LTREB Renewal: Life History and Behavior in a Primate Hybrid Zone

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

Hybridization (genetic mixing between two adjacent species) occurs in many animal and plant species, and is among the most important sources of new gene combinations and new traits in natural populations. Most studies describe hybridization at the population level, rather than describing how hybridization affects individuals. Understanding how hybridization affects individuals will reveal the processes that determine whether genes from one species permanently mix with those of another, or whether this mixing is limited to one or a few generations. Using a wild population of baboons in southern Kenya, this research will provide a detailed description of how hybridization affects individuals. As such, it will be an important model for similar processes in many other organisms, including ancestral humans (who are known to have hybridized with Neanderthals and, before that, with other members of the human lineage). The research involves an international team with substantial participation by women and underrepresented minorities. The team will also contribute teaching modules for middle schools and conduct numerous public outreach activities discussing baboon behavior. In the first five years of the LTREB project, the Principal Investigator measured the effects of hybridization on a suite of traits that could limit or enhance genetic introgression. The objective of this renewal is to expand this suite of traits, using methods or data that require the longer time horizon afforded by the LTREB mechanism. The specific aims are to (i) identify the sources of the admixture-by-sex interaction previously documented in the maturation schedules of wild baboons, (ii) measure the contribution of genetic admixture to social behaviors that predict male reproductive success, (iii) measure the contribution of genetic admixture to social behaviors that predict female reproductive performance, and (iv) measure the contribution of genetic admixture to social behaviors that predict female lifespan. The proposed work will produce an exceptionally detailed study of the effects of admixture on fitness-related traits in a naturally hybridizing mammal population, which in turn will help shape future hypotheses about mechanisms promoting or inhibiting genetic introgression during hybridization in other species. The data for this project will be stored on a web-accessible PostGreSQL database. A detailed description of the standards for data and metadata can be found in publicly available documents with links at the Amboseli Baboon Research Project website (https://amboselibaboons.nd.edu/ ). All datasets underlying published papers are deposited in the public Dryad Data Repository.