41,634 research outputs found
Roary : rapid large-scale prokaryote pan genome analysis
No full textThis work was supported by the Wellcome Trust (grant WT 098051).A typical prokaryote population sequencing study can now consist of hundreds or thousands of isolates. Interrogating these datasets can provide detailed insights into the genetic structure of prokaryotic genomes. We introduce Roary, a tool that rapidly builds large-scale pan genomes, identifying the core and accessory genes. Roary makes construction of the pan genome of thousands of prokaryote samples possible on a standard desktop without compromising on the accuracy of results. Using a single CPU Roary can produce a pan genome consisting of 1000 isolates in 4.5 hours using 13 GB of RAM, with further speedups possible using multiple processors.Peer reviewe
Population status of Pan troglodytes verus in Lagoas de Cufada Natural Park, Guinea-Bissau
No full textThe western chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes verus, has been classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1988. Intensive agriculture, commercial plantations, logging, and mining have eliminated or degraded the habitats suitable for P. t. verus over a large part of its range. In this study we assessed the effect of land-use change on the population size and density of chimpanzees at Lagoas de Cufada Natural Park (LCNP), Guinea-Bissau. We further explored chimpanzee distribution in relation to landscape-level proxies of human disturbance. Nest count and distance-sampling methods were employed along 11 systematically placed linear transects in 2010 and 2011. Estimated nest decay rate was 293.9 days (%CV = 58.8). Based on this estimate of decay time and using the Standing-Crop Nest Count Method, we obtained a habitat-weighted average chimpanzee density estimate for 2011 of 0.22 nest building chimpanzees/km2 (95% CI 0.08–0.62), corresponding to 137 (95% CI 51.0–390.0) chimpanzees for LCNP. Human disturbance had a negative influence on chimpanzee distribution as nests were built farther away from human settlements, roads, and rivers than if they were randomly distributed, coinciding with the distribution of the remaining patches of dense canopy forest. We conclude that the continuous disappearance of suitable habitat (e.g. the replacement of LCNP's dense forests by monocultures of cashew plantations) may be compromising the future of one of the most threatened Guinean coastal chimpanzee populations. We discuss strategies to ensure long-term conservation in this important refuge for this chimpanzee subspecies at its westernmost margin of geographic distribution.Peer reviewe
Attention following and nonverbal referential communication in bonobos (Pan paniscus), chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus)
No full textA central issue in the study of primate communication is the extent to which individuals adjust their behaviour to the attention and signals of others, and manipulate others’ attention to communicate about external events. I investigated whether 13 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes spp.), 11 bonobos (Pan paniscus), and 7 orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus) followed conspecific attention and led others to distal locations. Individuals were presented with a novel stimulus, to test if they would lead a conspecific to detect it in two experimental conditions. In one the conspecific faced the communicator, while another required the communicator to first attract the attention of a conspecific. All species followed conspecific attention, but only bonobos in conditions that required geometric attention following and that the communicator first attract the conspecific‘s attention. There was a clear trend for the chimpanzees to selectively produce a stimulus directional ‘hunching’ posture when viewing the stimulus in the presence of a conspecific rather than alone (the comparison was statistically non-significant, but very closely approached significance [p = 0.056]), and the behaviour consistently led conspecifics to look towards the stimulus. An observational study showed that ‘hunching’ only occurred in the context of attention following. Some chimpanzees and bonobos consistently and selectively combined functionally different behaviours (consisting of sequential auditory-stimulus-directional-behaviours), when viewing the stimulus in the presence of a non-attentive conspecific, although at species level this did not yield significant effects. While the design did not eliminate the possibility of a social referencing motive (“look and help me decide how to respond”), the coupling of auditory cues followed by directional cues towards a novel object, is consistent with a declarative and social referential interpretation of non-verbal deixis. An exploratory study, which applied the ‘Social Attention Hypothesis’ (that individuals accord and receive attention as a function of dominance) to attention following, showed that chimpanzees were more likely to follow the attention of the dominant individual. Overall, the results suggest that the paucity of observed referential behaviours in apes may owe to the inconspicuousness and multi-faceted nature of the behaviours
Vocal communication in bonobos (Pan paniscus) : studies in the contexts of feeding and sex
No full textDespite having being discovered nearly 80 years ago, bonobos (Pan paniscus) are still one of the least well understood of the great apes, largely remaining in the shadow of their better known cousins, the chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). This is especially evident in the domain of communication, with bonobo vocal behaviour still a
neglected field of study, especially compared to that of chimpanzees. In this thesis, I address this issue by exploring the natural vocal communication of bonobos and its underlying cognition, focusing on the role that vocalisations play during two key contexts, food discovery and sex. In the context of food-discovery, I combine
observational and experimental techniques to examine whether bonobos produce and understand vocalisations that convey meaningful information about the quality of
