An explicit signature of balancing selection for color vision variation in New World Monkeys

Color vision is an important characteristic of primates and, intriguingly, Neotropical monkeys are highly polymorphic for this trait. Recent field studies have challenged the conventional view that trichromatic color vision is more adaptive than dichromatic color vision. No study has investigated the pattern of genetic variation in the long to middle wavelength–sensitive (L-M or red–green) opsin gene as compared with that of other genomic regions (neutral references) in wild populations of New World monkeys to look for the signature of natural selection. Here, we report such a study conducted on spider monkeys and capuchin monkeys inhabiting Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica. The nucleotide sequence of the L-M opsin gene was more polymorphic than the sequences of the neutral references, although the opsin-gene sequences were not more divergent between the two species than were the sequences of the neutral references. In a coalescence simulation that took into account the observed nucleotide diversity of the neutral references, the Tajima\u27s D value of the L-M opsin gene deviated significantly in a positive direction from the expected range. These results are the first to statistically demonstrate balancing selection acting on the polymorphic L-M opsin gene of New World monkeys. Taking the results of behavioral and genetic studies together, the balancing selection we detected may indicate that coexistence of different color-vision types in the same population, also characteristic of humans, is adaptive

Genotypes

Genotypes of Cebus capuchin imitator at Santa Rosa, Costa Rica (20 STR

Inbreeding avoidance and female mate choice shape reproductive skew in capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus imitator) [dataset]

Japan Society for Promotion of ScienceNSERC Discovery GrantYesThe Canada Research Chairs Program LSB Leakey Foundation Tulane University’s Department of Anthropology The Stone Center for Latin American Studies Newcomb Institute The Research Enhancement Fund at Tulane Universit

Infant Survival

Survival of infant Cebus capuchinus imitator to one year of age and predictor variables (number of males and male relatedness

Female Reproduction

Annual reproduction of female Cebus capuchinus imitator and predictor variables (number of males and male relatedness

An explicit signature of balancing selection for color-vision variation in new world monkeys. Mol Biol Evol 27

Abstract Color vision is an important characteristic of primates and, intriguingly, Neotropical monkeys are highly polymorphic for this trait. Recent field studies have challenged the conventional view that trichromatic color vision is more adaptive than dichromatic color vision. No study has investigated the pattern of genetic variation in the long to middle wavelengthsensitive (L-M or red-green) opsin gene as compared with that of other genomic regions (neutral references) in wild populations of New World monkeys to look for the signature of natural selection. Here, we report such a study conducted on spider monkeys and capuchin monkeys inhabiting Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica. The nucleotide sequence of the L-M opsin gene was more polymorphic than the sequences of the neutral references, although the opsin-gene sequences were not more divergent between the two species than were the sequences of the neutral references. In a coalescence simulation that took into account the observed nucleotide diversity of the neutral references, the Tajima's D value of the L-M opsin gene deviated significantly in a positive direction from the expected range. These results are the first to statistically demonstrate balancing selection acting on the polymorphic L-M opsin gene of New World monkeys. Taking the results of behavioral and genetic studies together, the balancing selection we detected may indicate that coexistence of different color-vision types in the same population, also characteristic of humans, is adaptive

An explicit signature of balancing selection for color-vision variation in new world monkeys. Mol Biol Evol 27

Abstract Color vision is an important characteristic of primates and, intriguingly, Neotropical monkeys are highly polymorphic for this trait. Recent field studies have challenged the conventional view that trichromatic color vision is more adaptive than dichromatic color vision. No study has investigated the pattern of genetic variation in the long to middle wavelengthsensitive (L-M or red-green) opsin gene as compared with that of other genomic regions (neutral references) in wild populations of New World monkeys to look for the signature of natural selection. Here, we report such a study conducted on spider monkeys and capuchin monkeys inhabiting Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica. The nucleotide sequence of the L-M opsin gene was more polymorphic than the sequences of the neutral references, although the opsin-gene sequences were not more divergent between the two species than were the sequences of the neutral references. In a coalescence simulation that took into account the observed nucleotide diversity of the neutral references, the Tajima's D value of the L-M opsin gene deviated significantly in a positive direction from the expected range. These results are the first to statistically demonstrate balancing selection acting on the polymorphic L-M opsin gene of New World monkeys. Taking the results of behavioral and genetic studies together, the balancing selection we detected may indicate that coexistence of different color-vision types in the same population, also characteristic of humans, is adaptive

Data from: Inbreeding avoidance and female mate choice shape reproductive skew in capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus imitator)

Reproductive skew in multimale groups may be determined by the need for alpha males to offer reproductive opportunities as staying incentives to subordinate males (concessions), by the relative fighting ability of the alpha male (tug-of-war) or by how easily females can be monopolized (priority-of-access). These models have rarely been investigated in species with exceptionally long male tenures, such as white-faced capuchins, where female mate choice for novel unrelated males may be important in shaping reproductive skew. We investigated reproductive skew in white-faced capuchins at Sector Santa Rosa, Costa Rica, using 20 years of demographic, behavioural and genetic data. Infant survival and alpha male reproductive success were highest in small multimale groups, which suggests that the presence of subordinate males can be beneficial to the alpha male, in line with the concession model's assumptions. None of the skew models predicted the observed degree of reproductive sharing, and the probability of an alpha male producing offspring was not affected by his relatedness to subordinate males, whether he resided with older subordinate males, whether he was prime aged, the number of males or females in the group or the number of infants conceived within the same month. Instead, the alpha male's probability of producing offspring decreased when he was the sire of the mother, was weak and lacked a well-established position and had a longer tenure. Because our data best supported the inbreeding avoidance hypothesis and female choice for strong novel mates, these hypotheses should be taken into account in future skew models