Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Bin Yang, James R. Anderson, Min Mao, Kaifeng Wang, Baoguo Li
Summary: Maternal caretaking and transport of dead infants are common in nonhuman primates, but accounts of such behaviors toward dead juveniles are rare. This study describes responses to the death of a juvenile in a group of Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys, including the mother's care for the corpse and the interest shown by other group members. Comparisons with other deaths in the same population provide insights into the physiological, psychological and emotional factors influencing primate thanatological responses and the evolution of compassion.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Xiaochen Wang, Ziming Wang, Huijuan Pan, Jiwei Qi, Dayong Li, Liye Zhang, Ying Shen, Zuofu Xiang, Ming Li
Summary: Comparative analysis of the gut microbiome of captive and wild Rhinopithecus roxellana reveals higher Chao1 index and increased Prevotella/Bacteroides ratio in the captive cohort, indicating an enhanced ability to digest simple carbohydrates. Additionally, structural and functional changes in the gut microbiome of captive monkeys, such as decreased Firmicutes abundance and enrichment of genes related to pentose phosphate pathway, are closely linked to changes in dietary composition. Unique bacteria in captive R. roxellana are involved in antibiotic resistance and diarrhea, highlighting the need for further research on the impact of captivity on gut microbiome diversity and function.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Gang Yao, Yuanying Fan, Dayong Li, Vanessa Hull, Limin Shen, Yanhong Li, Jie Hu
Summary: The study aimed to determine the seasonal variation in home range size of golden snub-nosed monkeys and the influence of environmental variables on home range use. The results showed that the core home range size of the monkeys varied seasonally, with spring and summer having a larger impact on home range use intensity compared to autumn and winter. Water sources, tree density, and dominant trees of Chinese wingnut were identified as important environmental factors determining home range use.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Pei Zhang, Bingyi Zhang, Derek W. Dunn, Xiaoyue Song, Kang Huang, Shixuan Dong, Fei Niu, Meijing Ying, Yingying Zhang, Yixin Shang, Ruliang Pan, Baoguo Li
Summary: Genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are important for immunocompetence in vertebrates and influence female mate choice in wild golden snub-nosed monkeys. MHC dissimilarity is favored for social choice, while intermediate MHC dissimilarity is favored for paternal choice. Social mates prefer MHC heterozygotes and higher microsatellite diversity, while paternal mates prefer higher microsatellite diversity. The formation of male-female social pairings is predicted by compatibility based on MHC sharing, but genetic effects do not impact the duration of pairings or the likelihood of producing offspring.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Lan Jiang, Qiao Yang, Jianqiu Yu, Xuanzhen Liu, Yansen Cai, Lili Niu, Jing Li
Summary: Long non-coding RNAs in golden snub-nosed monkeys show tissue-specific expression and may play important roles in adaptation to high-altitude environments and folivorous diets.
FUNCTIONAL & INTEGRATIVE GENOMICS
(2021)
Article
Biology
Livio Favaro, Anna Zanoli, Katrin Ludynia, Albert Snyman, Filippo Carugati, Olivier Friard, Frine Eleonora Scaglione, Luca Manassero, Alberto Valazza, Nicolas Mathevon, Marco Gamba, David Reby
Summary: This study investigates the morphological correlates of formant production in the vocal apparatus of African penguins. The results demonstrate that variations in length and cross-sectional area of vocal tracts strongly affect the formant pattern, while the skeletal size of penguins has little effect on formants. These findings enhance our understanding of the role of formant frequencies in bird vocal communication.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Yuli Li, Kang Huang, Shiyi Tang, Li Feng, Jia Yang, Zhonghu Li, Baoguo Li
Summary: The study revealed the genetic structure and evolutionary history of the golden snub-nosed monkeys in the Qinling Mountains, showing three distinct subpopulations, asymmetric historical gene flow, and symmetric contemporary gene flow. The results suggested that intraspecific divergence was accompanied by changes in effective population sizes.