food encountered by the caller. Results indicate that bonobos produce an array of vocalisations when finding food, and combine different food-associated calls together into sequences in a way that relates to perceived food quality. In a subsequent playback study, it was demonstrated that receivers are able to extract meaning about perceived food quality by attending to these calls and integrating information across call sequences. In the context of sexual interactions, I examine the acoustic structure of female copulation calls, as well as patterns in call usage, to explore how these signals are used by individuals. My results show that females emit copulation calls in similar ways with both male and female partners, suggesting that these signals have become partly divorced from a function in reproduction, to assume a greater social role. Overall, my results highlight the relevance of studying primate vocalisations to investigate the underlying cognition and suggest that vocalisations are important behavioural tools for bonobos to navigate their social and physical worlds
Taking Pan Back to the People a Success
No full textThousands of pan lovers gathered at panyards in the Woodbrook/St James area for the judging of the North Zone Panorama preliminaries. Pan Trinbago president Patrick Arnold admitted to being shocked by the overwhelming response to the experiment to take pan back to the people via the panyards. He described the turnout as unbelievable and said Pan Trinbago would be sticking with the new system
Intra-sexual competition and vocal counter-strategies in wild female chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii)
No full textA growing body of behavioural data is beginning to show that, like their male counterparts,
female chimpanzees can be competitive and aggressive, particularly when resources come
under pressure. These observations are especially surprising because, for a long time, females
were simply considered passive pawns of male social manoeuvrings. While we are beginning
to understand the complexities surrounding female chimpanzee group living, exactly how
females manage these social pressures is unclear. In this thesis I address this by focusing on
female competition in wild chimpanzees and the importance of vocal counter-strategies.
I examined two commonly produced female vocalisations: copulation calls and victim
screams from chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in the Budongo Forest, Uganda.
My results regarding the production and acoustic structure of copulation calls suggests that
these vocalisations play a crucial role in the lives of female chimpanzees, dissipating the risks
associated with female competition.
During aggression, chimpanzee females commonly produce victim screams and these calls
have been shown to vary systematically with the severity of aggression experienced. A
playback experiment showed that victim screams are meaningful to females and that listeners
do not just respond to the acoustically most salient signals in their environment. Females may
use this information to keep track of out-of-sight agonistic interactions and make appropriate
social decisions regarding whether to avoid an ensuing attack.
Taken together, I propose that vocalisations may represent important behavioural counter-strategies, enabling females to navigate successfully through their socially intricate world
Noted Author and Scholar Visits
No full textThe new Cassandra Voss Center at St. Norbert is celebrating a canonical figure in gender studies in America with a full year of programming dedicated to her work.https://digitalcommons.snc.edu/snc_magazine_archives_2013-2018/1004/thumbnail.jp
Wong Pan Family
No full text"Wong Pan family Violet, Leslie, Fred, Eddie, Rosie, Shirly, Mervyn, Pat Jeanette, McMinn St. Evacuee "S.S. Montoro""
How Great Thine Art: Playing Pan for St Peter
No full textThere is something morbid about the ease with which pan-round-the-neck groups are steadily increasing their share of the dwindling steelband money pie, while research geared toward development of the conventional instrument is stymied by a lack of funding. Joseph criticizes the bands participating in the St Peter's Day Pan Jam and laments the rise in the number of pan round the neck groups as a retrogressive musical dinosaur
Dissection of observational learning among chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and children (Homo sapiens)
No full textIn the wild, a variety of inter-group behavioural differences have been reported for chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and it has been suggested that these may have resulted from social learning. To determine whether chimpanzees show the necessary propensity for social learning, groups of captive chimpanzees were tested in a series of experiments involving the use of two-action and bidirectional apparatuses. For comparison, and to shed light on any contrasts between our own and chimpanzee learning strategies, similar tests were also conducted with children (Homo sapiens) to ascertain the nature of their observational learning when watching conspecifics. Through the use of open diffusion and diffusion chain techniques, it was shown that both species learnt how to operate different foraging devices from observing an expert conspecific and this learning was strong enough for the generation of behavioural traditions which passed along multiple test ‘generations’. Additionally, ghost conditions were used to distinguish imitative and emulative learning by both species. With one of the two test devices used (the Slide-box) the first evidence for emulation learning by chimpanzees, through the use of a ghost condition, was shown. Children in this condition also showed apparent emulation; a contrast to previous research which has concluded that children tend to rely on imitation. Additionally, to test its potential for use in future social learning experiments, the ability of chimpanzees to learn from video-footage of an unknown conspecific was tested. It was found that the chimpanzees not only learnt how to operate two devices from observing this footage but also used the same alternative method used by the model chimpanzee
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