CAPUCHIN POPULATION DYNAMICS AT CARARA BIOLOGICAL RESERVE IN COSTA RICA

How do sexual dynamics and dispersal patterns affect genetic structuring within Cebus populations? In a new project, I am using molecular genetic techniques to study the mating system, dispersal pattern, and population genetic structure of wild Costa Rican Cebus through analysis of microsatellite markers. It has been suggested that in Cebus, the mating system is a core determinant of social organization, which in turn strongly influences genetic structuring at a population level. After collecting DNA from individuals in and around the Carara Biological Reserve, I plan to test these ideas by [1] using molecular techniques to identify the genetic mating system, [2] describing how overall genetic variation in this species is partitioned at the social group, population, and regional levels, with particular interest in male versus female kin networks within and across groups, and [3] exploring how the variation revealed in these analyses compares to that predicted based on current understanding of this species' socioecology. Long-term goals include collaboration with field researchers in several locations in Central and South America to examine the variation in mating systems, kin relationships, and genetic structuring across Cebus.