This volume presents a broad spectrum of research on the Cayo Santiago macaques, a unique free-ranging colony of rhesus macaques in Puerto Rico. It includes thirteen scientific studies on the behavior and biology of the Cayo Santiago macaques, as well as a detailed history of the colony and a complete bibliography of over 260 scientific publications based on work at Cayo Santiago from 1938 through 1984. The chapters represent examples of both short- and long-term research conducted on the island over the past several years. Some are reviews, providing a synopsis of complex longitudinal studies of behavior, vocal communication, functional morphology, genetics, and population dynamics. Others document the results of opportunistic studies of behavior or biological surveys. The chapters cover a broad range of topics, but all share a common dependence on the detailed life history and genealogical data which make the Cayo Santiago macaque colony an important international research resource.
This is a study of the functional morphology and behavioral dynamics underlying locomotor ontogeny in a free-ranging group of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) at Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico. It tests the hypothesis that developmental modifications of morphology in the shoulder gird le and forelimb of Macaca mulatta are associated with changes in the frequencies of locomotor and postural behavior, and it demonstrates systematic study of the morphological and behavioral development of primates can be used to assess the validity of predicting habitual locomotor pat terns from anatomical evidence.Eight osteometric features of the scapula, clavicle and humerus, which reflect myological ada ptations to locomotor function, are statistically combined through discriminant function analysis and indicate differential modification of shoulder gird le locomotor morphology occurs in the Cayo Santiago population with age and by sex. Hypothetical shifts in positional behavior, derived from analysis of the skeletal data, are checked against actual behavioral frequencies observed in a free-ranging troop of macaques over a period of 13 months. The effects of seasonal changes in rainfall and flora, the annual reproductive cycle and an animal's sex, dominance rank, and genealogical affiliation are also considered as additional factors that can pattern frequencies of positional behavior.
In The Monkeys of Arashiyama: Thirty-five Years of Research in Japan and the West, Linda Fedigan and Pamela Asquith reveal the diversity of research on the Arashiyama Japanese macaques, and the Japanese and Western traditions in primate studies. The essays reflect studies by primatologists with the population at Arashiyama, Kyoto, and the subgroup which fissioned from the original macaque group, transferred to Texas in 1972. It is a comprehensive examination of this major research group, highlighted by some of the new and interesting findings on primate social organization.
Foreword by Phillip V. Tobias The introduction of rhesus macaques to Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico in 1938, and the subsequent development of the CPRC for biomedical research, continues its long history of stimulating studies in physical anthropology. The CPRC monkey colonies, and the precise demographic data on the derived skeletal collection in the Center’s Laboratory of Primate Morphology and Genetics (LPMG), provide rare opportunities for morphological, developmental, functional, genetic, and behavioral studies across the life span of rhesus macaques as a species, and as a primate model for humans. The book grows out of a symposium Wang is organizing for the 78th annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists to be held in April 2009. This symposium will highlight recent and ongoing research in, or related to, physical anthropology, and reveal the numerous research opportunities that still exist at this unusual rhesus facility. Following an initial historical review of CPRC and its research activities, this book will emphasize recent and current researches on growth, function, genetics, pathology, aging, and behavior, and the impact of these researches on our understanding of rhesus and human morphology, development, genetics, and behavior. Fourteen researchers will present recent and current studies on morphology, genetics, and behavior, with relevance to primate and human growth, health, and evolution. The book will include not only papers presented in the symposium, but also papers from individuals who could not present their work at the meeting due to limitations in the maximum number (14) of permitted speakers.
Animal and human societies are multifaceted. In order to understand how they have evolved, it is necessary to investigate each of the constituent facets including individual abilities and personalities, life-history traits, mating systems, demographic dynamics, gene flows, social relationships, ecology and phylogeny. By exploring the nature and evolution of macaque social organization, this book develops our knowledge of the rise of societies and their transformation during the course of evolution. Macaques are the most comprehensively studied of all monkey groups, and the 20 known species feature a broad diversity in their social relationships, making them a particularly good group for exploring the evolution of societies. This book will be of primary interest to those studying animal behaviour and primatology, but will also be useful to those involved in the study of human societies.
This open access book summarizes the multi-disciplinary results of one of China’s main primatological research projects on the endemic Tibetan macaque (Macaca thibetana), which had continued for over 30 years, but which had never been reported on systematically. Dedicated to this exceptional Old World monkey, this book makes the work of Chinese primatologists on the social behavior, cooperation, culture, cognition, group dynamics, and emerging technologies in primate research accessible to the international scientific community. One of the most impressive Asian monkeys, and the largest member of its genus, the Tibetan macaque deserves to be better known. This volume goes a long way towards bringing this species into the spotlight with many excellent behavioral analyses from the field. - Frans de Waal, Professor of Psychology, Emory University, USA. Macaques matter. To understand primate patterns and trends, and to gain important insight into humanity, we need to augment and expand our engagement with the most successful and widespread primate genus aside from Homo. This volume focuses on the Tibetan macaque, a fascinating species with much to tell us about social behavior, physiology, complexity and the macaque knack for interfacing with humans. This book is doubly important for primatology in that beyond containing core information on this macaque species, it also reflects an effective integrated collaboration between Chinese scholars and a range of international colleagues—exactly the type of collaborative engagement primatology needs. This volume is a critical contribution to a global primatology. - Agustín Fuentes, Professor of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, USA. I have many fond memories of my association with Mt. Huangshan research beginning in 1983, when together with Professor Qishan Wang we established this site. It is such a beautiful place and I miss it. It is gratifying to see how far research has progressed since we began work there, becoming more internationalized and very much a collaborative endeavor under the long-term direction of Professor Jin-Hua Li and colleagues. This book highlights the increased interest in this species, representing a variety of disciplines ranging from macro aspects of behavior, cognition and sociality, to micro aspects of microbes, parasites and disease, authored by a group of renowned Chinese and international primatologists. I applaud their efforts and expect more interesting work to come from this site in the years ahead. - Kazuo Wada, Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University, Japan.
The phenomenon of friendship is universal. Friends, after all, are the family we choose. But what makes these bonds not just pleasant but essential, and how do they affect our bodies and our minds? In Friendship, science journalist Lydia Denworth takes us in search of the biological, psychological, and evolutionary foundations of this important bond. She finds that the human capacity for friendship is as old as humanity itself, when tribes of people on the African savanna grew large enough for individuals to seek meaningful connection with those outside their immediate families. Lydia meets scientists at the frontiers of brain and genetics research, and discovers that friendship is reflected in our brain waves, our genomes, and our cardiovascular and immune systems; its opposite, loneliness, can kill. With insight and warmth, Lydia weaves past and present, biology and neuroscience, to show how our bodies and minds are designed for friendship, and how this is changing in the age of social media. Blending compelling science, storytelling, and a grand evolutionary perspective, she delineates the essential role that cooperation and companionship play in creating human (and non-human) societies. Friendship illuminates the vital aspects of friendship, both visible and invisible, and offers a refreshingly optimistic vision of human nature. It is a clarion call for putting positive relationships at the centre of our lives.
