Patrick Mehlman

Consultations in Conservation

Gorilla populations and their habitats throughout Africa are severely threatened and in decline. To understand and respond to this crisis, conservationists need up-to-date information on gorilla distributions, their relative population sizes, and the rates at which these populations are changing through time. Unfortunately, there are enormous gaps...

A semiisolated study population of 162 Barbary macaques (six groups) inhabiting the Ghomaran fir forests of the Moroccan Rif mountains has a density of 6.73 individuals/km 2. The adult sex ratio is 0.725, and immatures comprise 46.9% of the population. Births are seasonal, occurring from April to June, and the adult female birth rate is 0.58 per an...

Forests are ubiquitous in the Democratic Republic of Congo; they touch the cultural and economic life of most of the population and have enormous global environmental significance. After years of conflicts and mismanagement, reconstruction is key to improving living conditions and consolidating peace. At the same time, better roads and trade bring...

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between behavior and serotonin by using a nonhuman primate model of aggression and impulse control. During a routine capture and medical examination, 26 adolescent male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) were selected as subjects from a free-ranging population of 4,500 rhesus monkeys inhabitin...

We describe the resource availability and diet of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) from a new study site in the Central African Republic and Republic of Congo based on 3 years of study. The results, based on 715 fecal samples and 617 days of feeding trails, were similar to those reported from three other sites, in spite of differe...

Like other fields of science, wildlife conservation is a changing field. Threats facing wild populations of apes and other species a few decades ago are likely not the same ones most pressing today, and, even where threats have remained unchanged, more effective means of addressing them are now available. Conservation in the 21st Century: Gorillas...

This report presents data regarding the brain structure of mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) in comparison with other great apes. Magnetic resonance (MR) images of three mountain gorilla brains were obtained with a 3T scanner, and the volume of major neuroanatomical structures (neocortical gray matter, hippocampus, thalamus, striatum, a...

We collected nesting data from 512 fresh nest sites, including 3725 individual nests, of western gorillas at the Mondika Research Site, Central African Republic and Republic of Congo from 1996 through mid-1999. The mean count of nests of weaned individuals is 7.4 per nest site. Nest types included bare earth with no construction (45% of total), par...

A full understanding of the biology and behavior of humans cannot be complete without the collective contributions of the social sciences, cognitive sciences, and neurosciences. This book collects eighty-two of the foundational articles in the emerging discipline of social neuroscience. The book addresses five main areas of research: multilevel int...

A full understanding of the biology and behavior of humans cannot be complete without the collective contributions of the social sciences, cognitive sciences, and neurosciences. This book collects eighty-two of the foundational articles in the emerging discipline of social neuroscience. The book addresses five main areas of research: multilevel int...

We report prevalences and eggs/protozoa per g (EPG; PPG) of helminths and protozoa in gorillas, chimpanzees, agile mangabeys, indigenous Ba'Aka and Bantu, and western researchers at a remote field site in the Central African Republic. We examined fecal samples for eggs, larvae, proglottids, cysts, amoeba, trophozoites, and flagellates. For helminth...

Seasonal changes in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) concentrations were assessed on multiple occasions in 103 free-ranging male rhesus macaques (macaca mulatta). At the time of sampling subjects ranged between the ages of 2 and 6 years. CSF samples were collected between the hours of 0900 and 1600 through the Fall, Win...

Men with low CNS serotonin turnover, as measured by cerebrospinal fluid 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (CSF 5-HIAA) concentrations, exhibit aberrant circadian activity patterns characterized by disrupted sleep rhythms and daytime hyperactivity. To assess whether similar patterns are found in nonhuman primates we examined the relationships between CSF 5...

While the relationship among CSF 5-HIAA, impulsivity, and aggression is well characterized in males, its investigation in females is limited, and no studies have assessed its generalizability across primates by making simultaneous comparisons between and within closely-related species. We tested three hypotheses. First, that female rhesus macaques...

In this 2-year longitudinal study, 45 2-year-old female rhesus were observed as they were captured and removed from a free-ranging setting (Phase I), single caged for 1 year (Phase II), and housed in small, stable social groups for an additional year (Phase III). During the study, eight blood samples were taken, and hematological, immunological, an...

Sequence variation within RPS4Y, a ribosomal protein gene located in the nonpseudoautosomal region of the Y chromosome, was used to elucidate the origin of this gene in primates. Complete coding and additional flanking sequences (949 bp) of the RPS4Y locus were determined in four nonhuman primate species. Phylogenetic reconstruction of RPS4 sequenc...

Helicobacter pylori infection is widespread in some breeding groups of a rhesus monkey colony (71% H. pylori positive by 1 year), and the rate of seroconversion is also high. As a result, these groups can be used to test the safety and efficacy of an anti-H. pylori vaccine. Nine-month-old female animals were randomized to receive either 8 mg of rec...

Helicobacter pylori infection is widespread in some breeding groups of a rhesus monkey colony (71% H. pylori positive by 1 year), and the rate of seroconversion is also high. As a result, these groups can be used to test the safety and efficacy of an anti- H. pylori vaccine. Nine-month-old female animals were randomized to receive either 8 mg of re...

