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Life (Basel, Switzerland) Feb 2021Trichuriasis is among the most prevalent worldwide parasitism caused by helminths. For many years, spp. have been described with a relatively narrow range of both...
Trichuriasis is among the most prevalent worldwide parasitism caused by helminths. For many years, spp. have been described with a relatively narrow range of both morphological and biometrical features. The use of the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) is an alternative and powerful molecular method for inferring phylogenies. Here, we present an overview of the contributions of mitogenome for spp. from human and non-human primates. In addition, we carry out structural and phylogenetic comparative analyses with genomes of species available in public datasets. The complete mt genomes of and sp. from and from are 14,091 bp, 14,047 bp and 14,089 bp in length, respectively. The three mt genomes are circular and consist of 37 genes-13 PCGs (1-3, 1-6, 4L, 6, 8 and b), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), and two rRNAs (L and S). The molecular evidence presented here supports the hypothesis that de (TMF31) and de (TPM1) were similar but genetically different with respect to sp. from macaques (TMM5). The phylogenetic study also supported the evolution of the different species. In conclusion, we suggest the existence of two cryptic species parasitizing .
PubMed: 33562044
DOI: 10.3390/life11020126 -
Cognitive Science Apr 2022Chunking mechanisms are central to several cognitive processes and notably to the acquisition of visuo-motor sequences. Individuals segment sequences into chunks of...
Chunking mechanisms are central to several cognitive processes and notably to the acquisition of visuo-motor sequences. Individuals segment sequences into chunks of items to perform visuo-motor tasks more fluidly, rapidly, and accurately. However, the exact dynamics of chunking processes in the case of extended practice remain unclear. Using an operant conditioning device, 18 Guinea baboons (Papio papio) produced a fixed sequence of nine movements during 1000 trials by pointing to a moving target on a touch screen. Response times analyses revealed a specific chunking pattern of the sequence for each baboon. More importantly, we found that these patterns evolved during the course of the experiment, with chunks becoming progressively fewer and longer. We identified two chunk reorganization mechanisms: the recombination of preexisting chunks and the concatenation of two distinct chunks into a single one. These results provide new evidence on chunking mechanisms in sequence learning and challenge current models of associative and statistical learning.
Topics: Humans; Learning; Memory; Reaction Time
PubMed: 35411975
DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13124 -
General and Comparative Endocrinology Feb 2021Hair cortisol concentrations (HCCs) are measures of long-term hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) activity and can be used as indicators of chronic stress....
Hair cortisol concentrations (HCCs) are measures of long-term hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) activity and can be used as indicators of chronic stress. However, intrinsic factors such as an animal's age and sex can also have an impact on resulting HCCs. Although baboons are commonly studied in captivity, little is known about baseline HCC in this population. Here we measured HCC in two same-sex groups of captive olive (Papio hamadryas anubis) baboons and olive/yellow baboon (Papio hamadryas cynocephalus) crosses housed in large outdoor corrals, and we assessed the impact of age and sex on HCC as major variables of interest. Hair was gently shaved from the back of the neck when the animals were sedated for routine physicals. Subjects were divided into three age categories: juvenile (2-4 years), adult (9-12 years), and senior (13-19 years). The "senior" category contained only males. Results confirm an effect of sex and age on HCCs. Females had higher levels of hair cortisol than males, and juveniles had higher levels than adults. There was also a significant sex × age interaction. There were no sex differences in HCCs in juveniles, but there was a greater decline in HCCs in adult males than in adult females. Within males, there was a significant difference in levels of hair cortisol across the three age categories. Juveniles had higher levels than did adults and seniors, but adults and seniors were not significantly different from one another. These results provide baseline measures of hair cortisol in captive baboons and demonstrate effects of sex and age on HCCs.
