained from urine and fecal samples, on ~120 habituated male gorillas living in social groups of varying demographic compositions. Newly obtained information is combined with available longitudinal data to generate hormonal, physical, and behavioral profiles from infancy through adulthood. These data are used to better understand the order in which developmental changes occur, the nature and degree of inter-individual developmental variation, and the role(s) that social environments may play in predicting such variation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.