| intraspecific and interspecific investigations of skeletal dna methylation and femur morphology in primates. | epigenetic mechanisms influence the development and maintenance of complex phenotypes and may also contribute to the evolution of species-specific phenotypes. with respect to skeletal traits, little is known about the gene regulation underlying these hard tissues or how tissue-specific patterns are associated with bone morphology or vary among species. to begin exploring these topics, this study evaluates one epigenetic mechanism, dna methylation, in skeletal tissues from five nonhuman primate s ... | 2020 | 32170728 |
| immunosuppressive effect and global dysregulation of blood transcriptome in response to psychosocial stress in vervet monkeys (chlorocebus sabaeus). | psychosocial stressors - life events that challenge social support and relationships - represent powerful risk factors for human disease; included amongst these events are relocation, isolation and displacement. to evaluate the impact of a controlled psychosocial stressor on physiology and underlying molecular pathways, we longitudinally studied the influence of a 28-day period of quarantine on biomarkers of immune signalling, microbial translocation, glycaemic health and blood transcriptome in ... | 2020 | 32103041 |
| l-serine reduces spinal cord pathology in a vervet model of preclinical als/mnd. | the early neuropathological features of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/motor neuron disease (als/mnd) are protein aggregates in motor neurons and microglial activation. similar pathology characterizes guamanian als/parkinsonism dementia complex, which may be triggered by the cyanotoxin β-n-methylamino-l-alanine (bmaa). we report here the occurrence of als/mnd-type pathological changes in vervets (chlorocebus sabaeus; n = 8) fed oral doses of a dry powder of bmaa hcl salt (210 mg/kg/day) for 140 d ... | 2020 | 32077471 |
| animal cognition in the field: performance of wild vervet monkeys (chlorocebus pygerythrus) on a reversal learning task. | increasingly, researchers are moving animal cognitive research into wild field settings. a field-based approach offers a valuable complement to laboratory-based studies, as it enables researchers to work with animals in their natural environments and indicates whether cognitive abilities found in captive subjects are generalizable to wild animals. it is thus important to field-based research to clarify which cognitive tasks can be replicated in wild settings, which species are suitable for testi ... | 2020 | 32026058 |
| open/close-ended vasectomy technique by single incision on vervet monkeys (chlorocebus pygerythrus). | vervet monkeys (chlorocebus pygerythrus), considered a species of "least concern" by the international union for conservation of nature (iucn), are widely maintained at primate sanctuaries in south africa. permanent surgical contraception is a necessary method for the management of this species in captivity. in this study, a new vasectomy technique was evaluated and involves a prescrotal approach with only one surgical incision, aiming to excise a piece of vas deferens, leaving open the testicul ... | 2020 | 32006125 |
| wild primates copy higher-ranked individuals in a social transmission experiment. | little is known about how multiple social learning strategies interact and how organisms integrate both individual and social information. here we combine, in a wild primate, an open diffusion experiment with a modeling approach: network-based diffusion analysis using a dynamic observation network. the vervet monkeys we study were not provided with a trained model; instead they had access to eight foraging boxes that could be opened in either of two ways. we report that individuals socially lear ... | 2020 | 31974385 |
| climate induced stress and mortality in vervet monkeys. | as the effects of global climate change become more apparent, animal species will become increasingly affected by extreme climate and its effect on the environment. there is a pressing need to understand animal physiological and behavioural responses to climatic stressors. we used the reactive scope model as a framework to investigate the influence of drought conditions on vervet monkey (chlorocebus pygerythrus) behaviour, physiological stress and survival across 2.5 years in south africa. data ... | 2019 | 31827846 |
| a new identification of the monkeys depicted in a bronze age wall painting from akrotiri, thera. | bronze age aegean (ca. 3500-1100 b.c.) wall paintings from the islands of crete and thera depict monkeys in a variety of roles such as running wild in nature, possibly following (trained) commands, and participating in sacred activities. these images, while stylistically aegean, are traditionally considered closely related to-and descendant from-egyptian, near eastern, and mesopotamian monkey imagery. while monkey depictions in the latter regions may provide species-specific characteristics, aeg ... | 2020 | 31808015 |
| correction to: effects of glucagon-like peptide 1 analogs on alcohol intake in alcohol-preferring vervet monkeys. | after publication of this paper, the authors determined an error in fig. 4. below is the correct fig. 4. | 2020 | 31768561 |
