Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: Development of Efficient Foraging Behavior in Aye-Ayes

博士论文改进：指猴高效觅食行为的发展

• 批准号: 0332975
• 负责人: Carel van Schaik
• 金额: $ 0.65万
• 依托单位: Duke University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-11-01 至 2004-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0332975&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Development; Efficient

This project will investigate the factors that limit the development of efficient tap-foraging skills in immature aye-ayes (Daubentonia madagascariensis) at the Duke University Primate Center (DUPC). Using experimental methods, this study will assess the age at which adult-level foraging proficiency is reached, and will determine whether lack of experience, small body size, and/or poor neuromuscular control prevent young aye-ayes from foraging efficiently. Results will test whether the time needed to learn complex foraging skills can explain the remarkably slow development of the aye-aye.Study of the ontogeny of lemur foraging efficiency has important implications for understanding the evolution of slow development, or slow life history, in other primates, including humans. Human life history features, including a long juvenile period and lifespan, may be explained by a dietary shift towards more specialized, hard-to-obtain foods (e.g. meat, larvae). Additionally, human behaviors, such as food sharing with offspring, can be associated with slow life history. Recently, anthropologists have begun to test this hypothesis with long-term data from hunter-gatherer groups, with specific attention to the relative importance of experience and size to foraging efficiency. Following in this vein, the proposed project will be among the first to experimentally test hypotheses for life history evolution. Because aye-ayes, like humans, are also characterized by a relatively slow life history and a specialized, nutrient-rich diet, this study is directly relevant to our understanding of derived human life history traits.More broadly, this research project will provide multiple opportunities for promoting education and participation in research. Preliminary data have been collected with the help of three student research assistants trained in behavioral observations and data collection techniques using hand-held computers. The proposed research will continue to provide opportunities for education and training of student research assistants. Additionally, the DUPC is an educational facility that provides information about lemurs and their ecosystems to thousands of visitors annually. Visitors to the center will have the opportunity to observe data collection sessions and to learn about this research project via educational materials.This research is also more broadly applicable to understanding human dietary development. Like non-human primates and other mammals, humans have been observed to learn about food socially. Eating patterns, including obesity and dieting, appear to develop gradually throughout childhood. Understanding the development of foraging behaviors in non-human primates can help us understand the underlying stages of human dietary development, and may provide insight into preventative treatment of food-related disorders.Finally, this research will provide helpful information for the reintroduction of aye-ayes and other mammals into the wild, and thus has important implications for conservation. While the release of animals within their current or former range is becoming increasingly important in conservation and wildlife management, primates in particular appear to rehabilitate less successfully than other mammals. Discerning how primates learn to forage will help us predict at what age young animals reach foraging proficiency adequate for independent survival, and whether reintroduced animals will be able to forage in a novel environment. This is particularly relevant for the aye-aye, which is highly threatened by habitat loss and hunting.

该项目将调查限制杜克大学灵长类动物中心（DUPC）中未成熟的Aye-ayes（Daubentonia Madagascariensis）发展有效的Tap-For-For-For-Forning技能的因素。 使用实验方法，这项研究将评估达到成人觅食能力的年龄，并确定缺乏经验，体积小和/或神经肌肉控制差是否可以防止年轻的Aye-ayes有效地觅食。 结果将测试学习复杂的觅食技能所需的时间是否可以解释Aye-aye的慢速发展。狐猴觅食效率的本体发育对理解包括人类在内的其他灵长类动物的缓慢发展或缓慢的生活历史的演变具有重要意义。 人类的生活历史特征，包括漫长的少年时期和寿命，可以通过饮食转向更专业，难以捕捉的食物（例如肉类，幼虫）来解释。 此外，人类行为（例如与后代共享的食物共享）可能与缓慢的生活历史有关。 最近，人类学家已经开始使用猎人 - 采集者群体的长期数据来检验这一假设，并特别注意经验和规模对觅食效率的相对重要性。 按照这种方式，拟议的项目将是最早通过实验测试生活历史进化的假设的项目之一。 由于像人类一样的Aye-ayes也具有相对较慢的生活史和专业，营养丰富的饮食的特征，因此这项研究与我们对派生的人类生活历史特征的理解直接相关。更广泛地说，该研究项目将为促进教育和参与研究提供多种机会。 在使用手持计算机的三名学生研究助理的帮助下，已经收集了初步数据。 拟议的研究将继续为学生研究助理的教育和培训提供机会。 此外，DUPC是一个教育设施，每年向成千上万的游客提供有关狐猴及其生态系统的信息。 该中心的访问者将有机会观察数据收集会议，并通过教育材料了解该研究项目。这项研究也更广泛地适用于了解人类饮食发展。 像非人类灵长类动物和其他哺乳动物一样，已经观察到人类在社交上学习食物。 包括肥胖和节食在内的饮食模式在整个童年时期似乎都在逐渐发展。 了解非人类灵长类动物的觅食行为的发展可以帮助我们了解人类饮食发展的潜在阶段，并可以深入了解与食物相关疾病的预防治疗。从本文中，这项研究将为重新引入Aye-Aayes和其他哺乳动物的介绍提供有用的信息，因此对野外进行了重要含义，并为保护提供了重要含义。 尽管动物在其当前或以前的范围内的释放在保护和野生动植物管理方面变得越来越重要，但尤其是比其他哺乳动物成功地恢复成功的灵长类动物。 辨别灵长类动物如何学会觅食将有助于我们预测年龄较小的动物在觅食的觅食中足以适合独立生存，以及重新引入的动物是否能够在新的环境中觅食。 这与Aye-aye尤其重要，Aye-aye受到栖息地丧失和狩猎的高度威胁。