FRONTIERS IN GENETICS
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Xumao Zhao, Xinrui Li, Zhixin Zhang, Paul A. Garber, Min Yu, Huijie Qiao, Ming Li
Summary: This study investigates the intraspecific differences and extinction risks among three lineages of Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys in China. The findings suggest that climatic niche differentiation, geographical isolation, and anthropogenic activities have led to population decline and ecological specialization, with one lineage being at a greater risk of extinction. The research highlights the importance of understanding the mechanisms behind climate change and human activities in conservation efforts for endangered animal taxa.
DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Liqun Lin, Shuwei Qin, Zhengxiang Wang, Tingting Li, Yangyan Deng, Longxiang Zhen
Summary: This study aims to improve habitat connectivity and protect the population expansion and genetic diversity of the Rhinopithecus roxellana in the Shennongjia region of Hubei Province, China, by identifying the causes of habitat degradation and the location of recoverable habitat patches. The study used the MaxEnt model, change detection, and connectivity analysis to determine degraded areas and prioritize restoration patches.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Takeshi Nishimura, Isao T. Tokuda, Shigehiro Miyachi, Jacob C. Dunn, Christian T. Herbst, Kazuyoshi Ishimura, Akihisa Kaneko, Yuki Kinoshita, Hiroki Koda, Jaap P. P. Saers, Hirohiko Imai, Tetsuya Matsuda, Ole Naesbye Larsen, Uwe Jurgens, Hideki Hirabayashi, Shozo Kojima, W. Tecumseh Fitch
Summary: Human speech production follows the same acoustic principles as vocal production in other animals but has distinctive features due to simplifications in laryngeal anatomy. The loss of vocal membranes allows human speech to avoid spontaneous nonlinear phenomena and acoustic chaos found in other primate vocalizations, leading to stable and harmonic-rich phonation.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Francesca Terranova, Luigi Baciadonna, Chiara Maccarone, Valentina Isaja, Marco Gamba, Livio Favaro
Summary: Animal vocalisations carry biological information about age, sex, body size, and social status. Recent research has found that African penguins encode individual identity in the fundamental frequency and resonance frequencies of their vocalizations. This study showed that penguins can perceive and respond to variations in these parameters, indicating their ability to use them for individual recognition.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Connor M. Wood, Holger Klinck, Michaela Gustafson, John J. Keane, Sarah C. Sawyer, R. J. Gutierrez, M. Zachariah Peery
Summary: Recent bioacoustic advances have allowed for large-scale population monitoring for acoustically active species by extracting additional ecological detail from acoustic data; The methods developed in this study, including utilizing sex-specific vocalization frequency and call rates for monitoring owl populations and interactions with competitors, can improve inferences from passive acoustic monitoring data and benefit conservation efforts.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Zoology
Shixuan Dong, Bingyi Zhang, Kang Huang, Meijing Ying, Jibing Yan, Fei Niu, Hanyu Hu, Derek W. Dunn, Yi Ren, Baoguo Li, Pei Zhang
Summary: This study investigated the genetic diversity and population differentiation of the endangered golden snub-nosed monkey endemic to China. The results suggest that both genetic drift and balancing selection contribute to genetic variation and differentiation in the monkey populations.
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Weiwei Fu, Chengliang Wang, Yi Ren, Yan Wang, Mingwen Qiao, Xiaowei Wang, Baoguo Li
Summary: The study investigated tail wrapping laterality in golden snub-nosed monkeys and found differences in wrapping direction between resting and climbing, with no significant sex differences. These findings suggest potential cerebral asymmetries in tail-wrapping control in Old World primates.
