Publications by authors named "John D Berard"
Article Synopsis
- Genetic studies enhance our understanding of behavior and health variations, providing models for human traits, and primate research is particularly valuable due to their close evolutionary links to humans.
- The free-ranging rhesus macaque population on Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico, offers an exceptional opportunity for genetic research, with over 40 years of continuous study since 1956, including paternity testing and analysis of genetic markers.
- Recent research on the CS macaques has expanded to include functional genetics, behavioral studies, and potential applications for understanding human health issues, while future directions involve advanced techniques like SNP typing and whole genome sequencing.
Article Synopsis
- Before 1985, tetanus was a major cause of death (25% of annual deaths) in a colony of rhesus monkeys on Cayo Santiago; a vaccination program was initiated to combat this.
- The program involved administering primary and booster doses of tetanus toxoid, reducing mortality by 42.2% and eliminating clinical tetanus cases, except in unimmunized infants.
- A study in 2004 showed that 93.3% of monkeys from the original vaccination cohort had protective antibodies, indicating that two doses provided long-term protection against tetanus infections.
In many mammalian species, male reproductive success appears to climb sharply at young adulthood, form a brief plateau during prime ages, and decline among older animals, a pattern often attributed to reduced physical condition with ageing. However, solid evidence to either substantiate or refute this profile among nonhuman primates is lacking. Here, we combine a decade of genetic analysis of paternity among free-ranging rhesus macaques, Macaca mulatta, with information about body condition in order to evaluate how changes in morphology might govern age-specific reproduction among males.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRhesus macaque females regularly copulate with a number of partners, and produce a single offspring per reproductive cycle in over 99% of cases. We used genotyping of 10 STR markers to determine paternity in the Cayo Santiago population of rhesus macaques. About 1,500 monkeys have been analyzed to date, with their marker genotypes entered into a computerized database.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTetanus was a major cause of mortality in the free-ranging population of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) on Cayo Santiago. From 1977 to 1984 the mean (±1 SD) annual total mortality rate (excluding neonatal deaths within 48 h postpartum, abortions, and stillbirths) was 6.39% ± .
View Article and Find Full Text PDF