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Genome Biology and Evolution Jun 2017The genus of Papio (baboon) has six recognized species separated into Northern and Southern clades, each comprised of three species distributed across the African...
The genus of Papio (baboon) has six recognized species separated into Northern and Southern clades, each comprised of three species distributed across the African continent. Geographic origin and phenotypic variants such as coat color and body size have commonly been used to identify different species. The existence of multiple hybrid zones, both ancient and current, have complicated efforts to characterize the phylogeny of Papio baboons. More recently, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome genetic markers have been utilized for species identification with particular focus on the hybrid zones. Alu elements accumulate in a random manner and are a novel source of identical by descent variation with known ancestral states for inferring population genetic and phylogenetic relationships. As part of the Baboon Genome Analysis Consortium, we assembled an Alu insertion polymorphism database of nearly 500 Papio-lineage specific insertions representing all six species and performed population structure and phylogenetic analyses. In this study, we have selected a subset of 48 species indicative Alu insertions and demonstrate their utility as genetic systems for the identification of baboon species within Papio. Individual elements from the panel are easy to genotype and can be used in a hierarchical fashion based on the original level of uncertainty. This Alu-48 panel should serve as a valuable tool during the maintenance of pedigree records in captive populations and assist in the forensic identification of fossils and potential hybrids in the wild.
Topics: Alu Elements; Animals; DNA, Mitochondrial; Female; Gene Frequency; Genetic Variation; Genotype; Male; Papio; Pedigree; Sexual Behavior, Animal
PubMed: 28854642
DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evx130 -
Scientific Reports Jan 2018The Old World non-human primates (NHP) - baboons (Papio spp.) share similarities with humans regarding fetal and placental development and some pregnancy-related...
The Old World non-human primates (NHP) - baboons (Papio spp.) share similarities with humans regarding fetal and placental development and some pregnancy-related complications. Information about the mechanism of birth and complications arising during parturition in these species is relatively sparse. In this manuscript, we add information from a series of pathological and observational cases to highlight insights and selected complications of birth in Papio spp, based on video-recording of the delivery process, X-ray, MRI, and ultrasound evaluations in pregnant baboons. Additionally, we abstracted pathology records obtained from perinatal loss in a large baboon colony during a 17 year period. The presented cases provide important information for the management of pregnancy and delivery in Papio spp.
Topics: Animals; Female; Gestational Age; Labor, Obstetric; Male; Papio; Parturition; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications
PubMed: 29352119
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-19221-4 -
Molecular Biology and Evolution Mar 2019Changes in gene regulation have long been thought to play an important role in primate evolution. However, although a number of studies have compared genome-wide gene...
Changes in gene regulation have long been thought to play an important role in primate evolution. However, although a number of studies have compared genome-wide gene expression patterns across primate species, fewer have investigated the gene regulatory mechanisms that underlie such patterns, or the relative contribution of drift versus selection. Here, we profiled genome-scale DNA methylation levels in blood samples from five of the six extant species of the baboon genus Papio (4-14 individuals per species). This radiation presents the opportunity to investigate DNA methylation divergence at both shallow and deeper timescales (0.380-1.4 My). In contrast to studies in human populations, but similar to studies in great apes, DNA methylation profiles clearly mirror genetic and geographic structure. Divergence in DNA methylation proceeds fastest in unannotated regions of the genome and slowest in regions of the genome that are likely more constrained at the sequence level (e.g., gene exons). Both heuristic approaches and Ornstein-Uhlenbeck models suggest that DNA methylation levels at a small set of sites have been affected by positive selection, and that this class is enriched in functionally relevant contexts, including promoters, enhancers, and CpG islands. Our results thus indicate that the rate and distribution of DNA methylation changes across the genome largely mirror genetic structure. However, at some CpG sites, DNA methylation levels themselves may have been a target of positive selection, pointing to loci that could be important in connecting sequence variation to fitness-related traits.
Topics: Animals; DNA Methylation; Evolution, Molecular; Papio; Phylogeography
PubMed: 30521003
DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msy227 -
American Journal of Physical... Mar 2021Incomplete and/or biased sampling either on a taxonomic or geographic level can lead to delusive phylogenetic and phylogeographic inferences. However, a complete...
OBJECTIVES
Incomplete and/or biased sampling either on a taxonomic or geographic level can lead to delusive phylogenetic and phylogeographic inferences. However, a complete taxonomic and geographical sampling is often and for various reasons impossible, particularly for widespread taxa such as baboons (Papio spp.). Previous studies on baboon phylogeography identified several sampling gaps, some of which we fill by investigating additional material including samples from museum specimens.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We generated 10 new mitochondrial genomes either via conventional PCR and subsequent Sanger sequencing from two blood samples or via high-throughput shotgun sequencing from degraded DNA extracted from eight museum specimens. Phylogenetic relationships and divergence times among baboon lineages were determined using maximum-likelihood and Bayesian inferences.
