2015 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
| Project/Area Number |
15J01067
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| Research Institution | Kyoto University |
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Principal Investigator |
RIGAILL LUCIE 京都大学, 理学研究科, 特別研究員(DC2)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2015-04-24 – 2017-03-31
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| Keywords | Japanese macaques / sexual selection / secondary sexual traits / face color / olfactory signaling / male-male competition / ovulation |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
Last year I published 2 papers, one as first author, about the result of my first study on sexual signaling and pregnancy advertisement in Japanese macaques (PlosOne10(8): e0135127 and Revue de primatologie Varia(6)). I have presented this work at several international congresses and symposium (European Federation for Primatology, Italy; Societe; Francophone de Primatologie, France, Primate Society of Japan and Symposium on Wildlfie Science and Primatology, Japan).
I have write another paper as first author about the role of female face color as indicator of characteristics that will be submitted to Primates within a week. In this paper I show that female face color does not reflect female age, reproductive history or health conditions (parasite load); which suggests that females do not signal their "quality" to males.
I worked on the second part of my PhD and collected data / doing experiments during the all winter (October to late January) to investigate the role of female olfactory cues (urine) on male sexual behaviors. This experiment was made for the first time with Japanese macaques and was very successful. I found that female urine does not modulate male sexual behaviors, which suggest that males inspect female genitals for other cues such as odors from vaginal secretions or visual cues from previous copulation (sperm). I have wrote a paper about these results that will be submitted by the end of May.
I am still analyzing data to construct sexual network to understand on a individual level, how male inspection impact copulation behaviors.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
1: Research has progressed more than it was originally planned.
Reason
I was able to conduct my field study during the past winter, which was a great success. I collected 4 month of data, that are very promising for a better understanding of male mating strategies in primates.
Beside this work I have been able to published two papers that have been presented in international congresses and received good feedbacks.
I have also been quite productive and wrote two other papers that will be submitted by the end of May.
In overall we respected our research plan and the outcomes of it has been more than satisfying.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
During the first semester (April to September 2016) I will focus on finishing the analyses of the data about the role of female olfactory cues on male sexual behaviors. I will conduct lab work and statistical analyses while chemical analyses will be conducted in Italy in collaboration with Dr. J. Setchell (Durham University, UK). I will submit in total 3 papers: 1) face color and female caracteristics, 2) role of female urine on male sexual behaviors, 3) male olfactory inspection and sexual networks.
I will also focus my energy to write my PhD thesis.
During the second semester (October 2016 to March 2017) I will submit my PhD thesis -on the 2nd of November-, and defend it around January. I am planning to visit some field places in Japan (Yakushima, Kinkasan, Jigokudani) but also in Africa (DRCongo) to see if my studies can be replicated on other population of Japanese macaques but also great apes (Chimpanzees, Bonobos) in order to understand the evolution of sexual signaling among Primates.
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