Doctoral Dissertation Research: Do social environments influence the timing of male maturation in a close human relative?

博士论文研究：社会环境是否影响人类近亲的男性成熟时间？

• 批准号: 2341354
• 负责人: Stacy Rosenbaum
• 金额: $ 3.15万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-02-15 至 2026-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2341354&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Do; social

Developmental plasticity allows organisms to become adults that are well-adapted to the environment they live in. This is how genetically similar individuals may develop different traits when exposed to different environments during their developmental period. In primates, and other social animals, the social environment is believed to be an especially important developmental influence. Male primates are particularly interesting subjects for developmental plasticity research due to their long developmental periods, the high variance in how many offspring they produce, and the variety of tactics they use to compete for mating opportunities. In many primate species, however, even basic male developmental patterns are not well understood. In this research project, the investigators explore if and how social environments affect the behavioral, hormonal, and physical development in males of an ape species. The diversity of social environments along with the extreme physical characteristics of these male apes makes them an excellent species in which to conduct this research. In addition to contributing to our understanding of the role that social environments play in determining adult characteristics in a close human relative, this project will make significant contributions to capacity building, education, and training. Limited information is currently available regarding how male primate developmental patterns are shaped by developmental conditions. This research project explores how social environments influence the behavioral, physiological, and morphological trajectories of male gorillas. The chosen species is particularly well suited for this research due to its highly variable social environments and anecdotal reports of considerable developmental plasticity across its long growth trajectories. This project collects non-invasive behavioral and photogrammetry data, along with testosterone and DHEA-S metabolites obtained from urine and fecal samples, on ~120 habituated male gorillas living in social groups of varying demographic compositions. Newly obtained information is combined with available longitudinal data to generate hormonal, physical, and behavioral profiles from infancy through adulthood. These data are used to better understand the order in which developmental changes occur, the nature and degree of inter-individual developmental variation, and the role(s) that social environments may play in predicting such variation.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.

发育可塑性使生物体成为适应其生活环境的成年人。这就是遗传上相似的个体在发育时期暴露于不同环境时可能发展出不同特征的方式。在灵长类动物和其他社会动物中，社会环境被认为是特别重要的发展影响。由于长期发育时期，他们产生多少后代的差异以及它们用于争夺交配机会的各种策略，因此男性灵长类动物是发展可塑性研究的特别有趣的主题。然而，在许多灵长类动物中，即使是基本的男性发育模式也不是很好的理解。在该研究项目中，研究人员探讨了社会环境是否以及如何影响猿类物种男性的行为，荷尔蒙和身体发育。社会环境的多样性以及这些雄性猿的极端身体特征使它们成为进行这项研究的极好物种。除了有助于我们理解社会环境在确定成年人特征中的作用中，该项目还将为能力建设，教育和培训做出重大贡献。 目前，有关男性灵长类动物发育模式如何由发育条件塑造的有限信息。该研究项目探讨了社会环境如何影响雄性大猩猩的行为，生理和形态轨迹。由于其高度可变的社会环境以及在其长长的生长轨迹中，其轶事报道，因此所选物种特别适合这项研究。该项目收集非侵入性行为和摄影测量数据，以及睾丸激素和DHEA-S代谢物，从尿液和粪便样品中获得的睾丸激素和DHEA-S代谢产物，对约有120个生活在各种人口统计组成的社会群体中的约120个习惯性雄性大猩猩。新获得的信息与可用的纵向数据相结合，从婴儿期到成年期都会产生激素，身体和行为特征。这些数据用于更好地理解发生发展变化的顺序，个体间的发展变化的性质和程度以及社交环境在预测这种差异中可能起着的作用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的智力和更广泛影响的评估来通过评估来获得支持的。