Phenotypic plasticity in the mandibular morphology of Japanese macaques: captive–wild comparison

Despite the accumulating evidence suggesting the importance of phenotypic plasticity in diversification and adaptation, little is known about plastic variation in primate skulls. The present study evaluated the plastic variation of the mandible in Japanese macaques by comparing wild and captive specimens. The results showed that captive individuals are square-jawed with relatively longer tooth rows than wild individuals. We also found that this shape change resembles the sexual dimorphism, indicating that the mandibles of captive individuals are to some extent masculinized. By contrast, the mandible morphology was not clearly explained by ecogeographical factors. These findings suggest the possibility that perturbations in the social environment in captivity and resulting changes of androgenic hormones may have influenced the development of mandible shape. As the high plasticity of social properties is well known in wild primates, social environment may cause the inter- and intra-population diversity of skull morphology, even in the wild. The captive–wild morphological difference detected in this study, however, can also be possibly formed by other untested sources of variation (e.g. inter-population genetic variation), and therefore this hypothesis should be validated further

Genetic Identification of Critically Endangered Orangutans in Captivity

A large numerals of the orangutans’ genetic status in captivity is unknown to its exact, thus complicates the translocation process to their true natural habitat. A study was carried out to identify 37 captive orangutans in Peninsular Malaysia at the species and subspecies level using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) displacement loop (D-loop) region DNA sequences. Orangutan genetic samples were provided by the Bukit Merah Orang Utan Island (BMOUI), Zoo Negara, Zoo Taiping and the A’ Famosa. Total genomic DNA was extracted from both fecal and blood samples. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed using specific primers for the orang utan. Data analyses were carried out using distance and character based approaches, namely the neighbor joining (NJ), maximum parsimony (MP), and Bayesian techniques. About 8 individuals were identified as Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus, 20 as P. p. morio, 5 as P. p. wurmbii, and 4 as P. abelii. All samples were successfully identified with high probabilities. The results obtained in this study contributes to improve the understanding of captive orangutans’ genetic identification, and indirectly, a guide to the authorities in developing plans for the management in captivity and conservation of primates in Malaysia using molecular dat

main_TI_RSOS_2018

main R cod

coordinates_of_landmarks

the raw data of coordinates of landmarks in csv forma

Data from: Phenotypic plasticity in the mandibular morphology of Japanese macaques: captive–wild comparison

Despite the accumulating evidence suggesting the importance of phenotypic plasticity in diversification and adaptation, little is known about plastic variation in primate skulls. The present study evaluated the plastic variation of the mandible in Japanese macaques by comparing wild and captive specimens. The results showed that captive individuals are square-jawed with relatively longer tooth rows than wild individuals. We also found that this shape change resembles the sexual dimorphism, indicating that the mandibles of captive individuals are to some extent masculinized. In contrast, the mandible morphology was not clearly explained by ecogeographical factors. These findings suggest the possibility that perturbations in the social environment in captivity and resulting changes of androgenic hormones may have influenced the development of mandible shape. As the high plasticity of social properties is well known in wild primates, social environment may cause the inter- and intra-population diversity of skull morphology, even in the wild. The captive–wild morphological difference detected in this study, however, can also be possibly formed by other untested sources of variation (e.g., inter-population genetic variation), and therefore this hypothesis should be validated further

data_TI_RSOS_2018

the data including ID, sex, population, prefecture, environment, generation, age (age class), latitude, longitude, island, captivity, age_y (age in years), generatio

reference_shape

the reference mesh and landmarks data (PRI_2584) used for visualizatio

results

the implementation result

Data from: Phenotypic plasticity in the mandibular morphology of Japanese macaques: captive–wild comparison

Despite the accumulating evidence suggesting the importance of phenotypic plasticity in diversification and adaptation, little is known about plastic variation in primate skulls. The present study evaluated the plastic variation of the mandible in Japanese macaques by comparing wild and captive specimens. The results showed that captive individuals are square-jawed with relatively longer tooth rows than wild individuals. We also found that this shape change resembles the sexual dimorphism, indicating that the mandibles of captive individuals are to some extent masculinized. In contrast, the mandible morphology was not clearly explained by ecogeographical factors. These findings suggest the possibility that perturbations in the social environment in captivity and resulting changes of androgenic hormones may have influenced the development of mandible shape. As the high plasticity of social properties is well known in wild primates, social environment may cause the inter- and intra-population diversity of skull morphology, even in the wild. The captive–wild morphological difference detected in this study, however, can also be possibly formed by other untested sources of variation (e.g., inter-population genetic variation), and therefore this hypothesis should be validated further