(Cercopithecus Ascanius), Blue Monkeys (C. Mitis), and Hybrids
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COAT COLOR VARIATION BETWEEN RED-TAILED MONKEYS (CERCOPITHECUS ASCANIUS), BLUE MONKEYS (C. MITIS), AND HYBRIDS (C. ASCANIUS x C. MITIS) IN GOMBE NATIONAL PARK, TANZANIA by Elizabeth Tapanes A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL May 2016 Copyright 2016 by Elizabeth Tapanes ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my advisor, Kate M. Detwiler, for her support, guidance, and faith. This thesis would not have been possible without her willingness and enthusiasm to invite me into the Gombe Hybrid Monkey Project. I would like to thank my committee members, Drs. Douglas Broadfield and Andrew Halloran, for allowing me to pursue quite an ambitious masters thesis. I thank Florida Atlantic University for funding that made this project possible: Seed Grant (DOR-FY14), Technology Fee Grant (B09-377), Graduate Research and Inquiry Program Grant (GRIP), and a Morrow Research Fellowship granted by the Department of Anthropology. I also thank Sigma Xi for a Grant-in-Aid of Research. I would like to thank the Gombe Stream Research Center, Tanzania National Parks Authority, Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, and Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology for giving me permission to conduct research in Gombe National Park, Tanzania. I thank Dr. Anthony Collins for his on the ground support, dedication, and enthusiasm for the project. My time in Gombe would not have been as memorable or successful without him. I thank Gombe Hybrid Monkey Project’s field assistants, Mary Nkoranigwa and Maneno Mpongo, for their help with my seemingly endless quest for great photos. I also thank Felix Angwella, for his help identifying and learning the female guenons of Mkenke Group A. Additionally, I thank Dr. Deuss Mjungu for his help with research logistics. iv To all my colleagues and friends who have sat through draft edits and color method brainstorms, I thank you profusely. Specifically, I thank Daniel Alempijevic for his push and insight into putting the phenotypic hybrid index (PHI) on a 0 to 1 scale. I would like to thank Amelia Villasenor and Dr. Robert O’Malley for their guidance on how to be a great field anthropologist. I also thank Amelia for her continual patience and help while I developed and tested methods for capturing color (which was not a fun process!). I extend a thank you to Andrew Bernard for accelerating my learning curve in regards to using a dSLR, proper photo data management, and taking great primate photographs. This was an integral part of the success of my thesis. Lastly, I thank Christian Rodriguez for the countless hours spent rehashing the properties of light and color with me. These conversations have been paramount to the evolution of my thoughts on capturing color in arboreal primates. Most importantly, I would like to thank my family for their never-ending support and love. I thank my mother, Yrelys Tapanes, for always pushing me to follow my dreams, and my father, Ramon Tapanes, for giving me the courage to do so. I thank my sisters, Yrelys Tapanes and Alexa Gonzalez, for being amazing sounding boards throughout my life and for not forgetting I existed while I was in Tanzania. I thank Jeffrey Gonzalez and Christina Martinez, who both adopted me as an extended family member more than 15 years ago and have been invested in my success since day one. This thesis would not have been possible without the incredible social network the six of them provide me with, and my words will forever be insufficient to express my deep gratitude. v ABSTRACT Author: Elizabeth Tapanes Title: Coat Color Variation Between Red-tailed Monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius), Blue Monkeys (C. mitis), and Hybrids (C. ascanius x C. mitis) in Gombe National Park, Tanzania Institution: Florida Atlantic University Thesis Advisor: Dr. Kate M. Detwiler Degree: Master of Arts Year: 2016 Cercopithecus monkeys are a species-rich radiation where interspecific mating leads to novel phenotypes due to pelage color and pattern diversity within the genus. The goals of this thesis were to (1) test a new method for studying color objectively in wild arboreal primates, and (2) apply a phenotypic hybrid index (PHI) to known individuals of a hybrid zone between C. ascanius and C. mitis in Gombe National Park, Tanzania through the use of digital photography. I scored seven pelage character states as 0 (C. mitis), 0.25 (mitis-like), 0.50 (intermediate), 0.75 (ascanius-like), or 1 (C. ascanius). Photos indicate most phenotypic hybrids express a white nose spot, but all other regions of pelage color and pattern are variable, and an assortment of hybrid phenotypes are seen at Gombe. Results indicate it is currently not possible to extend parameters for assessing color objectively with RGB values, but numerical non-RGB methods show promise. vi DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my parents, who left Cuba more than forty years ago so their children could have better lives, and who taught me through example that anything is possible with enough perseverance and hard work. I love you. COAT COLOR VARIATION BETWEEN RED-TAILED MONKEYS (CERCOPITHECUS ASCANIUS), BLUE MONKEYS (C. MITIS), AND HYBRIDS (C. ASCANIUS x C. MITIS) IN GOMBE NATIONAL PARK, TANZANIA TABLES ............................................................................................................................ X FIGURES ......................................................................................................................... XII INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER ONE: BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................ 4 Background .................................................................................................................... 4 African Cercopithecus Monkeys.................................................................................... 5 Hybridization within Cercopithecus Monkeys .............................................................. 7 Primate Coloration ......................................................................................................... 9 Study Site ..................................................................................................................... 12 Gombe National Park, Tanzania .......................................................................... 12 Research Questions ...................................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER TWO: METHODS ......................................................................................... 15 Developing and Testing an Extension to Established Color Methods ......................... 15 Equipment and settings ......................................................................................... 15 Method Description .............................................................................................. 16 viii Linearization and equalization ............................................................................. 17 Method validation ................................................................................................. 18 Generating a Phenotypic Hybrid Index ........................................................................ 19 Camera guidelines for color photography ............................................................ 19 Generating average phenotypic hybrid indices .................................................... 19 Analysis ................................................................................................................. 20 CHAPTER THREE: EXTENDED SEQUENTIAL METHOD ....................................... 24 Method Validation: Linearization and Equalization .................................................... 24 Accuracy and Precision ................................................................................................ 25 CHAPTER FOUR: PHENOTYPIC HYBRID INDEX OF C. MITIS DOGGETTI, C. ASCANIUS SCHMIDTI, AND HYBRIDS RESULTS ..................................................... 28 Quantitative Pelage Variation of Guenons in Mkenke Group A ................................. 28 Quantitative Pelage Variation of Guenons outside Mkenke Group A ......................... 34 Qualitative Pelage Variation of Guenons at Gombe .................................................... 37 C. mitis doggetti pelage coloration ....................................................................... 37 C. ascanius schmidti pelage color variation......................................................... 39 C. ascanius x C. mitis pelage coloration .............................................................. 41 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ....................................................... 46 Assessing Color Variation in Wild Arboreal Primates ................................................ 46 Hybrid Coloration within Gombe National Park ......................................................... 48 FURTHER THOUGHTS .................................................................................................. 51 APPENDICES………. ..................................................................................................... 53 A - IACUC Approval ................................................................................................... 54 ix REFERENCES……………. ...........................................................................................