This study examines sexual behavior, serotonin turnover in the central nervous system, and testosterone in free-ranging non-human primates. Study subjects were 33 young adult male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) living in naturalistic social groups on a 475-acre South Carolina barrier island. Blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples were obtain...

We studied the potential roles of testosterone and serotonin in various forms of aggressive and violent behaviors by measuring each biochemical and behaviour in free-ranging adolescent male nonhuman primates. Our results showed that (1) CSF free testosterone concentrations were positively correlated with overall aggressiveness, but not with measure...

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of central serotonin turnover rate on survival to adulthood among nonhuman primates living in a large, free-ranging colony. The rate of mortality was ascertained over a 4-year period after obtaining blood and cisternal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 49 free-ranging, 2-year-old prepubertal m...

Branch shaking displays (BSDs) by adult males in a wild group of Macana sylvanus are categorised by form, social context, and male dominance rank. They are then quantitatively analysed in a three-way analysis to determine whether different display forms are significantly associated with different communicatory contexts, and whether adult male domin...

We determined the seroepizootiology of Helicobacter pylori infection in rhesus monkeys. Plasma was obtained from 196 animals (age range, 1 to 22 years) that were housed in social environments, either in indoor gang cages, in outdoor corrals, or in free-ranging forested conditions. Plasma immunoglobulin G levels were determined with a specific enzym...

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between behavior and serotonin in nonhuman primates. During a routine capture and medical examination, 26 adolescent male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) were selected as subjects from a free-ranging population of 4,500 rhesus monkeys inhabiting a 475-acre sea island. Blood samples (N = 23)...

In reply Dr Reus criticizes as "overstated" and "critically dependent on one subject" our reporting of a significant relationship between CSF 5-HIAA concentrations and aggression. We note that even when the single subject in question is dropped from the analysis, the results remain statistically significant (r=.46, P<.05). While our study is the f...

The effects of ridogrel, a thromboxane synthetase inhibitor and endoperoxide receptor antagonist, were studied in twelve pregnant, nulliparous Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) during the last trimester of pregnancy. Ridogrel was administered intravenously in two groups of animals (n = 6), at either 0.1 mg/kg or 1.0 mg/kg. Ultrasonic assessment of th...

Clinical and preclinical studies involving several different mammalian species and research paradigms suggest a negative correlation between aggression and central serotonin activity. To test the generalizability of laboratory findings in rhesus monkeys that show a negative correlation between cerebrospinal fluid 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid concentr...

Scientific studies of monkeys, apes, and other nonhuman primates began just over 50 years ago. Since then tens of thousands of hours of observation have been made on these animals in the wild and in captivity. The chief rationale for scientific primatology has always been the belief that important insights into human behaviour and society could be...

During the summer of 1979, the rhesus monkey breeding colony of the La Parguera facility of the Caribbean Primate Research Center was shipped to Morgan Island, South Carolina. During six shipments in 1979, and three more in 1980, over 1400 animals were translocated. Mortality from shipping, primarily in infants, was approximately 0.65%. Although th...

An analysis of allogrooming (total times spent grooming individual partners) of 8 sexually mature females (3–12 years of age) in a captive group of 17 Japanese macaques, shows that during the nonmating season, grooming distributions were characterized by high proportions of grooming given to family members and/or higher ranking nonkin. During the m...

A small geographically isolated population of the Barbary macaque inhabits a high-altitude fir forest habitat (Abies pinsapo) in the Ghomaran region of the Rif mountains of northern Morocco. The climate of this region is Mediterranean, but the altitude (1600–2100 m) causes winters to be cold (as low as -8.0 d̀C) with snow occurring from November to...

Data are presented on intergroup interactions between six groups of Macaca sylvanus in the Ghomaran region of the Moroccan Rif mountains. Intergroup encounters (0.026/observation hour) were defined as two groups being near each other (< 150 m). Encounters were further classified into: 1) neutral (indeterminate) encounters, in which very little inte...

Résumé L'évolution des soins paternels chez les primates et les hominidés Dans cet article, nous nous penchons sur l'évolution de l'une des caractéristiques comportementales les plus remarquables de l'espèce humaine : la participation du mâle aux soins parentaux. Dans un premier temps, nous passons en revue le phénomène des soins paternels chez les...

In this two-year study of a Barbary macaque population (n = 162) in the Ghomaran region of Morocco, 13 cases of males separated from their assumed natal groups were observed (nine visits of nonresident males to groups, two males isolated from groups as much as one day and one night, and two sets of snow tracks indicating males travel +7 km as isola...

The Moroccan fir forest (Abies pinsapo Boiss.) is a unique ecosystem to North Africa and is limited to less than 5,000 hectares within the Rhomara region in the Western Rif. This habitat represents the prime distribution area for the Barbary macaque in North Morocco (Fa, 1982; Fa, Taub, Menard and Stewart, Chap. 3, this volume).