Abstracts:

Session 1: Vervet Monkeys

Genetic differentiation of Vervet Monkeys- update on vervet project….. Trudy Turner, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of Pretoria and Paul Grobler, University of the Free State

We report on our on-going project to assess genetic differentiation in vervet monkeys in South Africa. To date, we have sampled over 170 animals from 10 locations. We have obtained genetic data from 11 microsatellite loci and mitochondrial loci. We plan to continue sampling for at least another two years in order to ensure that we have covered the range of vervets in South Africa. We also plan to examine Y-chromosome loci. Analyses to date indicate very little differentiation between vervets at diverse locations. Although results are preliminary, there seems no indication of taxonomic differentiation of these animals. We are very grateful to all our collaborators without whom this project would not have been possible.

Genetic differentiation in South African vervet monkeys…..Kerry McAuliffe, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

I report on the methodology, statistical tools and hypotheses of my in-progress Master’s thesis, where I analyze a subset of a large project on South African vervet monkey genetics (Turner et al 2006). I sampled vervet monkeys (n = 34) from three South African populations (Polokwane, Blyde, and Oribi) to determine their level of genetic differentiation. Using microsatellites, I plan to analyze this data with statistical tools from both population genetics (AMOVA, F-statistics and genetic distances) and landscape genetics (Mantel and partial Mantel tests, assignment tests/bayesian clustering techniques and Monmonier’s algorithm). Landscape genetics techniques, unlike population genetics techniques, do not require a-priori populations. They use allele frequencies and genetic distances to determine if all sampled animals (as a whole) differentiate themselves to the population level. I hypothesize that both sets of statistical tools will provide additional support that South African vervet monkeys exhibit little genetic structuring. Data such as these will aid in the proper management of this species in South Africa

Session 2: Baboons

Baboon Hybrids and the Evolution of Development….. R R Ackermann, Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Despite considerable recent attention to hybridization in the human fossil record, very little is known about the skeletons of primate hybrids. Here I discuss the craniofacial morphology of a sample of hybrid baboons. The dental abnormalities prevalent in this sample vary in expression and probably result from an extension of tooth morphogenesis. Recent research suggests that genes which have been shown to affect tooth morphogenesis are part of a network which regulates the development of a suite of ectodermally-derived tissues. The anomalies seen in the baboon hybrids may be artifacts of differential selection on other aspects of morphology (such as pelage) that are targeted by shared regulatory genes. Future consideration of similarly integrated networks could provide important insight into evolutionary developmental divergence in Plio-Pleistocene primates, including hominins.

Evolution of Baboons: Phylogeny, Genes and Behavior….. Timothy K Newman Functional Genomics Program, National Bioinformatics Network 1, Departments of Psychiatry and Human Genetics, University of Cape Town 2, and Department of Psychiatry, University of Stellenbosch 3, South Africa.

Baboons (Papio hamadryas) exhibit perhaps the largest degree of behavioural, ecological, morphological and genetic variation among living primate species. Published mtDNA sequence data reveal 4 major lineages within Papio, and identify chacma (P. h. ursinus) haplotypes as the oldest (1.8mya) and most divergent lineage, being the sister clade to other Papio allotaxa. MtDNA sequence data representing most, but not all, chacma populations within South Africa reveal two major lineages (estimated nodal split at 1.2mya) geographically divided along a complex southwest to northeast line extending from central South Africa to the Limpopo River near Zimbabwe. The monoamine oxidase gene (MAOA), which influences aggressive and impulsive behavior, contains a functional repeat polymorphism with the 5’ regulatory region that is conserved in most catarrhines, including baboons. Allelic variation in Papio MAOA is high, and when mapped against the mtDNA tree, is not randomly distributed. Several lines of evidence suggest that MAOA is under positive natural selection in humans and rhesus macaques, and may well be in Papio

Behavioural Variation and Flexibility in Baboons: Insights from Inter- and Intra-Specific Comparisons…..Larissa Swedell and Julian Saunders

Many features of baboon behaviour vary across populations and subspecies, the best examples of which can be found by comparing ‘savanna baboons’ and hamadryas baboons. Hamadryas are strikingly different in both their social structure and their social organization, which centers around reproductively exclusive one-male units held together by strong cross-sex bonds and male coercion of females. Infanticide and aggression towards infants are risks for hamadryas and other baboons and may have played a role in shaping baboon reproductive strategies. Our previous results suggest that all baboon females use a combination of ‘paternity concentration’ (association and exclusive copulation with a single protective male) and ‘paternity confusion’ (increasing paternity uncertainty through promiscuity and the incitement of male competition) to varying degrees. The Cape Peninsula chacma population can provide an interesting point of comparison within this paternity confusion-concentration continuum – and has the potential to tell us something about behavioural flexibility in general – because sex ratios in this population are skewed towards females. A comparison of this population with other populations of Papio baboons can help to elucidate the evolution and maintenance of social organization in hamadryas baboons and to define the limits and extent of behavioural flexibility in baboons as a whole, which will ultimately help to elucidate behavioural variation and social structure in the genus Papio.