| alcohol-mediated behaviours and the gut-brain axis; with focus on glucagon-like peptide-1. | the neurochemical mechanisms that regulate development of alcohol use disorder (aud) are complex, and gut-brain peptides were recently pinpointed as novel modulators. gut-brain peptides, such as glucagon-like peptide-1 (glp-1), are well known for their ability to regulate food intake and appetite. glp-1 also controls glucose homeostasis, which lead to the approval of glp-1 receptor agonists for treatment of diabetes type ii. these pharmacotherapies, including exenatide/exendin-4(ex4) and liraglu ... | 2020 | 31759971 |
| keeping cool in the heat: behavioral thermoregulation and body temperature patterns in wild vervet monkeys. | climate change is having a significant impact on biodiversity and increasing attention is therefore being devoted to identifying the behavioral strategies that a species uses to cope with climatic stress. we explore how wild vervet monkeys (chlorocebus pygerythrus) respond to heat stress, and how behavioral adaptations are used to regulate body temperature. | 2020 | 31713853 |
| modeling variation in the growth of wild and captive juvenile vervet monkeys in relation to diet and resource availability. | to compare longitudinal weight gain in captive and wild juvenile vervet monkeys and conduct an empirical assessment of different mechanistic growth models. | 2020 | 31675103 |
| variations in the microbiome due to storage preservatives are not large enough to obscure variations due to factors such as host population, host species, body site, and captivity. | the study of the primate microbiome is critical in understanding the role of the microbial community in the host organism. to be able to isolate the main factors responsible for the differences observed in microbiomes within and between individuals, confounding factors due to technical variations need to be removed. to determine whether alterations due to preservatives outweigh differences due to factors such as host population, host species, body site, and habitat, we tested three methods (no p ... | 2019 | 31471974 |
| in vivo pet imaging of [11c]cimbi-5, a 5-ht2ar agonist radiotracer in nonhuman primates. | 5-ht2ar exists in high and low affinity states. agonist pet tracers measure binding to the active high affinity site and thus provide a functionally relevant measure of the receptor. limited in vivo data have been reported so far for a comparison of agonist versus antagonist tracers for 5-ht2ar used as a proof of principle for measurement of high and low affinity states of this receptor. we compared the in vivo binding of [11c]cimbi-5, a 5-ht2ar agonist, and of the antagonist [11c]m100907, in mo ... | 2019 | 31356761 |
| playing it safe? solitary vervet monkeys (chlorocebus pygerythrus) choose high-quality foods more than those in competition. | an important goal in foraging ecology is to determine how biotic and abiotic variables impact the foraging decisions of wild animals and how they move throughout their multidimensional landscape. however, the interaction of food quality and feeding competition on foraging decisions is largely unknown. here we examine the importance of food quality in a patch on the foraging decisions of wild vervet monkeys (chlorocebus pygerythrus) at lake nabugabo, uganda using a multidestination platform array ... | 2019 | 31192490 |
| brachyspira catarrhinii sp. nov., an anaerobic intestinal spirochaete isolated from vervet monkeys may have been misidentified as brachyspira aalborgi in previous studies. | to date nine species of anaerobic intestinal spirochaetes have been validly assigned to the genus brachyspira. these include both pathogenic and non-pathogenic species. in the current study a genomic analysis of a novel spirochaete isolate was undertaken to determine whether it is a distinct species that previously has been misidentified as brachyspira aalborgi. the genome of spirochaete strain z12 isolated from the faeces of a vervet monkey was sequenced and compared to the genomes of the type ... | 2019 | 31091470 |
| aspalathin-rich green rooibos extract lowers ldl-cholesterol and oxidative status in high-fat diet-induced diabetic vervet monkeys. | type 2 diabetic patients possess a two to four fold-increased risk for cardiovascular diseases (cvd). hyperglycemia, oxidative stress associated with endothelial dysfunction and dyslipidemia are regarded as pro-atherogenic mechanisms of cvd. in this study, high-fat diet-induced diabetic and non-diabetic vervet monkeys were treated with 90 mg/kg of aspalathin-rich green rooibos extract (afriplex grt) for 28 days, followed by a 1-month wash-out period. supplementation showed improvements in both t ... | 2019 | 31052590 |
| correlates of social role and conflict severity in wild vervet monkey agonistic screams. | screams are acoustically distinct, high-pitched and high-amplitude calls, produced by many social species. despite a wide range of production contexts, screams are characterised by an acoustic structure that appears to serve in altering the behaviour of targeted receivers during agonistic encounters. in chimpanzees, this can be achieved by callers producing acoustic variants that correlate with their identity, social role, relationship with the targeted recipient, the composition of the audience ... | 2019 | 31042731 |
| evaluation of tuberculin skin test (tst) in vervet monkeys (chlorocebus pygerythrus) using experimentally tuberculin sensitized animals. | nowadays, several test methods with different useful values are available for diagnosis of the tuberculosis (tb) in non-human primates (nhps). despite some limitations of tuberculin skin test (tst), it is still the most commonly used method for tb testing of nhps. | 2019 | 31012123 |
