Search for: All records

ABSTRACT Increased fluctuating asymmetry, or random differences between right and left sides, has been associated with developmental stress or developmental instability. This study examines fluctuating asymmetry (FA) of mesio‐distal and bucco‐lingual dimensions of deciduous maxillary molars (m¹, m²), and permanent maxillary premolars and molars (P³, P⁴, M¹, M²) of 466 rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) born between 1950 and 2018 from Cayo Santiago (CS), Puerto Rico. All included individuals were of known age, sex, birth year, and matriline. We assess whether a secular trend occurs in FA over a 68‐year period, sex differences in FA, and whether environmental or management factors in the colony history resulted in decreased FA. Regression of FA on birth year tested for a secular trend in FA. A mixed‐model two‐way analysis of variance was used to test for the influence of food supplementation, tetanus vaccination and hurricane experience during dental development on FA. Differences across matrilines in response to the management or environmental factors were tested by ANOVA. There was no significant secular trend in FA. There was limited reduction of FA with implementation of the high protein diet, and limited support for the decreased FA associated with the implementation of tetanus vaccination. There is also limited difference in dental FA associated with exposure to a hurricane during dental development. Matrilineal differences in FA were observed for several teeth. The free‐ranging environment of Cayo Santiago is a complex environment, with many factors influencing the development of young rhesus macaques. While the introduction of a high protein diet or the implementation of a tetanus vaccination program may have improved individual health overall, there are likely other factors that may cause developmental stress and result in dental FA. 

ABSTRACT The Cayo Santiago (CS) rhesus macaque colony has raised a total of over 11,000 animals in a free‐ranging setting very close to the natural environment. The well‐kept individual and family records, as well as social group management data, have been a valuable source for anthropological research. However, the various sources of data have been stored in separation, and there was no straightforward way for researchers to access them directly. Since 2019, an ongoing effort supported through an NSF collaborative grant has been collecting morphology and imagery data from the CS‐derived skeleton collection. One specific aim is to build an integrative database to combine newly collected osteology data (bone measurement) and existing genealogy and demographic information. A second aim is to develop a software application (codenamed as CSViewer for Analysts) to provide user‐friendly interfaces for the research community to access and analyze the data. In this paper, we present a set of results generated by using standard data science tools and techniques, which help construct a holistic view of the CS rhesus colony along multiple dimensions. The matrilineal family lineage and pedigree can be visualized using various tree forms, as well as patrilineal lineages traced back to the mid‐1970s. Social group evolution charts are generated and add new features to the original records. Reproduction patterns are studied in the context of group interaction and animal transfer logs. Cross‐referencing between genealogy and osteology data can also be accomplished. Most of these charts are supported in the CSViewer app with convenient tooltip features to show details as needed. Selection based on attributes like founder line, sex, and birth season can be applied to tailor charts to a research project so that researchers can zoom into a data set that can best support their analytics goals. 

ABSTRACT The Cayo Santiago rhesus colony and its derived skeletal collections provide abundant data made available since its founding in 1938. A project supported by an NSF collaborative grant has been committed to building a database that integrates the genetic and age‐related information of the colony, together with social group interactions and environmental effects, aiming to provide a knowledge model to researchers with insights from this powerful non‐human data repository for analyzing human conditions including growth, development, adaption, resilience, aging, and disease in a contextualized manner. This paper introduces CSViewer for Analysts, a computer application that provides user‐friendly tools for researchers to access the integrated database and to generate a variety of visuals encompassing matrilineal or patrilineal family lines, social groups, time spans, phenotypic measurements, and photos recently collected through this project. Adopting Java‐based technologies and third‐party libraries for data analytics and visualization, CSViewer can help its users select meaningful datasets using various criteria, conduct data analytics and visualization tasks, and manage their “project artifacts” (such as selected datasets, models, and charts, etc.). Version 1.0 of the CSViewer app has been tested by collaborators and in a workshop by a limited number of researchers and science educators since 2023. Based on users' feedback, additional features have been implemented in version 1.1.0, and more features are planned for subsequent subversions with bundles for researchers to download and explore. 

ABSTRACT The Cayo Santiago rhesus macaque colony is a renowned primate population that has experienced significant natural and anthropogenic ecological variation in their 85‐year history. Demographic and familial information is also tracked and collated for the majority of monkeys. Thus, the health history of rhesus macaques at Cayo Santiago should reflect the impacts of both environmental and genetic factors. In this study, we utilized a sample of skeletal remains comprised of 2787 individuals (1571 females, 1091 males), born between 1938 and 2017 from the derived skeletal collection of the primate colony to assess variation in survivorship, pathology, bone mineral density (BMD), and dental eruption status, in the context of hurricane impacts, nutritional fluctuations, and matriline genealogy. Results demonstrated that rhesus macaques at Cayo Santiago exhibit a range of skeletal pathologies that encompass biomedical and archaeological significance, multiple etiologies, severities, locations, and types, in addition to a secular trend of declining BMD that is hypothesized to reflect decreasing physical activity levels under increasing population densities. Specifically, hurricane impacts were found to increase the rate of systemic disease, decrease BMD in young adults, and delay eruption of the primary dentition. Certain matrilines exhibited heightened levels of systemic disease at early ages while others exhibited greater rates of congenital disease. Early‐life adversity, through the experience of major hurricanes, may enhance inflammatory pathways, heightening the risk of disease and accelerating the aging process leading to reduced BMD. Such impacts may underly greater levels of observed infection post‐hurricane through intensification of pathogen transmission and disease rates brought on by hurricane‐adaptive social strategies that favor closer proximity. Familial susceptibility to disease indicates heritable host genetic factors are likely influencing disease patterning in the population. A cluster of congenital diseases may most convincingly illustrate this, or alternatively reflects low levels of genetic diversity in the population. 

Yersinia pestis, the bacterium responsible for at least three pandemics in the past, is still a threat to modern populations. The bacterium has potential to evolve rapidly and persists in natural animal reservoirs around the globe. Epidemic diseases such as plague can dramatically alter and shape human demography, biology, and socio-cultural practices. Through the synthesis of biomolecular analyses with bioarchaeological data, researchers have begun to uncover the effects of past epidemics on modern populations and are also searching for the origins of the Y. pestis bacterium. Understanding the origins, behaviors, and consequences of diseases with epidemic potential in the past can contribute to ongoing discourse in public health, social policy, economy, and biology, as well as inspire positive changes in living populations. We review here recent literature on Y. pestis ecology and evidence of the bacteria’s evolution in prehistory before discussing ongoing research at the Hamin Neolithic settlement site that is suspected to have collapsed from an epidemic disease.