Topics: Animals; Child, Preschool; Female; Hair; Humans; Hydrocortisone; Male; Papio; Sex Characteristics
PubMed: 33301757
DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2020.113692 -
Journal of Human Evolution Aug 2020Papio originated in the early Pleistocene and diverged into multiple species, six of which are extant. Among parapatric Papio species, there are obvious phenotypic... (Review)
Review
Papio originated in the early Pleistocene and diverged into multiple species, six of which are extant. Among parapatric Papio species, there are obvious phenotypic differences that arose during the radiation of the genus. We use data from modern baboon ecology and morphology, as well as fossils and paleoecology, to examine baboon biogeography, divergence, and evolution, focusing on skull form and body mass. To provide context, techniques of historical biogeography, combining data from modern distributions in statistical models alongside qualitative assessments of the fossil record, were used to estimate ancestral ranges in papionins. The ancestral range of Papio was estimated to be in South Tropical Africa rather than in the far south of the continent, followed by multiple movements south and west. Progress to the north and east may have been slowed because of high-density blocking of niches by other monkeys. Geometric morphometric data were used in partial least squares analysis with dietary, environmental, and other variables to investigate skull differentiation. Environment was significantly correlated with skull form, but diet emerged as more significant. Exploitation of subterranean foods was found to be an important influence on skull morphology. Bayesian modeling of cercopithecid body mass data allowed reconstruction of ancestral body mass and showed a pattern of accelerating body mass evolution in a number of lineages. This appears to be related to exploitation of terrestrial niches in the Pliocene, with terrestriality also implicated in the large geographic distributions of many fossil and modern papionins, including Papio. Given the greater heterogeneity of body masses in males, size differentiation within Papio seems most likely to be linked to sexual selection rather than environmental factors, although further work is required to examine the relative importance of plasticity versus local adaptation in shaping baboon phenotypic variation.
Topics: Animal Migration; Animals; Biological Evolution; Body Size; Female; Fossils; Male; Papio; Phylogeography; Skull; South Africa
PubMed: 32619882
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102799 -
Animals : An Open Access Journal From... Sep 2022Prolactin (PRL) is a hormone expressed in lactotrophs cells of the pituitary gland in primates. Extra pituitary expression of PRL has been reported, including the eye;...
UNLABELLED
Prolactin (PRL) is a hormone expressed in lactotrophs cells of the pituitary gland in primates. Extra pituitary expression of PRL has been reported, including the eye; however, expression in the developing eye of primates is limited. The aim of the study was determining the expression of and receptor () (mRNAs and proteins) in adult and fetal baboon () ocular tissues.
METHODS
We analyzed PRL and PRLR in baboon eyes tissues by immunofluorescence. The mRNAs of and were detected by RT-PCR, cDNA was cloned, and sequenced. Furthermore, we performed a phylogenetic analysis to identify the evolutionary forces that underlie the divergence of and primate genes.
RESULTS
We observed the expression of PRL and PRLR (mRNAs and proteins) in all retinal cell lineages of fetal and adult baboon. and fit the hypothesis of evolutionary purifying gene selection.
CONCLUSIONS
mRNA and protein of PRL and PRLR are expressed in fetal and adult baboon retinal tissue. PRL may trigger autocrine and paracrine-specific actions in retinal cell lines.
PubMed: 36078009
DOI: 10.3390/ani12172288 -
Scientific Reports Apr 2021Female primates signal impending ovulation with a suite of sexual signals. Studies of these signals have focussed on visual, and to a lesser extent, acoustic signals,...
Female primates signal impending ovulation with a suite of sexual signals. Studies of these signals have focussed on visual, and to a lesser extent, acoustic signals, neglecting olfactory signals. We aimed to investigate the information content of female olfactory signals in captive olive baboons (Papio anubis) and relate these to the female fertile period. We studied eight adult females living in four groups at the CNRS Station de Primatologie, Rousset-sur-Arc, France. We used vaginal cytology to detect ovulation. We investigated the volatile component of odour signals using solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. We found a total of 74 volatile compounds, of which we tentatively identified 25, including several ketones, alcohols, aldehydes, terpenes, volatile fatty acids and hydrocarbons that have been identified in odour profiles of other primates. Our results show that vaginal odour intensity differs with sexual cycle stage suggesting that odour might play a role in signalling female baboon fertility. We found differences in vaginal odour between females living in all-female and in mixed sex groups but we could not distinguish the effects of group composition, female age and identity. This study of olfactory signalling improves our understanding of how female primates advertise their sexual receptivity.
Topics: Animals; Female; Fertility; Odorants; Olfactory Perception; Ovulation; Papio anubis; Sexual Behavior, Animal; Vagina; Volatile Organic Compounds
PubMed: 33875713
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-87893-6 -
Nature Ecology & Evolution Jul 2022
Topics: Animals; Microbiota; Papio; Social Behavior
PubMed: 35654894
DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01769-0 -
Cognitive Science Apr 2022The extraction of cooccurrences between two events, A and B, is a central learning mechanism shared by all species capable of associative learning. Formally, the...
