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能够成为能够很好地适应其生存环境的成年人。这就是基因相似的个体在发育期间暴露于不同环境时可能会形成不同特征的原因。对于灵长类动物和其他社会性动物，社会环境被认为是特别重要的发展影响。雄性灵长类动物是发育可塑性研究特别有趣的对象，因为它们的发育周期长，它们产生的后代数量差异很大，而且它们用来竞争交配机会的策略也多种多样。然而，在许多灵长类动物中，甚至连基本的雄性发育模式也没有得到很好的了解。在这个研究项目中，研究人员探索社会环境是否以及如何影响雄性猿类的行为、荷尔蒙和身体发育。社会环境的多样性以及这些雄性猿类极端的身体特征使它们成为进行这项研究的优秀物种。除了有助于我们理解社会环境在决定人类近亲成人特征方面所起的作用之外，该项目还将对能力建设、教育和培训做出重大贡献。 目前关于雄性灵长类动物发育模式如何受发育条件影响的信息有限。该研究项目探讨社会环境如何影响雄性大猩猩的行为、生理和形态轨迹。所选物种特别适合这项研究，因为其社会环境高度可变，而且有传闻称其在漫长的生长轨迹上具有相当大的发育可塑性。该项目收集了大约 120 只生活在不同人口组成的社会群体中的习惯性雄性大猩猩的非侵入性行为和摄影测量数据，以及从尿液和粪便样本中获得的睾酮和 DHEA-S 代谢物。新获得的信息与可用的纵向数据相结合，生成从婴儿期到成年期的荷尔蒙、身体和行为特征。这些数据用于更好地了解发育变化发生的顺序、个体间发育变异的性质和程度，以及社会环境在预测这种变异中可能发挥的作用。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并具有通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。