Primate

About: Primate is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1250 publications have been published within this topic receiving 67388 citations. The topic is also known as: the primate order & primates.

The genetic consequences of primate social organization: a review of macaques, baboons and vervet monkeys

Abstract: Primates, as long-lived, iteroparous, socially complex mammals, offer the opportunity to assess the effects of behavior and demography on genetic structure Because it is difficult to obtain tissue samples from wild primate populations, research in this area has largely been confined to terrestrial and semi-terrestrial old world monkeys (eg, rhesus and Japanese macaques, vervets and several subspecies of baboons) However, these species display a multi-male, multi-female social structure commonly found in many other primate and non-primate mammals Electrophoretic analyses of blood proteins from individually recognized and/or marked wild Himalayan rhesus monkeys, themselves the subject of long-term behavioral and demographic research, have begun to reveal the genetic consequences of such phenomena as social group fission, malelimited dispersion, non-consanguineous mating patterns, and agonistically defined male dominance Specifically, rhesus social groups, consisting primarily of clusters of maternal relatives, appear to be nonrandom samples of a population's genotypes and genes The genetic effects of social group fission are highly dependent on each group's size, demographic structure, and average degree of relatedness In all cases fission contributes to the degree of intergroup genetic differentiation Male-limited dispersion appears both to retard genetic differentiation between social groups and to lead to mating patterns that result in an avoidance of consanguinity Groups, therefore, appear to be genetically outbred Comparing these results with studies of other free-ranging or wild cercopithecines allows several generalizations: (a) genetic variation seems to be evenly distributed throughout each local population of multi-male social groups; (b) social groups, however, because they contain clusters of relatives, are distinctive in their specific frequencies of genes; (c) the degree of genetic differentiation between a population's social groups, because of the effects of social group fission and non-deterministic forms of male dispersal, is somewhat greater than expected on the basis of migration rates alone; and (d) the asymmetrical pattern of dispersion with respect to sex effectively precludes inbreeding in any one social group or the population as a whole These observations have important implications for understanding the unusually rapid rates of evolution among the primates

Sexual selection and the evolution of visually conspicuous sexually dimorphic traits in male monkeys, apes, and human beings

Abstract: Striking secondary sexual traits, such as brightly colored "sexual skin," capes of hair, beards, and other facial adornments occur in adult males of many anthropoid primate species. This review focuses upon the role of sexual selection in the evolution of these traits. A quantitative approach is used to measure sexually dimorphic characters and to compare their development in the monogamous, polygynous, and multimale-multifemale mating systems of monkeys, apes, and human beings.

Monkeys with mirrors: Some questions for primate psychology.

Abstract: Monkeys do not appear to recognize themselves in mirrors but display social responses to the reflection. This article comprehensively reviews the literature concerning monkeys’ reactions to mirrors, describing the interest shown in reflections, the reinforcing effects of mirror-image stimulation, the social responses of the monkeys, their interpretation of objects reflected in a mirror, and their performance in tests of self-recognition. In all cases limitations of the methods employed restrict conclusions about the monkeys’ behavior. Detailed behavioral observations coupled with comparisons of the psychological properties of mirrors with those of other stimuli promise to reveal more useful information about cognitive mechanisms and abilities of monkeys and other primates.