An overview of the baboons situation on the Cape Peninsula …..Esme Beamish

Self-Directed Behaviour in Female Chacma Baboons: Implications for Stress, Reproductive State, and Social Status….. Jacqui Stephenson

Self-directed behaviours (such as self-scratching, self-grooming, yawning and body shaking) have been found by previous studies to be suitable indicators of stress or anxiety in non-human primates. I am currently investigating how self-directed behaviours (SDB’s) correlate with social status, stress and reproductive state in female chacma baboons of the Cape Point troop. This troop is currently without adult males and for this reason we predict that stress levels of pregnant and lactating females will be higher than the stress levels of females who are neither pregnant nor lactating. This is because females who are pregnant or lactating stand to lose if a male immigrates into the troop- due to the threat of infanticide. The preliminary results have shown no significant difference between the stress levels of females who are pregnant or lactating and females who are not pregnant or lactating. No correlation has been found, either, between SDB rates and rank order. This is a project in progress and more data is still top be collected and analysed.

Primate conservation in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa: The effects of urbanization on parasite species diversity and prevalence in baboons: Damiana Ravasi, PhD candidate, University of Cape Town, South Africa

In many parts of the world today primates live in anthropogenically disturbed habitat mosaics of farmland, human settlements, forest fragments, and isolated protected areas. The Cape Peninsula in South Africa is a classic example of this phenomenon, with urban sprawl posing a serious threat to the continued survival of the local chacma baboon (Papio hamadryas ursinus) population. This loss of habitat has resulted in a dramatic drop in population numbers, with whole troops having been eliminated. Currently there are only 370 individuals distributed within eleven troops on the peninsula.

This project aims to investigate how an ecological process, namely parasite infection dynamics, is being affected by urbanization in this geographically isolated and fragmented population of baboons. We will compare the prevalence and species richness of gastrointestinal parasites in addition to the proportion of multiple infections in four baboon troops within the Cape Peninsula. These troops have limited contact with one another and differ in the degree of human interaction and habitat disturbance. Different troop attributes will be related to disease profiles of these troops; we will investigate how these attributes inter-relate, and what role human contact and anthropogenic disturbance plays in parasite prevalence and richness in baboons.

The spatial ecology of the semi-urban chacma (Papio h. ursinus) baboon troops of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa….. Tali Hoffman TALI HOFFMAN & M. JUSTIN O’RIAIN

The spatial ecology of semi-urban baboon troops has received scant attention in the primatological literature. In this study GPS and behavioural data were collected from March 2006 to February 2007 to describe the home range and foraging patterns of the Main Tokai (MT) troop of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. GIS analyses were performed to relate the extent of the home range to spatial and temporal distributions of critical resources and the effects of habitat, altitude and seasonality on area usage and movement patterns. Area use correlated positively with alien vegetation and negatively with indigenous vegetation and altitude. The most intensively utilised areas of the home range were comprised of pine plantations, vineyards and urban habitats. The most favoured food items were alien grasses, seeds/corms and pine cones. A seasonal home range shift from high to low altitudes was attributed to high primary production (e.g. grasses) following the onset of winter rains. Semi-urban troops may thus benefit from anthropogenic disturbances, exhibiting reduced home range size and daily distances travelled. This, together with reduced predation and food abundance, may explain why the MT troop is at the upper end of the troop size continuum for chacma baboons.

Habitat structure, population characteristics and resource utilization by Chacma Baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus) in the commercial forestry areas of the eastern Mpumalanga escarpment….A.J. Marais, L.R. Brown, L. Barrett and S.P. Henzi

Baboons are highly intelligent and ecologically flexible animals with attributes that allow them to exploit diverse habitats. As a result of their dietary flexibility they often exploit human habitats, causing damage to crops and forest plantations as well as to human dwellings. In the South African context this has led to baboons being regarded as problem animals and attempted extirpation is the most common approach to the damage they cause. This perception of and attitude toward baboons gives many conservationists cause for concern since all southern African cercopithecine primates are CITES listed and it has not been proven that this strategy is the best long-term solution.  As part of a research programme focusing on the damage done by chacma baboons in pine plantations along the Drakensberg escarpment in Mpumalanga a single troop in the Blyde Canyon Nature Reserve was studied to describe their patterns of habitat use. Vegetation and habitat surveys were conducted within the home range of the troop. The troop was habituated and each member's activity, location and food items utilised were recorded over a 12 month period. The results of this study indicate that baboons utilised plant communities based on food production and availability rather than size in hectares. The results also indicate that the group size, foraging and food search strategies of this troop resembles that of the Drakensberg troops previously studied. The study troop employs two different forage modes of engagement depending on where they choose to forage while they avoid utilising an easily accessible pine plantation. Due to the troop's long inter-birth intervals it is likely that the current forestry practice of extirpation may have a negative influence on baboon population viability in these areas.

