Publications by authors named "K Zuberbuehler"
Mechanisms of inheritance remain poorly defined for many fitness-mediating traits, especially in long-lived animals with protracted development. Using 6,123 urinary samples from 170 wild chimpanzees, we examined the contributions of genetics, non-genetic maternal effects, and shared community effects on variation in cortisol levels, an established predictor of survival in long-lived primates. Despite evidence for consistent individual variation in cortisol levels across years, between-group effects were more influential and made an overwhelming contribution to variation in this trait.
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- This study provides the first comprehensive catalog of chimpanzee genetic diversity using non-invasive samples collected from 48 sites in Africa, focusing on chromosome 21.
- The research reveals clear genetic differences among the four recognized chimpanzee subspecies and indicates unexpected local genetic exchanges, while also mapping patterns of population isolation, migration, and connectivity.
- Unlike humans, chimpanzees lack a history of long-distance migrations, which may affect their cultural transmission, and the study introduces a precise geolocation method for identifying the origins of confiscated chimpanzees.
Article Synopsis
- Chimpanzees show diverse behaviors and inhabit various environments, but they are considered a discontinuous species with four subspecies separated by historical geography.
- Genetic studies reveal that most of their genetic structure is influenced by distance rather than strict subspecies boundaries, indicating some geographic barriers were not effective in preventing gene flow.
- Ongoing human impacts and habitat fragmentation threaten their genetic diversity, suggesting urgent conservation efforts are needed to maintain healthy populations.
Objectives: We investigated occurrences and patterns of terrestrial nocturnal activity in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and modelled the influence of various ecological predictors on nocturnal activity.
Methods: Data were extracted from terrestrial camera-trap footage and ecological surveys from 22 chimpanzee study sites participating in the Pan African Programme: The Cultured Chimpanzee. We described videos demonstrating nocturnal activity, and we tested the effects of the percentage of forest, abundance of predators (lions, leopards and hyenas), abundance of large mammals (buffalos and elephants), average daily temperature, rainfall, human activity, and percent illumination on the probability of nocturnal activity.
The study of the archaeological remains of fossil hominins must rely on reconstructions to elucidate the behaviour that may have resulted in particular stone tools and their accumulation. Comparatively, stone tool use among living primates has illuminated behaviours that are also amenable to archaeological examination, permitting direct observations of the behaviour leading to artefacts and their assemblages to be incorporated. Here, we describe newly discovered stone tool-use behaviour and stone accumulation sites in wild chimpanzees reminiscent of human cairns.
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