RESULTS
We identified new mitochondrial lineages in baboons from Central Africa (Chad, the Central African Republic), from the Mahale, and the Udzungwa Mountains (Tanzania), with the latter likely representing a case of mitochondrial capture from sympatric kipunjis (Rungwecebus kipunji). We also found that the mitochondrial clades of olive baboons found in Ivory Coast and Tanzania extend into Niger and the Democratic Republic of Congo, respectively. Moreover, an olive baboon from Sierra Leone carries a mitochondrial haplotype usually found in Guinea baboons, suggesting gene flow between these two species.
DISCUSSION
The extension of the geographic sampling by including samples from areas difficult to visit or from populations that are most likely extirpated has improved the geographic and temporal resolution of the mitochondrial phylogeny of baboons considerably. Our study also shows the great value of museum material for genetic analyses even when DNA is highly degraded.
Topics: Africa South of the Sahara; Animals; Female; Genome, Mitochondrial; Haplotypes; Male; Papio; Phylogeography
PubMed: 33244782
DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24186 -
Open Veterinary Journal 2022Primates can harbor parasites that could be pathogenic or not for humans and primates themselves. It is necessary to know the parasitological situation of the primates...
BACKGROUND
Primates can harbor parasites that could be pathogenic or not for humans and primates themselves. It is necessary to know the parasitological situation of the primates that are under surveillance in the park.
AIM
To estimate the prevalence and diversity of gastrointestinal parasites, including zoonotic potential parasites, in baboons in the Niokolo-Koba National Park located in Senegal.
METHOD
Fecal samples ( = 50) from two groups of baboons (A and B) were collected in October 2019. The samples were processed using the flotation technique and the modified Ritchie method. Slides were examined microscopically and the parasite identification was based on morphology, color, and parasite content.
RESULTS
A total of seven nematodes ( sp., sp., sp., sp., , Strongyle digestif), one cestode ( sp.), and one trematode ( sp.) were identified. The overall prevalence was 78%, while the prevalence of poly-infected samples was 49%. The parasite with zoonotic potential, , was identified in group B samples. sp., which is common and pathogenic to humans and primates, was present with prevalence of 52% and of 32% in groups A and B, respectively.
CONCLUSION
These results suggest that baboons are infested with zoonotic parasites and this situation could expose people working in this park to infection. Contact between humans and these baboons or their feces could expose them to infection with zoonotic parasites.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic; Papio; Papio papio; Parasites; Parks, Recreational; Senegal
PubMed: 36118726
DOI: 10.5455/OVJ.2022.v12.i4.9 -
Scientific Reports Nov 2022Can non-human animals combine abstract representations much like humans do with language? In particular, can they entertain a compositional representation such as 'not...
Can non-human animals combine abstract representations much like humans do with language? In particular, can they entertain a compositional representation such as 'not blue'? Across two experiments, we demonstrate that baboons (Papio papio) show a capacity for compositionality. Experiment 1 showed that baboons can entertain negative, compositional, representations: they can learn to associate a cue with iconically related referents (e.g., a blue patch referring to all blue objects), but also to the complement set associated with it (e.g., a blue patch referring to all non-blue objects). Strikingly, Experiment 2 showed that baboons not only learn to associate a cue with iconically related referents, but can learn to associate complex cues (composed of the same cue and an additional visual element) with the complement object set. Thus, they can learn an operation, instantiated by this additional visual element, that can be compositionally combined with previously learned cues. These results significantly reduce any claim that would make the manipulation and combination of abstract representations a solely human privilege.
Topics: Animals; Papio papio; Papio; Cues; Learning; Language
PubMed: 36357450
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-21143-1 -
American Journal of Primatology Jul 2022Categorization of vocal sounds apart from other sounds is one of the key abilities in human voice processing, but whether this ability is present in other animals,...
Categorization of vocal sounds apart from other sounds is one of the key abilities in human voice processing, but whether this ability is present in other animals, particularly nonhuman primates, remains unclear. In the present study, 25 socially housed Guinea baboons (Papio papio) were tested on a vocal/nonvocal categorization task using Go/Nogo paradigm implemented on freely accessible automated learning devices. Three individuals from the group successfully learned to sort Grunt vocalizations from nonvocal sounds, and they generalized to new stimuli from the two categories, indicating that some baboons have the ability to develop open-ended categories in the auditory domain. Contrary to our hypothesis based on the human literature, these monkeys learned the nonvocal category faster than the Grunt category. Moreover, they failed to generalize their classification to new classes of conspecific vocalizations (wahoo, bark, yak, and copulation calls), and they categorized human vocalizations in the nonvocal category, suggesting that they had failed to represent the task as a vocal versus nonvocal categorization problem. Thus, our results do not confirm the existence of a separate perceptual category for conspecific vocalizations in baboons. Interestingly, the three successful baboons are the youngest of the group, with less training in visual tasks, which supports previous reports of age and learning history as crucial factors in auditory laboratory experiments.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Learning; Papio; Papio papio
PubMed: 35521711
DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23387 -
A missing piece of the Papio puzzle: Gorongosa baboon phenostructure and intrageneric relationships.Journal of Human Evolution May 2019Most authors recognize six baboon species: hamadryas (Papio hamadryas), Guinea (Papio papio), olive (Papio anubis), yellow (Papio cynocephalus), chacma (Papio ursinus),...
