Primate
Dotaz
Zobrazit nápovědu
Macmillan series in physical anthropology
XII, 322 s. : il. ; 24 cm
The aspects of facial attractiveness have been widely studied, especially within the context of evolutionary psychology, which proposes that aesthetic judgements of human faces are shaped by biologically based standards of beauty reflecting the mate quality. However, the faces of primates, who are very similar to us yet still considered non-human, remain neglected. In this paper, we aimed to study the facial attractiveness of non-human primates as judged by human respondents. We asked 286 Czech respondents to score photos of 107 primate species according to their perceived "beauty." Then, we analyzed factors affecting the scores including morphology, colors, and human-likeness. We found that the three main primate groups were each scored using different cues. The proportions of inner facial features and distinctiveness are cues widely reported to affect human facial attractiveness. Interestingly, we found that these factors also affected the attractiveness scores of primate faces, but only within the Catarrhines, i.e., the primate group most similar to humans. Within this group, human-likeness positively affected the attractiveness scores, and facial extremities such as a prolonged nose or exaggerated cheeks were considered the least attractive. On the contrary, the least human-like prosimians were scored as the most attractive group. The results are discussed in the context of the "uncanny valley," the widely discussed empirical rule.
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
Some birds achieve primate-like levels of cognition, even though their brains tend to be much smaller in absolute size. This poses a fundamental problem in comparative and computational neuroscience, because small brains are expected to have a lower information-processing capacity. Using the isotropic fractionator to determine numbers of neurons in specific brain regions, here we show that the brains of parrots and songbirds contain on average twice as many neurons as primate brains of the same mass, indicating that avian brains have higher neuron packing densities than mammalian brains. Additionally, corvids and parrots have much higher proportions of brain neurons located in the pallial telencephalon compared with primates or other mammals and birds. Thus, large-brained parrots and corvids have forebrain neuron counts equal to or greater than primates with much larger brains. We suggest that the large numbers of neurons concentrated in high densities in the telencephalon substantially contribute to the neural basis of avian intelligence.
- MeSH
- mozek cytologie MeSH
- neurony * MeSH
- počet buněk MeSH
- primáti MeSH
- ptáci * MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
The close phylogenetic relationship between humans and nonhuman primates (NHPs) can result in a high potential for pathogen exchange. In recent decades, NHP and human interactions have become more frequent due to increasing habitat encroachment and ecotourism. Strongylid communities, which include members of several genera, are typically found in NHPs. Using optimized high-throughput sequencing for strain-level identification of primate strongylids, we studied the structure of strongylid communities in NHPs and humans co-habiting a tropical forest ecosystem in the Central African Republic. General taxonomic assignment of 85 ITS-2 haplotypes indicated that the studied primates harbour at least nine genera of strongylid nematodes, with Oesophagostomum and Necator being the most prevalent. We detected both host-specific and shared strongylid haplotypes. Skin-penetrating Necator gorillaehaplotypes were shared between humans and gorillas but Necator americanus were much more restricted to humans. Strongylid communities of local hunter-gatherers employed as trackers were more similar to those of gorillas compared to their relatives, who spent more time in villages. This was due to lower abundance of human-origin N. americanus in both gorillas and trackers. Habituated gorillas or those under habituation did not show larger overlap of strongylids with humans compared to unhabituated. We concluded that the occurrence of the human-specific strongylids in gorillas does not increase with direct contact between gorillas and humans due to the habituation. Overall, our results indicate that the degree of habitat sharing between hosts, together with mode of parasite transmission, are important factors for parasite spillover among primates.
- MeSH
- ekosystém MeSH
- fylogeneze MeSH
- genetická variace genetika MeSH
- Gorilla gorilla genetika MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- Necator genetika MeSH
- Oesophagostomum genetika MeSH
- primáti genetika MeSH
- sympatrie genetika MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
The isolated ecosystem of Rubondo Island National Park, Tanzania is an interesting model site, inhabited by an assembly of primate species with various histories: two introduced primate species, Pantroglodytes (chimpanzee) and Colobus guereza (colobus), and a single indigenous species Chlorocebus aethiops pygerythrus (vervet monkey). Apart from important lessons for future introduction/re-introduction projects, Rubondo National Park offers a unique place to study the patterns of transmission of primate parasites and their host specificity. Blastocystis was detected using standard microscopy, together with PCR-based determination and the prevalence and subtype identification of Blastocystis was determined in each primate species. Subtype (ST) 1 was detected in all three Rubondo primate populations; ST2, ST3 and ST5 were found in colobus and vervet monkeys. All chimpanzee isolates of Blastocystis belonged exclusively to ST1, which formed a discrete group, suggesting that Rubondo chimpanzees are colonized by a single, host-specific Blastocystis strain that circulates among the members of the group. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that transmission of Blastocystis did not occur between Rubondo primate populations. Observed host specificity of Blastocystis provides a new understanding of the transmission and distribution of Blastocystis among sympatric hosts under natural conditions.
- MeSH
- biodiverzita MeSH
- Blastocystis klasifikace genetika izolace a purifikace fyziologie MeSH
- blastocystóza parazitologie přenos veterinární MeSH
- feces parazitologie MeSH
- fylogeneze MeSH
- hostitelská specificita MeSH
- molekulární sekvence - údaje MeSH
- nemoci primátů parazitologie přenos MeSH
- primáti MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Tanzanie MeSH