| primates are living links to our past: the contribution of comparative studies with wild vervet monkeys to the field of social cognition. | by studying the behavior of nonhuman primates, particularly in wild settings, researchers have been able to investigate a range of cognitive abilities, shedding light on the evolution of certain aspects of cognition and revealing potential evolutionary precursors of many capacities considered uniquely human. vervet monkeys (chlorocebus pygerythrus) have been widely investigated due to their prevalence and their suitability for experimental testing in the wild with an ecologically valid approach ... | 2019 | 30987738 |
| social attention biases in juvenile wild vervet monkeys: implications for socialisation and social learning processes. | the concept of directed social learning predicts that social learning opportunities for an individual will depend on social dynamics, context and demonstrator identity. however, few empirical studies have examined social attention biases in animal groups. sex-based and kinship-based biases in social learning and social attention towards females have been shown in a despotic and female philopatric primate: the vervet monkey (chlorocebus pygerythrus). the present study examined social attention du ... | 2019 | 30941537 |
| subcutaneous thermal sensor microchip validation in vervet monkeys (chlorocebus pygerythrus) during normothermic and hypothermic situations. | internal temperature data are essential for clinical evaluation in veterinary medicine. during the last decade, new thermometry devices have been developed. identification microchips with a temperature sensor offer double utility to clinicians by satisfying animal identification regulations and providing a non-invasive method for temperature measurement. | 2019 | 30680729 |
| testing for anticipation of partners' reciprocity and other social parameters: an experimental approach in wild vervet monkeys (chlorocebus pygerythrus). | it has been suggested that social challenges in group-living species in which individuals maintain long-term relationships select for advanced cognitive processes. a key challenge for testing this hypothesis is to design experiments that allow the assessment of animals' knowledge of conspecifics and how they use that information to their own advantage. here, we present data on wild vervets using an experimental paradigm that induced a competitive context. after training females to obtain food fr ... | 2018 | 30451530 |
| effects of glucagon-like peptide 1 analogs on alcohol intake in alcohol-preferring vervet monkeys. | preclinical studies in rodents have demonstrated inhibitory effects of glucagon-like peptide-1 (glp-1) receptor stimulation on alcohol consumption. the effects of glp-1 receptor stimulation on alcohol intake in primates have not been investigated. | 2019 | 30382353 |
| publisher correction: ancient hybridization and strong adaptation to viruses across african vervet monkey populations. | in the version of this article published, in the online methods eight citations to supplementary material refer to the wrong supplementary items. see the correction notice for full details. | 2018 | 30327573 |
| assessment of male reproductive skew via highly polymorphic str markers in wild vervet monkeys, chlorocebus pygerythrus. | male reproductive strategies have been well studied in primate species where the ability of males to monopolize reproductive access is high. less is known about species where males cannot monopolize mating access. vervet monkeys (chlorocebus pygerythrus) are interesting in this regard as female codominance reduces the potential for male monopolization. under this condition, we assessed whether male dominance rank still influences male mating and reproductive success, by assigning paternities to ... | 2018 | 30272235 |
| payoff- and sex-biased social learning interact in a wild primate population. | social learning in animals is now well documented, but few studies have determined the contexts shaping when social learning is deployed. theoretical studies predict copying of conspecifics gaining higher payoffs [1-4], a bias demonstrated in primates only in captivity [5]. in the wild, research has shown selective attention toward the philopatric sex, a group's stable core [6]. here, we report the first rigorous experimental test of the existence of a payoff bias in wild primates and its intera ... | 2018 | 30174189 |
| using parasitic load to measure the effect of anthropogenic disturbance on vervet monkeys. | vervet monkeys, chlorocebus pygerythrus, thrive in urban areas of kwazulu-natal, south africa, and present a suitable model to assess parasitic load as a measure of anthropogenic disturbance, such as urbanization. we collected vervet monkey faecal samples from four study sites representing a gradient of land use and urbanization. we assessed faecal parasites using the faecal flotation method calculating eggs per gram and parasite richness. overall, the more urban vervet monkey populations had a ... | 2018 | 30091030 |
