Image by Alexandria Zoo
Congratulations to ISG Faculty member Jessica Lynch for her collaboration on a research study about sexual selection in tiny Brazilian squirrel monkeys. Lynch worked with lead research team at the California Lutheran University, which includes Principal Investigator and biologist, Anita Stone, and her exceptional undergraduate students. Lynch’s collaborative research was made possible through a generous grant from the National Science Foundation.
Each summer, Stone and her students will identify and collect measurements from the monkeys, observe their behavior during the eight-week breeding season and analyze the data. The monkeys are difficult to study because they weigh no more than 2 pounds, move quickly and hang out in social groups of about 50. The researchers will employ Brazilian field assistants, take local children and teachers on field trips into the forest and present the research to residents to promote conservation in the area.
Back at UCLA, biological anthropologist Jessica Lynch will conduct paternity tests on biological samples from the baby monkeys that are born. At the University of Texas at Arlington, evolutionary biologist Janet Buckner and her graduate students will study genetic differences in blood and tissue samples to determine whether male-fattening is a product of female choice or male-male competition
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