Most authors recognize six baboon species: hamadryas (Papio hamadryas), Guinea (Papio papio), olive (Papio anubis), yellow (Papio cynocephalus), chacma (Papio ursinus), and Kinda (Papio kindae). However, there is still debate regarding the taxonomic status, phylogenetic relationships, and the amount of gene flow occurring between species. Here, we present ongoing research on baboon morphological diversity in Gorongosa National Park (GNP), located in central Mozambique, south of the Zambezi River, at the southern end of the East African Rift System. The park exhibits outstanding ecological diversity and hosts more than 200 baboon troops. Gorongosa National Park baboons have previously been classified as chacma baboons (P. ursinus). In accordance with this, two mtDNA samples from the park have been placed in the same mtDNA clade as the northern chacma baboons. However, GNP baboons exhibit morphological features common in yellow baboons (e.g., yellow fur color), suggesting that parapatric gene flow between chacma and yellow baboons might have occurred in the past or could be ongoing. We investigated the phenostructure of the Gorongosa baboons using two approaches: 1) description of external phenotypic features, such as coloration and body size, and 2) 3D geometric morphometric analysis of 43 craniofacial landmarks on 11 specimens from Gorongosa compared to a pan-African sample of 352 baboons. The results show that Gorongosa baboons exhibit a mosaic of features shared with southern P. cynocephalus and P. ursinus griseipes. The GNP baboon phenotype fits within a geographic clinal pattern of replacing allotaxa. We put forward the hypothesis of either past and/or ongoing hybridization between the gray-footed chacma and southern yellow baboons in Gorongosa or an isolation-by-distance scenario in which the GNP baboons are geographically and morphologically intermediate. These two scenarios are not mutually exclusive. We highlight the potential of baboons as a useful model to understand speciation and hybridization in early human evolution.
Topics: Animals; Face; Female; Gene Flow; Male; Mozambique; Papio cynocephalus; Papio ursinus; Phenotype; Phylogeny; Skull
PubMed: 31010537
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.01.007 -
Behavior Research Methods Oct 2021Dominance hierarchies are an important aspect of Primate social life, and there is an increasing need to develop new systems to collect social information automatically....
Dominance hierarchies are an important aspect of Primate social life, and there is an increasing need to develop new systems to collect social information automatically. The main goal of this research was to explore the possibility to infer the dominance hierarchy of a group of Guinea baboons (Papio papio) from the analysis of their spontaneous interactions with freely accessible automated learning devices for monkeys (ALDM, Fagot & Bonté Behavior Research Methods, 42, 507-516, 2010). Experiment 1 compared the dominance hierarchy obtained from conventional observations of agonistic behaviours to the one inferred from the analysis of automatically recorded supplanting behaviours within the ALDM workstations. The comparison, applied to three different datasets, shows that the dominance hierarchies obtained with the two methods are highly congruent (all rs ≥ 0.75). Experiment 2 investigated the experimental potential of inferring dominance hierarchy from ALDM testing. ALDM data previously published in Goujon and Fagot (Behavioural Brain Research, 247, 101-109, 2013) were re-analysed for that purpose. Results indicate that supplanting events within the workstations lead to a transient improvement of cognitive performance for the baboon supplanting its partners and that this improvement depends on the difference in rank between the two baboons. This study therefore opens new perspectives for cognitive studies conducted in a social context.
Topics: Animals; Learning; Papio; Papio papio; Primates; Social Dominance
PubMed: 33687699
DOI: 10.3758/s13428-021-01539-z -
American Journal of Biological... Apr 2022Although extant nonhuman primates are not habitual bipeds, they are able to walk bipedally from an early age. In humans, children improve their walking skills through...
OBJECTIVE
Although extant nonhuman primates are not habitual bipeds, they are able to walk bipedally from an early age. In humans, children improve their walking skills through developmental processes and learning experience. In nonhuman primates, infants do not routinely experience bipedalism and their musculoskeletal system gradually specializes for other locomotor modes. The aim of this study is to explore the development of occasional bipedal walking in olive baboon and to test whether the postural adjustments change with age.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We collected kinematics and spatiotemporal parameters of bipedal gait in an ontogenetic sample of 24 baboons. Data were collected at the primatology station of the CNRS (France) and a total of 47 bipedal strides were extracted for the present analysis.
RESULTS
Adults and adolescents walk bipedally in the same way, and the average kinematic pattern is similar across the age-classes. Infants walk bipedally with longer duty factor, they present larger movement amplitude of the thigh and the amplitude of the knee joint decreases with speed. In contrast, older baboons increase the amplitude of the knee and ankle joints with speed.
DISCUSSION
In a non-adapted biped, the postural adjustments of bipedal walking vary with age. In infant baboons, the balance requirements are likely to be higher and these are solved by adopting a "blocking strategy". In older baboons, the postural adjustments are focused on the lower limb and the movements increase with speed. These results may echo, in some respects, the developmental sequence of the intersegmental coordination described in the ontogeny of human locomotion.
Topics: Animals; Child; Humans; Adolescent; Aged; Papio anubis; Biomechanical Phenomena; Walking; Locomotion; Papio
PubMed: 36787778
DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24454