Randi Griffin

Duke University | DU · Department of Evolutionary Anthropology

Despite increasing appreciation for parasitism as an important component of primate ecology and evolution, surprisingly few studies have demonstrated the costs of helminth parasitism in primates. Detecting parasite-related costs in primates is particularly difficult because it requires detailed, long-term data on individual host reproductive succes...

Despite the global distribution and public health consequences of Taenia tapeworms, the life cycles of taeniids infecting wildlife hosts remain largely undescribed. The larval stage of Taenia serialis commonly parasitizes rodents and lagomorphs, but has been reported in a wide range of hosts that includes geladas (Theropithecus gelada), primates en...

Full adapted protocol for the detection of Taenia antigen in dried urine. (DOCX)

Smaers, Mongle & Kandler (2016) (Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 118: 74–98) introduced a new phylogenetic comparative method, multiple-variance Brownian motion (mvBM), for reconstructing ancestral states given a phylogenetic tree and continuous trait data. The authors conducted a simulation study and argued that mvBM outperforms constan...

Knowledge of the distribution of arthropod vectors across a landscape is important in determining the risk for vector-borne disease. This has been well explored for ticks, but not for mosquitoes, despite their importance in the transmission of a variety of pathogens. This study examined the importance of habitat, habitat edges, and the scale at whi...

Smaers, Mongle & Kandler (2016) (Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 118: 78-94) introduced a new phylogenetic comparative method, multiple variance Brownian motion (mvBM), for reconstructing ancestral states given a phylogenetic tree and continuous trait data. The authors conducted a simulation study and argued that mvBM outperforms constan...

Phylogenetic comparative methods (PCMs) use data on species traits and phylogenetic relationships to shed light on evolutionary questions. Recently, Smaers and Vinicius suggested a new PCM, Independent Evolution (IE), which purportedly employs a novel model of evolution based on Felsenstein's Adaptive Peak Model. The authors found that IE improves...

Nexus file of primate phylogeny used for simulations. (NEX)

R code for IE algorithm. (R)

R code for PIDC algorithm. (R)

• White forms of typically pigmented flowers are one of the most common polymorphisms in flowering plants. Although the range of genetic changes that give rise to white phenotypes is well known from model systems, few studies have identified causative mutations in natural populations.• Here we combine genetic studies, in vitro enzyme assays, and bi...

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##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

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##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

Many studies have suggested that ecosystem conservation protects human and wildlife populations against infectious disease. We tested this hypothesis using data on primates and their parasites. First, we tested for relationships between species' resilience to human disturbance and their parasite richness, prevalence and immune defences, but found n...

Understanding how parasites are transmitted to new species is of great importance for human health, agriculture and conservation. However, it is still unclear why some parasites are shared by many species, while others have only one host. Using a new measure of 'phylogenetic host specificity', we find that most primate parasites with more than one...

Activity period plays a central role in studies of primate origins and adaptations, yet fundamental questions remain concerning the evolutionary history of primate activity period. Lemurs are of particular interest because they display marked variation in activity period, with some species exhibiting completely nocturnal or diurnal lifestyles, and...

Living in a large social group is thought to increase disease risk in wild animal populations, but comparative studies have provided mixed support for this prediction. Here, we take a social network perspective to investigate whether patterns of social contact within groups influence parasite risk. Specifically, increased modularity (i.e. sub-group...