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Yan-Peng Li, Zhi-Pang Huang, Yin Yang, Xiao-Bin He, Ru-Liang Pan, Xin-Ming He, Gui-Wei Yang, Hua Wu, Liang-Wei Cui, Wen Xiao
Summary: Sexual dimorphism is widely observed in animals, with body mass dimorphism being the most prominent. Studying the developmental and adaptive mechanisms of sexual dimorphism in body mass can help us understand how animals adapt to their environment. This study explores the ontogenetic development pattern of sexual dimorphism in the body mass of Rhinopithecus bieti and investigates the causes of extreme sexual dimorphism. The results show that significant dimorphism appears when females enter the reproductive period and reaches its maximum when males are sexually mature. The study also reveals a longer growth period for males and explains the large sexual dimorphism in R. bieti through Bergmann's and Rensch's rules.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Jaya K. Matthews, Amanda Ridley, Beth A. Kaplin, Cyril C. Grueter
Summary: In the montane forest of Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda, we investigated the factors influencing chimpanzee party size, finding that the presence of estrous females had the strongest impact. Interestingly, the availability and distribution of important fruits did not directly affect party size, but influenced the presence of estrous females. This suggests that fruit distribution could be the ecological precondition attracting estrous females, the main driver behind larger party sizes.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Zoology
Penglai Fan, Xin He, Yuzhao Yang, Xuefeng Liu, Haibo Zhang, Li Yuan, Wu Chen, Dingzhen Liu, Pengfei Fan
Summary: The study found that reproductive and life-history characteristics of the northern white-cheeked gibbons and yellow-cheeked gibbons, such as age at first reproduction and interbirth interval, are crucial for population dynamics and survival. The research revealed different reproductive performances and infant mortality rates in captive female individuals of these two species, suggesting potential implications for conservation efforts.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Anthropology
Katherine R. Amato, Oscar M. Chaves, Elizabeth K. Mallott, Timothy M. Eppley, Filipa Abreu, Andrea L. Baden, Adrian A. Barnett, Julio Cesar Bicca-Marques, Sarah A. Boyle, Christina J. Campbell, Colin A. Chapman, Maria Fernanda De la Fuente, Pengfei Fan, Peter J. Fashing, Annika Felton, Barbara Fruth, Vanessa B. Fortes, Cyril C. Grueter, Gottfried Hohmann, Mitchell Irwin, Jaya K. Matthews, Addisu Mekonnen, Amanda D. Melin, David B. Morgan, Julia Ostner, Nga Nguyen, Alex K. Piel, Braulio Pinacho-Guendulain, Erika Patricia Quintino-Aredes, Patrick Tojotanjona Razanaparany, Nicola Schiel, Crickette M. Sanz, Oliver Schuelke, Sam Shanee, Antonio Souto, Joao Pedro Souza-Alves, Fiona Stewart, Kathrine M. Stewart, Anita Stone, Binghua Sun, Stacey Tecot, Kim Valenta, Erin R. Vogel, Serge Wich, Yan Zeng
Summary: The study explored the ecological contexts surrounding the consumption of fruits in the late stages of fermentation by wild primates, finding that climate and habitat patch size were key factors influencing the occurrence of fermented food use in primates. This behavior was found to be more prevalent in larger habitat patches with lower annual mean rainfall and higher annual mean maximum temperatures.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Andrew M. Robbins, Cyril C. Grueter, Didier Abavandimwe, Tara S. Stoinski, Martha M. Robbins
Summary: Our study found that while larger groups of Virunga mountain gorillas showed significantly increased group spread, there was still an increase in individual travel; contrary to expectations, group travel decreased with size for most groups, but individual travel increased with size; limited evidence was found for patch depletion that would cause the second mechanism of scramble competition.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Ruoshuang Liu, Jianbin Shi, Susanne Shultz, Dongsheng Guo, Dingzhen Liu
Summary: This study evaluated the inter-population and inter-specific similarity in the fecal microbiota of Przewalski's gazelle, an endangered endemic ruminant around Qinghai Lake in China. The results suggest that ecological factors such as host community composition or diet may influence the gastrointestinal bacterial community of Przewalski's gazelle. Assessing the role of bacterial community composition in maintaining gastrointestinal health could help improve conservation management of this endangered species.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Editorial Material
Zoology
Yin Yang, Aung Ko Lin, Paul A. Garber, Zhipang Huang, Yinping Tian, Alison Behie, Frank Momberg, Cyril C. Grueter, Weibiao Li, Ngwe Lwin, Wen Xiao
Summary: This article reviews the past decade of research conducted by Chinese and Myanmar scientists on the black snub-nosed monkey, a Critically Endangered primate species. The authors present new data on its life history, ecology, and population size, and discuss the conservation challenges it faces. They propose short-term and long-term management actions, including a transboundary conservation agreement between China and Myanmar, to ensure the survival of this species.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY
(2022)
Letter
Zoology
Yongman Guo, Cyril C. Grueter, Jiqi Lu
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Cyril R. C. Grueter, Amanda R. R. Ridley, Beth A. A. Kaplin, Jaya K. K. Matthews
Summary: Investment in social interaction and affiliative behaviour varies among and within species in response to sex-specific dispersal patterns and local environmental conditions. This study examines association patterns in a high-elevation population of chimpanzees and finds that resource distribution and the presence of oestrous females impact gregariousness differently for males and females.
