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Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons

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University of Massachusetts Amherst

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Primate

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

The Impacts Of Environment And Host Evolutionary Relationships On Lemur Microbiota, Rachel B. Burten Mar 2024

The Impacts Of Environment And Host Evolutionary Relationships On Lemur Microbiota, Rachel B. Burten

Doctoral Dissertations

Recent studies have shown that the mammal microbiome is modified by environmental conditions, and that reduced microbiome functionality is associated with host health issues. Microbiome data in wild and captive primate populations can therefore be used to assess their health as they encounter a variety of environments. Comparative studies of the microbiome can also inform disease ecology, conservation, and captive management strategies tailored to different primate species. Therefore, this study examines how the hair, oral, and gut microbiota of nine wild and captive lemur species are determined by host phylogenetic relationships and host environment. I found that host species identity …


De-Coding The Impact Of Evolved Changes In Gene Expression And Cellular Phenotype On Primate Evolution, Trisha Zintel Feb 2020

De-Coding The Impact Of Evolved Changes In Gene Expression And Cellular Phenotype On Primate Evolution, Trisha Zintel

Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of the dissertation work outlined here was to investigate the influence of proximal processes contributing to evolutionary differences in phenotypes among primate species. There are numerous previous comparative analyses of gene expression between primate brain regions. However, primate brain tissue samples are relatively rare, and my results have contributed to the pre-existing data on more well-studied primates (i.e. humans, chimpanzees, macaques, marmosets) as well as produced information on more rarely-studied primates (i.e. patas monkey, siamang, spider monkey). Additionally, the primary visual cortex has not previously been as extensively studied at the level of gene expression as other brain …