Primate Quiz 3

Stats on population

60% of all primates are threatened w extinction, 75% have declining pop

Major threats (3) and why

Habitat destruction/disturbance, hunting/live capture for trade, disease. Caused by growing human pop and resource use per person

Madagascar forests

90% lost — led to inbred sifaka

profit incentives

drive land use change in the form of large scale ag, mining, and energy exploitation

Palm oil

Deforestation, habitat degeneration, animal cruelty, and indigenous rights abuses (orangutans)

Coltan

Metal in DRC, conducting agent for electronics, threat to gorillas, elephants, and human safety

Gold

West African (senegal) gold mining, small village became overpopulated, threatens chimps

Others

Oil (gorillas), diamonds, dairy, meat

What can you do? (6)

Vote, buy sustainable products, donate money, be concerned about climate change, don’t support videos/entertainment that use nonhuman primates, reduce resource use

Disease

Zoonotic bc of habitat destruction

Changes in uganda

Planting garlic as a cash crop, digging/maintaining a trench, installing bee fences

How do we change things?

Create an alternative culture

Darwin’s theory on sexual selection

Selection on traits that allow an individual to compete with others or attract mates: physical traits or behavioral traits. Can be inter or intrasexual

Intrasexual selection morphological traits

Sexual dimorphism (gibbon colors, proboscus noses, angler fish), weaponry/ornaments (canines, saggital crest, can be about rank) sperm competition

Sperm competition + example

Rhesus macaques w copulatory plugs and sperm scraping. Selects for quality, quantity, and elaborate genetalia. Chimp balls>ppl>gorilla

Intersexual selection

Mate choice: good health and genes, territory, resources, parenting.

Handicap principle

Honest signals: Expensive signals accurately convey info about quality (peacocks). elaborate courtship displays. Coloration can signal health.

123!

Mate attraction, guarding (mostly by alpha males after mating), and male-male dominance competition. Rhesus macaques (guarding in stable groups, dominance in unstable groups)

Intersexual conflict

Increase one’s fitness at the expense of the others.

Intersexual conflict - behavioral

Neck biting/female harassment in baboons, possessive following in chimps, forced copulation in orangutans. Infanticide as show with lions

Cycle

Infanticide by males → MM mating by fem → sperm comp/mate guarding/intimidation/punishment→increased mating periods, concealed ovulation, estrous synchrony, graded signals, cryptic choice→ sperm capacitation, mechanisms to detect ovulation, kin recognition→

Anatomical

Elaborate genetalia damages female reproductive tract and decreases willingness to mate + chance of STD

Physiological

???

Female reproductive strategies

Mating outside periovulatory period- helps social bonds, access to resources, paternity confusion

Triangle?

Mating systems ← Ecology → sexual conflict

Arrow both ways

Cost of sexual attraction hypothesis

Ecological constraints impact reproductive and mating behaviors. Pan example w genital swellings, females in lower quality environments can’t afford long mating periods

Red colobus swellings

Females were fully inflated for shorter times in logged area and had lower copulation rates

Sexual behaviors vs reproduction

Different! Except for streps

Pros of sexual reproduction

Creates variation and leads to adaptations.

Cons of sexual reproduction

Need to find a mate, disease transmission, genetic mistakes during meiosis

Social and ecological factors

Habitat quality, group size, dominance ranks

Sperm vs egg

Sperm are small and renewable, eggs are larger and limited and pregnancy, birth, and lactation require much more energy

Limiting resources for each sex

Female: access to food, Male: access to ovulating individuals

When are oocytes produced

As a fetus

Estrous cycle

Physiological and behavioral traits associated with preproduction.

Steps of Estrous cycle

1. Development of follicle and estradiol produced

2. Ovulation (egg release)

3. Graafian follicle transfers into the corpus luteum

4. Release of progesterone

5. Stimulates HPG axis with FSH and LH

HPG

Hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal

FSH and LH

Follicle stimulating and luteinizing hormones

Phases of ovarian cycle

Follicular, periovulatory, luteal + menstruation and ovulation

Generating sperm

Spermatogenesis takes 5-11 weeks

Estrous cycle sexual behaviors

Attractivity (stimulates evolution of sexual responses by mates) proceptivity (behavioral initiation and maintenance of sexual interactions) and receptivity (willingness to accept mate)

Estrus

Period of sexual receptivity and fertility

Copulatory mechanisms

Mounting and pelvic thrusting to bring about intravaginal ejaculation

Post ejaculatory period

Period of inactivity and reduced aurousal, varies in length (gorillas are 8h, chimps are less than an hour)

CFC

Cryptic female choice, postcopulatory selection

Examples of alarm calls

Langurs with snakes, vervets have many different ones,

Contrary/mobbing predators

Red colobus

Flee and escape

Sneaky baboons

Landscape of fear

Psychological impact of predators on their environment. Yellowstone as an example.

Case study with red colobus

Old growth groups had larger home range and DTD. Home range shifts away from chimp predation in old growth, eagles prey on groups in logged areas

Red colobus defensive behaviors

Large groups, polyspecific associations, mobbing, fleeing, alarm calls.

Sifaka responses

Alarm calls, fleeing short distances, hiding, remaining vigilant.

Why is altruism suprising

Selfish selection should be most important for passing along genes

Altruism

Helpful behavior that raises recipients direct fitness while lowering the actors

3 types of interactions

Selfish, cooperative, altruistic

Hamilton

Kin selection: individuals can pass along their genes directly or indirectly by helping kin. Inclusive fitness. RB>C

Reciprocal Altruism (reciprocity)

Frequent interactions and memory allow individuals to make exchanges

Ted talk

Franz de waal, capuchins demonstrating understanding of fairness with grapes and cucumbers. Chimps will refuse a reward if the other doesn’t get one.

Why large brains?

Finding food or dealing with others. Sharing ecological info and navigating complex social environments

Cognitive tasks(7)

Navigating habitats, finding food, predator avoidance/warnings, responding to novel conditions, tool use, social interactions, problem solving by copying