| 研究実績の概要 |
FY2017 saw continued collection of fecal samples from primates living along the Kinabatangan River in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. This was facilitated by recruiting a master’s student from the University of Malaysia Sabah, who spent two months in the field in February and March of 2018. To date, we have been able to collect over 770 fecal samples from the region, which we use for microscopic and molecular analysis of parasites. We also published a first paper from the project on the genetic diversity of a nematode parasite infecting all primates in the community, and another book chapter about parasites in endangered primates is now in press. Finally, our collaboration expanded to include other members of the Institute of Tropical Biology and Conservation and the Faculty of Medicine at UMS.
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| 現在までの達成度 (区分) |
現在までの達成度 (区分)
3: やや遅れている
理由
Three factors that have slowed down progress of this project. (1) a travel advisory was issued in 2016 for the region surrounding the field site (level 3; no non-essential travel). My graduate student thus had limited access to the field site. Second my teaching responsibilities increased significantly in FY2017, meaning I could not spend much time in the field myself. Third, the Malaysian government has tightened restrictions on sample exports, and the Sabah Biodiversity Centre, which overseas permissions, has been in a state of reconfiguration, so there has not been a committee meeting for export permissions in approximately 1 year now. We are compensating by conducting lab work with collaborators in Sabah, but progress is slower than predicted.
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