| retinal structure and function in monkeys with fetal alcohol exposure. | exposure to ethanol in utero leads to several brain development disorders including retinal abnormalities whose underlying cellular pathogenesis remains elusive. we recently reported that fetal alcohol exposure (fae) in vervet monkeys induces anomalies of full-field electroretinogram (erg) waveforms that suggest premature aging of the retina. the goal of this study is to characterize the anatomo-functional mechanisms underlying the retinal changes observed in fetal alcohol exposed (fae) monkeys, ... | 2018 | 30071214 |
| altered microrna expression during impaired glucose tolerance and high-fat diet feeding. | micrornas (mirnas) play a critical role in metabolic regulation. recently, we identified novel mirnas in the whole blood of south african women of mixed ethnic ancestry. the aim of this study was to investigate whether five of these novel mirnas are expressed in serum and whether their expression is altered during metabolic dysregulation. | 2019 | 29890545 |
| adaptive genetic variation at three loci in south african vervet monkeys (chlorocebus pygerythrus) and the role of selection within primates. | vervet monkeys (chlorocebus pygerythrus) are one of the most widely distributed non-human primate species found in south africa. they occur across all the south african provinces, inhabiting a large variety of habitats. these habitats vary sufficiently that it can be assumed that various factors such as pathogen diversity could influence populations in different ways. in turn, these factors could lead to varied levels of selection at specific fitness linked loci. the toll-like receptor (tlr) gen ... | 2018 | 29888138 |
| expression and localization of cb1r, nape-pld, and faah in the vervet monkey nucleus accumbens. | extensive rodent literature suggests that the endocannabinoid (ecb) system present in the nucleus accumbens (nac) modulates dopamine (da) release in this area. however, expression patterns of the cannabinoid receptor type 1 (cb1r), the synthesizing enzyme n-acyl phosphatidylethanolamine phospholipase d (nape-pld), and the degradation enzyme fatty acid amide hydrolase (faah) in the nac have not yet been described in non-human primates. the goal of this study is therefore to characterize the expre ... | 2018 | 29875385 |
| male monkeys use punishment and coercion to de-escalate costly intergroup fights. | in numerous social species, males direct aggression towards female group members during intergroup fights, and this behaviour is commonly thought to function as mate guarding, even though males often target non-receptive females. in studying intergroup fights in a wild population of vervet monkeys, we found that male intragroup aggression was primarily directed towards individuals who had either just finished exhibiting, or were currently attempting to instigate intergroup aggression. targeted f ... | 2018 | 29875293 |
| desynchronization of slow oscillations in the basal ganglia during natural sleep. | slow oscillations of neuronal activity alternating between firing and silence are a hallmark of slow-wave sleep (sws). these oscillations reflect the default activity present in all mammalian species, and are ubiquitous to anesthesia, brain slice preparations, and neuronal cultures. in all these cases, neuronal firing is highly synchronous within local circuits, suggesting that oscillation-synchronization coupling may be a governing principle of sleep physiology regardless of anatomical connecti ... | 2018 | 29666271 |
| network integration and limits to social inheritance in vervet monkeys. | social networks can be adaptive for members and a recent model (ilany and akçay 2016 nat. comm.7, 12084 (doi:10.1038/ncomms12084)) has demonstrated that network structure can be maintained by a simple process of social inheritance. here, we ask how juvenile vervet monkeys integrate into their adult grooming networks, using the model to test whether observed grooming patterns replicate network structure. female juveniles, who are philopatric, increased their grooming effort towards adults more th ... | 2018 | 29643208 |
| morphological variation in the genus chlorocebus: ecogeographic and anthropogenically mediated variation in body mass, postcranial morphology, and growth. | direct comparative work in morphology and growth on widely dispersed wild primate taxa is rarely accomplished, yet critical to understanding ecogeographic variation, plastic local variation in response to human impacts, and variation in patterns of growth and sexual dimorphism. we investigated population variation in morphology and growth in response to geographic variables (i.e., latitude, altitude), climatic variables (i.e., temperature and rainfall), and human impacts in the vervet monkey (ch ... | 2018 | 29577231 |
| female vervet monkeys fine-tune decisions on tolerance versus conflict in a communication network. | group living promotes opportunities for both cooperation and competition. selection on the ability to cope with such opposing social opportunities has been proposed as a driving force in the evolution of large brains in primates and other social species. however, we still know little about the degree of complexity involved in such social strategies. here, we report advanced social strategies in wild vervet monkeys. building on recent experimental evidence that subordinate females trade grooming ... | 2017 | 29142114 |
