Using stable isotopes to discern the advantages of tool-mediated shellfish exploitation in a monkey model system

使用稳定同位素来辨别猴子模型系统中工具介导的贝类开发的优势

基本信息

批准号：
1829315
负责人：
Nathaniel Dominy
金额：
$ 13.32万
依托单位：
Dartmouth College
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2018
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2018-08-15 至 2023-07-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1829315&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Using stable isotopes discern advantages

项目摘要

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).A preference for high quality protein may have contributed to key changes in our early human ancestors. Researchers have hypothesized that early modern human consumption of marine protein (e.g., shellfish) aided the rapid dispersal of hominins from Africa, and that early stone tools enabled greater access to animal protein and fat that fueled the energetic demands of brain growth and cognition. Testing hypotheses about the importance of marine protein for early human population movements and biological adaptations has been difficult given the dearth of suitable model primate systems. However, this project has identified one such model system, a unique population of macaques that use stones to extract and eat shellfish, with individual monkeys differing in tool-use abilities. The investigators will measure relationships among shellfish consumption, protein levels in individual monkeys, and tool use, to determine how variation in technical competence with stone tools may influence protein intake. The project has broader impacts at the local, national, and international levels, including training and professional development for underrepresented students, international research collaborations with Chulalongkorn University, educational outreach in K-12 settings, and the dissemination of research findings beyond academia through various media. This project will begin to explore the fitness consequences of individual variation in stone tool use and shellfish exploitation. The investigators will use carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis to measure the contribution of protein from shellfish consumption to the hair protein of individual monkeys within a stone-tool using population of long-tailed macaques in Koram Island, Thailand, and quantify the benefit of tool use to protein assimilation. These objectives will be achieved by 1) measuring the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope composition of macaque hair and all food sources, and 2) combining isotopic data with behavioral data on foraging (as informative priors) in a Bayesian stable isotope mixing model to estimate the proportional contributions of protein sources to hair as a direct function of stone tool use and technical proficiency.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该奖项是根据2021年《美国救援计划法》（公法117-2）全部或部分资助的。对高质量蛋白质的偏爱可能导致了我们早期人类祖先的关键变化。研究人员假设，早期的现代人类对海洋蛋白（例如贝类）的早期消费有助于非洲人类蛋白的快速分散，而早期的石材工具使得能够获得更多的动物蛋白质和脂肪的机会，从而促进了对大脑生长和认知的能力需求。考虑到合适的模型灵长类动物系统的缺乏，很难对海洋蛋白对早期人口运动和生物适应的重要性进行测试假设。但是，该项目已经确定了一个这样的模型系统，即使用石头提取和吃贝类的独特猕猴种群，单个猴子的工具使用能力不同。研究人员将衡量贝类消耗之间的关系，单个猴子中的蛋白质水平以及工具使用，以确定与石工具的技术能力变化如何影响蛋白质摄入。该项目对本地，国家和国际层面有更广泛的影响，包括针对代表性不足的学生的培训和专业发展，与Chulalongkorn University的国际研究合作，K-12环境中的教育外展以及通过各种媒体对学术界超越学术界的研究结果的传播。该项目将开始探讨石工具使用和贝类剥削中个体变化的适应性后果。研究人员将使用碳养食物的蛋白质在石器上使用碳素的消耗到单个猴子在泰国Koram岛的长尾猕猴中的蛋白质的贡献，并量化工具与蛋白质同化的益处。这些目标将通过1）实现。1）测量猕猴头发和所有食物来源的碳和氮稳定的同位素组成，以及2）将同位素数据与贝叶斯稳定的同位素稳定同位素混合模型中的觅食（作为信息性先验）的行为数据相结合，以估算蛋白质范围的范围，以估算蛋白质的范围，并构成了蛋白质的直接效果，并具有直接的作用。并被认为是通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准来评估值得支持的。