Session 3: Lemurs and other primates

MOUSE LEMUR GARDENS: SEED DISPERSAL IN A SMALL NOCTURNAL LEMUR, MICROCEBUS GRISEORUFUS , IN THE SOUTHERN SPINY FOREST OF MADAGASCAR….. Fabien Genin

Conservation of habitats is much more effective than the conservation of species, because strong inter-relations among species occur in all environments. In Madagascar, known for its highly threatened endemic fauna and flora, little attention has been paid to the southern spiny forest. Similarly, until recently, the smallest lemurs, the mouse lemurs (genus Microcebus) were considered widespread and non-specialised, and thus of little vulnerability. The recent recognition of many new species, such as Microcebus griseorufus found exclusively in the southern spiny forest, has revived the debate. This study shows, for the first time, a positive effect of the consumption of fruits by this species on the potential for germination of the seeds of Maerua nuda (Brassicaceae) and Viscum sp. (Viscosaceae). These plants fruited during the same period and were clumped in “gardens”. They also produced very small fruits which remained green at maturity, indicating a close relationship between them and the mouse lemurs.

Development of Behaviour in Blue-eyed black lemur infants (Eulemur macacoflavifrons) at Sahamalaza Peninsula National Park, Madagascar

Development of behaviour in blue-eyed black lemur infants (Eulemur macaco flavifrons) was studied over the first 28 weeks of the infants’ lives from September 2006 until March 2007. The study was conducted at Sahamalaza Peninsula, National Park Madagascar. A total 10 infants were examined. Two of the ten infants died, one infant was attacked by a Fosa on the second week of life and the second infant was seen weak just few days before its death. One infant disappeared at the end of the study. The other infants were still observed in the study site. Infants spent all of the first 3 weeks of their life with their mothers. Infants started to ingest solid food around the tenth week, infant rejection was observed around the week 10 as well. Suckling was last seen at week 24. By the 28 weeks, infants were spent less than 20% of their time in contact with their mothers. The results are compared with similar data from other member of Lemuridae family in captivity and in the wild. We found that the infant development between black lemur in captivity and our study did not differ very much. We suggest that the difference may be from the environmental conditions. We found there is a difference between development of ring-tailed lemur infants and blue-eyed black lemur infants. It has been reported that ring-tailed lemur infant displayed a rapid physical development compared with most anthropoid and some prosimians species

John Decker :The geomorphology of Madagascar : A key to lemur palaeoecodynamics

Madagascar , as the setting in which lemur diversification has occurred,holds a significant key to decyphering primate evolution. In the effective absence of a terrestrial Cenozoic fossil record for Madagascar, a detailed geomorphological history of the island over the past 65 Myr may provide a proxi for the paleoecodynamics of the lemurs, and may prove useful in evaluating the robustness of lemur phylogeographies and molecular divergence ages. For instance, the steep eastern escarpment and central plateau of Madagascar exercise a first order control over the precipitation patterns, and consequently lemur habitat variation, across the island. Cosmogenic radionuclide exposure studies of surface rocks would allow for an estimation of long term escarpment erosion rates, and by inference, an uplift history for Madagascar . Correlation with molecular divergence ages may thus provide the basis for new hypotheses regarding the external stimuli that might influence lemur diversity.

The Influence of age class and grooming on copulation frequency in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)…..Kerry Slater, UNISA

Grooming behaviour in primates is well documented with a number of suggestions as to the benefits associated with investing in grooming other individuals. Grooming could be used as a strategy for enhancing reproductive success, either by enhancing proximity to estrus females, or by influencing female choice by developing an affiliative relationship. Five years of grooming and copulatory data were examined from a group of free-living chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in the Budongo Forest, Uganda, to test the hypothesis that age class and grooming influence copulatory success in chimpanzees. Copulations between males and adult females occurred significantly less than expected, whereas copulations between males and subadult females occurred significantly more frequently than expected. Males did not discriminate between subadult and adult females, but both subadult and adult females copulated more often with adult males, suggesting females prefer adult males. Across all adult-adult copulations, males were significantly more likely to copulate with females they had groomed. In the majority of cases (78%), grooming was not directly associated with copulation, suggesting that grooming enhanced an affiliative relationship thereby influencing female choice rather than providing extra opportunities soley due to proximity. The relationships developed during grooming interactions therefore seem to result in a copulatory advantage to males.

Session 4: Discussion

• Bob Venter updated the group on translocations of vervets in Gauteng and Mpumalanga and discussed methods used to discourage vervets from interacting with humans at Sun City.

• NEMBA as protector of biodiversity (abstract): Pierre Le Roux

National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act 2004 and its Regulations 2007 will from February 2008 protect those species appearing on the TOPS list against “restricted activities” (hunting) through permit system – not listed, not protected. The published TOPS 2007 list must be repealed as it omits 160 species that could be exterminated. No primate except Samango is protected. The amendments are motivated from NEMBA, workshop proceedings and provincial working documents.

1. A comprehensive NEMBA sec 56 list was developed and proposed to DEAT.
2. Proposal made to protect free wild populations by permitting hunting only on certified adequately enclosed land (game farms).
3. Damage causing animals to be managed on risk protocol by non-lethal means.

The amendments, if accepted by DEAT will give primates and many non-charismatic species excellent protection. Support from PEGG and members will be appreciated.

Complete document 6 600 words (14 A4 pp). Obtainable from pierreleroux@vodamail.co.za . Further discussion welcomed.

Please study it and make recommendations to DEAT and Provinces.