| proteomics in non-human primates: utilizing rna-seq data to improve protein identification by mass spectrometry in vervet monkeys. | shotgun proteomics utilizes a database search strategy to compare detected mass spectra to a library of theoretical spectra derived from reference genome information. as such, the robustness of proteomics results is contingent upon the completeness and accuracy of the gene annotation in the reference genome. for animal models of disease where genomic annotation is incomplete, such as non-human primates, proteogenomic methods can improve the detection of proteins by incorporating transcriptional ... | 2017 | 29132314 |
| age-related epigenetic changes in hippocampal subregions of four animal models of alzheimer's disease. | both aging and alzheimer's disease (ad) are associated with widespread epigenetic changes, with most evidence suggesting global hypomethylation in ad. it is, however, unclear how these age-related epigenetic changes are linked to molecular aberrations as expressed in animal models of ad. here, we investigated age-related changes of epigenetic markers of dna methylation and hydroxymethylation in a range of animal models of ad, and their correlations with amyloid plaque load. three transgenic mous ... | 2018 | 29113959 |
| genetic variation and gene expression across multiple tissues and developmental stages in a nonhuman primate. | by analyzing multitissue gene expression and genome-wide genetic variation data in samples from a vervet monkey pedigree, we generated a transcriptome resource and produced the first catalog of expression quantitative trait loci (eqtls) in a nonhuman primate model. this catalog contains more genome-wide significant eqtls per sample than comparable human resources and identifies sex- and age-related expression patterns. findings include a master regulatory locus that likely has a role in immune f ... | 2017 | 29083405 |
| the effects of temporary removal of the alpha male on the behavior of subordinate male vervet monkeys. | the effects of temporary removal of the alpha male on the behavior of subordinate adult male vervet monkeys were evaluated. twelve subordinate males from six captive multimale, multifemale vervet monkey groups were observed in two conditions: when all group members were present and when the alpha male was temporarily removed from each group. in the absence of the alpha male, subordinate males initiated more affiliative behavior and increased the amount of time spent in proximity to females but t ... | 1992 | 31948162 |
| angular displacement patterns of leading and trailing limb joints during galloping in monkeys. | the movement patterns of the joints of the right hind limbs and forelimbs of four vervet and one squirrel monkey were compared during right- and left-lead gallops. although the overall displacement patterns were similar under both conditions, comparisons of the inflection points in the curves yielded consistent differences in the joints at various phases in the cycle. some of these differences appear to reflect differing mechanical conditions, whereas others seem to represent variation in muscle ... | 1990 | 31952421 |
| early development of locomotor behavior in vervet monkeys. | the locomotor development of three vervet infants across approximately the first 2 months of life is described. fairly normal-looking walking movements (as compared to adults) were seen in all the animals by approximately 1 month of age and galloping was observed by 2 months. early locomotor footfall patterns were often aberrant and bounding-type gaits were sometimes exhibited. most of the symmetrical gaits observed were classifiable as lateral sequence. across the 2-month period the animals sho ... | 1989 | 31968855 |
| serological evidence of filovirus infection in nonhuman primates in zambia. | ebolaviruses and marburgviruses are filoviruses that are known to cause severe hemorrhagic fever in humans and nonhuman primates (nhps). while some bat species are suspected to be natural reservoirs of these filoviruses, wild nhps often act as intermediate hosts for viral transmission to humans. using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, we screened two nhp species, wild baboons and vervet monkeys captured in zambia, for their serum igg antibodies specific to the envelope glycoproteins of filov ... | 2021 | 34209295 |
| markers of viral hepatitis e (hepeviridae, orthohepevirus, orthohepevirus a) in the imported old world monkeys. | viral hepatitis e is a zooanthroponotic disease that occurs in humans and various animals, including monkeys. it is caused by hepatitis e virus (hev) (hepeviridae, orthohepevirus: orthohepevirus a), for which 8 genotypes have been described to date. among them, strains of genotypes 1 and 2 have been isolated from humans, strains of genotypes 3 and 4 from humans and animals, and strains of genotypes 5-8 from animals only. the main threat of the disease is associated with the documented zoonotic t ... | 2021 | 34251155 |
| discovery of lanama virus, a distinct member of species kunsagivirus c (picornavirales: picornaviridae), in wild vervet monkeys (chlorocebus pygerythrus). | we report the discovery and sequence-based molecular characterization of a novel virus, lanama virus (lnmv), in blood samples obtained from two wild vervet monkeys (chlorocebus pygerythrus), sampled near lake nabugabo, masaka district, uganda. sequencing of the complete viral genomes and subsequent phylogenetic analysis identified lnmv as a distinct member of species kunsagivirus c, in the undercharacterized picornavirid genus kunsagivirus. | 2020 | 33327396 |