Contributions to primatology最新文献

The application of cladistic methods (especially a concentration on shared derived rather than ancestral characters) permits the distinction of four dental and two cranial morphocytes among the Cercopithecidae. Comparison with fossils suggests that the Fayum parapithecids are not specially related to the Old World monkeys, while other undoubted Fayum 'hominoids' may share derived features with monkeys. Miocene Victoriapithecus 'species' may document a stage very close to the split between Colobinae and Cercopithecinae. Later African colobines appear to form a monophyletic group, more arboreal than the extinct European branch; Asian forms may be specially related to the latter. Among the Cercopithecinae, after a Miocene separation from the high-forest Cercopithecini, the Papionini divided into three groups: geladas, sub-Saharan Papio-related 'baboons' and Mediterranean-Eurasian macaque relatives; each of these underwent Plio-Pleistocene adaptive radiations and subsequent taxonomic diminution.

Polar coordinates can be used to quantify shapes on which homologous points cannot be readily identified such as lophs, edges, circumferences, outlines of areas, etc., This allows one to describe quantitatively characters, often diagnostic, that at present are not usually quantified and hence do not figure in the statistical analysis of variability that ought to accompany morphological descriptions in taxonomic work. Computer-driven plotters, using this data, provide an efficient means of graphing it, with great accuracy, in a variety of ways that can be used as an aid in qualitatively assessing variability in a sample or as a basis for further quantitative work. Principal component analysis of the data is essential to reduce the great quantity of measurements to a more manageable amount. It is also a valuable aid in interpreting the information. In the example using the Phenacolemur sample, it was shown with the data obtained from the use of polar coordinates in measuring that: (1) Discriminant functions can be used to distinguish between teeth that are very similar in shape and size, such as the Phenacolemur M1 and M2 and with which it is difficult to make such a distinction visually in an objective fashion. (2) It can be shown quantitatively that size is the only valid distinguishing criterion in splitting the AMNH Phenacolemur sample into three species and that the variability in shape is not significant.

This monograph reports on a 14 month study of yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus) in the Masai-Amboseli Game Reserve, Kenya. The study was an attempt to determine the relationship between agonistic dominance and reproductive success in male baboons and centered around testing a priority-of-access model of mating behavior. Explicit criteria for determining dominance in baboons are presented and the consistency of dominance relationships through time is analyzed for all classes of individuals. Related data on reproductive cycle length, perineal and behavioral indications of the optimal day for mating, changes in female behavior during estrus, and effects of the presence of estrous females on group organization are also included. This work constitutes the first comprehensive field study of baboon mating systems and social organization and emphasizes the use of systematic behavior sampling techniques in the field and quantitative models in the study of primate social behavior.