ETHOLOGY ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Pingfen Zhu, Weiqiang Liu, Xiaoxiao Zhang, Meng Li, Gaoming Liu, Yang Yu, Zihao Li, Xuanjing Li, Juan Du, Xiao Wang, Cyril C. Grueter, Ming Li, Xuming Zhou
Summary: By comparing the social organization (solitary, pair-living, and group-living) and longevity of nearly 1000 mammalian species, it is found that group-living species generally live longer than solitary species. Furthermore, a comparative transcriptomic analysis of 94 mammalian species identifies 31 genes, hormones, and immunity-related pathways associated with social organization and longevity, highlighting the molecular basis of the influence of social organization on longevity.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Xiao-Guang Qi, Jinwei Wu, Lan Zhao, Xuanmin Guang, Paul A. Garber, Christopher Opie, Yuan Yuan, Runjie Diao, Gang Li, Kun Wang, Ruliang Pan, Weihong Ji, Hailu Sun, Zhi-Pang Huang, Chunzhong Xu, Arief B. Witarto, Rui Jia, Chi Zhang, Cheng Deng, Qiang Qiu, Guojie Zhang, Cyril C. Grueter, Dongdong Wu, Baoguo Li
Summary: By integrating various analyses, researchers found that colobine primates living in colder environments tend to have larger and more complex social groups, which is related to their genetic regulation and cold adaptation.
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Cyril C. Grueter, Hannah Goodman, Nicolas Fay, Bradley Walker, David Coall
Summary: Risk taking is more common in males, and it serves as a signal for prospective mates. Previous research has shown that male risk takers are more attractive for short-term flings, but the influence of environmental and socioeconomic context on female preferences has been overlooked. In a survey with 1304 females from 47 countries, we found that females with a bisexual orientation and higher risk proneness had stronger preferences for physical risk takers. Self-reported health and country-level health moderated the preference for high risk takers as short-term mates. The risk of COVID-19 did not influence avoidance of risk takers.
EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Wancai Xia, Cyril C. Grueter, Chao Zhang, Hongfei Zhuang, Jie Hu, Ali Krzton, Dayong Li
Summary: Recently, there has been a significant contraction in the distribution ranges of canids in Sichuan Province, China, with factors such as altitude, temperature, land use, and human population density playing key roles. Canid contraction rates in nature reserves were lower than in other types of protected and non-protected areas. Although the Chinese government has upgraded the protection level of canid species and established more national parks, it is crucial to monitor anthropogenic disturbance, implement compensation schemes for human-wildlife conflict, and enhance public wildlife conservation education.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2023)
Letter
Zoology
Peng-Lai Fan, Jia-Xing Li, Li-Ting Yang, Tao Sun, Shi-Jun Wu, Cyril C. Grueter, Cheng-Ming Huang, Qi-Hai Zhou, Ming Li
ZOOLOGICAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Yuan Jin, Xiaozan Ma, Bo Luo, Guiquan Zhang, Rongping Wei, Desheng Li, Hemin Zhang, Chris Newman, Christina Buesching, Dingzhen Liu
Summary: Research indicates that giant pandas, despite living in a seismically active region, do not appear to perceive pre-earthquake geophysical signals.
EARTHQUAKE SCIENCE
(2021)