Mitonuclear conflict in a macaque species exhibiting phylogenomic discordance

Animal stone-handling behavior (SH) has been recorded in detail only in primates, mainly across macaque species. The purpose(s) of SH are still unknown, yet various hypotheses have been suggested, including that it is a misdirected behavior when hungry and/or a play behavior that aids individuals' motor and stone tool-use development. SH has also been observed across both wild and captive otter species, but no overview report of the extent of this behavior across otter species has been published yet. To fill this gap in the literature, we contacted wild and captive otter researchers and keepers to enquire directly on SH in the species they work with. We accepted anecdotal reports in this first review of the behavior. Using the reports and anecdotes thus obtained, we compiled the first list of otter species that show SH. We found that most (10 out of 13) of currently known otter species practice SH. Therefore, similarly to macaques, SH is also common in otters and occurs in the majority of species. Future studies should focus on replicating these findings and further investigating the potential functions and selection pressures of SH in otters and other animal species.

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Mother-Infant Relationships in Three Species of Macaques (Macaca Mulatta, M. Nemestrina, M. Arctoides). I. Development of the Mother-Infant Relationship in the First Three Months

Behaviour ◽

10.1163/156853994x00226 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 131 (1-2) ◽

pp. 75-96 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

Dario Maestripieri

Keyword(s):

Macaca Mulatta ◽

Functional Significance ◽

Emotional Reactivity ◽

Social Groups ◽

Social Characteristics ◽

Behavioral Differences ◽

Behavior Support ◽

Macaque Species ◽

Infant Independence

AbstractThis study compared mother-infant relationships in rhesus, pigtail, and stumptail macaques living in large captive social groups. Mother-infant pairs were focally observed in 4 weekly 30-min sessions for the first 12 weeks of infant life. Rhesus and stumptail infants were active earlier than pigtail infants, and rhesus mothers further encouraged infant independence by frequently breaking contact with them and rejecting them. Rhesus mothers also restrained their infants, presumably in circumstances where a danger for them was perceived. Pigtail mothers were more protective than rhesus mothers and not as encouraging of infant independence as rhesus mothers. Stumptail mothers scored low on both protectiveness and rejection measures. The functional significance of some differences in mother-infant relationships is tentatively explained on the basis of reproductive, ecological, and social characteristics of rhesus, pigtail, and stumptail macaques. Data on scratching behavior support the hypothesis that behavioral differences among macaque species are associated, at the proximate level, with differences in temperament or emotional reactivity.

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Sharing from the Same Bowl: Resource Partitioning between Sympatric Macaque Species in the Western Himalaya, India

International Journal of Primatology ◽

10.1007/s10764-019-00092-z ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 40 (3) ◽

pp. 356-373 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Priyanka Justa ◽

R. Suresh Kumar ◽

Gautam Talukdar ◽

Anindya Sinha

Keyword(s):

Resource Partitioning ◽

Western Himalaya ◽

Macaque Species

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A sexually dimorphic hypothalamic nucleus in a macaque species with frequent female?female mounting and same-sex sexual partner preference

Behavioural Brain Research ◽

10.1016/j.bbr.2004.07.005 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 157 (2) ◽

pp. 265-272 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

P VASEY ◽

J PFAUS

Keyword(s):

Sexual Partner ◽

Hypothalamic Nucleus ◽

Sexually Dimorphic ◽

Partner Preference ◽

Same Sex ◽

Macaque Species

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Chromosome-level de novo assembly of the pig-tailed macaque genome using linked-read sequencing and HiC proximity scaffolding

GigaScience ◽

10.1093/gigascience/giaa069 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (7) ◽

Author(s):

Morteza Roodgar ◽

Afshin Babveyh ◽

Lan H Nguyen ◽

Wenyu Zhou ◽

Rahul Sinha ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

De Novo ◽

Innate Immune ◽

Human Diseases ◽

Macaca Nemestrina ◽

Proximity Ligation Assay ◽

Immune Gene ◽

Proteomics Data ◽

Macaque Species ◽

Chromosome Level

Abstract Background Macaque species share >93% genome homology with humans and develop many disease phenotypes similar to those of humans, making them valuable animal models for the study of human diseases (e.g., HIV and neurodegenerative diseases). However, the quality of genome assembly and annotation for several macaque species lags behind the human genome effort. Results To close this gap and enhance functional genomics approaches, we used a combination of de novo linked-read assembly and scaffolding using proximity ligation assay (HiC) to assemble the pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina) genome. This combinatorial method yielded large scaffolds at chromosome level with a scaffold N50 of 127.5 Mb; the 23 largest scaffolds covered 90% of the entire genome. This assembly revealed large-scale rearrangements between pig-tailed macaque chromosomes 7, 12, and 13 and human chromosomes 2, 14, and 15. We subsequently annotated the genome using transcriptome and proteomics data from personalized induced pluripotent stem cells derived from the same animal. Reconstruction of the evolutionary tree using whole-genome annotation and orthologous comparisons among 3 macaque species, human, and mouse genomes revealed extensive homology between human and pig-tailed macaques with regards to both pluripotent stem cell genes and innate immune gene pathways. Our results confirm that rhesus and cynomolgus macaques exhibit a closer evolutionary distance to each other than either species exhibits to humans or pig-tailed macaques. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that pig-tailed macaques can serve as an excellent animal model for the study of many human diseases particularly with regards to pluripotency and innate immune pathways.

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