The extraction of cooccurrences between two events, A and B, is a central learning mechanism shared by all species capable of associative learning. Formally, the cooccurrence of events A and B appearing in a sequence is measured by the transitional probability (TP) between these events, and it corresponds to the probability of the second stimulus given the first (i.e., p(B|A)). In the present study, nonhuman primates (Guinea baboons, Papio papio) were exposed to a serial version of the XOR (i.e., exclusive-OR), in which they had to process sequences of three stimuli: A, B, and C. In this manipulation, first-order TPs (i.e., AB and BC) were uninformative due to their transitional probabilities being equal to .5 (i.e., p(B|A) = p(C|B) = .5), while second-order TPs were fully predictive of the upcoming stimulus (i.e., p(C|AB) = 1). In Experiment 1, we found that baboons were able to learn second-order TPs, while no learning occurred on first-order TPs. In Experiment 2, this pattern of results was replicated, and a final test ruled out an alternative interpretation in terms of proximity to the reward. These results indicate that a nonhuman primate species can learn a nonlinearly separable problem such as the XOR. They also provide fine-grained empirical data to test models of statistical learning on the interaction between the learning of different orders of TPs. Recent bioinspired models of associative learning are also introduced as promising alternatives to the modeling of statistical learning mechanisms.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Learning; Papio papio; Probability; Reward
PubMed: 35363923
DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13121 -
American Journal of Biological... Mar 2022To assess manifestations of metabolic bone disease (MBD) and their potential environmental and phenotypic factors in captive and non-captive baboon (Papio spp.)...
OBJECTIVES
To assess manifestations of metabolic bone disease (MBD) and their potential environmental and phenotypic factors in captive and non-captive baboon (Papio spp.) specimens.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Our sample consisted of 160 baboon specimens at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History accessioned from 1890 to 1971. Combining cranial indicators of MBD and the museum's historical data, we examined factors contributing to likely instances of MBD. We used binomial-family generalized linear models to assess differences in MBD frequency by environment (captive, non-captive), specimen accession year, and skin color (light, medium, dark).
RESULTS
Indicators of MBD were most frequently observed in captive baboons, with a decrease in MBD frequency over time. Fifteen non-captive individuals showed indicators of MBD, which are the first published cases of MBD in non-captive nonhuman primates (NHPs) to our knowledge. The most common MBD indicators were bone porosity (n = 35) and bone thickening/enlargement (n = 35). Fibrous osteodystrophy was observed frequently in our sample, likely relating to nutritional deficiencies. We found no association between exposed facial skin color variation and MBD.
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings are consistent with historical accounts of MBD prevalence in captive facilities, especially earlier in the 20th century. A decrease in MBD prevalence later in the 20th century likely reflects improvements in housing, diet, and veterinary care in captive settings. Causes of MBD development in non-captive baboons should be further explored, as understanding the potential health impacts that anthropogenic environments impose on NHPs is imperative as humans increasingly alter the natural world in the 21st century.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Papio; Museums; Bone Diseases, Metabolic
PubMed: 36787760
DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24450 -
Journal of Infection and Public Health 2019Rabies is a fatal viral disease that continues to threaten human and animal health in endemic countries. Rabies is endemic in animals in the Arabian Peninsula. Although...
BACKGROUND
Rabies is a fatal viral disease that continues to threaten human and animal health in endemic countries. Rabies is endemic in animals in the Arabian Peninsula. Although Saudi Arabia is the largest country on the Peninsula, little has been reported in the country about rabies situation.
METHODS
A total of 199 animals suspected of rabies from 2010 to 2017, were examined for rabies infection using the Direct Fluorescent Antibody Test (DFAT).
RESULTS
There were 158 (79.4%) positive cases of rabies of the examined animals, Most positive cases were found in Al-Qassim (63), Eastern region (48), Riyadh (25) and Al-Madina (10). Rabies was diagnosed in Procavia capensis and monkeys (Papio hamadryas hamadryas) in Saudi Arabia for the first time. In addition, infected livestock, especially camels, sheep and goat that pose a risk to veterinarians and farmers which increases the risk of potential zoonosis of rabies in Saudi Arabia.
CONCLUSION
These findings indicate that Rabies in Saudi Arabia remain a public health problem and dogs and camels are the main reservoir and continue to present health risks for both human and animals throughout the country, underscoring the importance of applying rabies control measures to animals and humans.
Topics: Animals; Camelus; Disease Reservoirs; Dogs; Endemic Diseases; Goats; Humans; Livestock; Papio; Public Health; Rabies; Saudi Arabia; Sheep; Zoonoses
PubMed: 31079702
DOI: 10.1016/j.jiph.2018.10.005