Cercopithecus

Bioinformatics tools applied to large-scale genomic datasets have helped develop our understanding of primate phylogenetics. However, it is becoming increasingly evident that biological data are accumulating faster than the current capacity of the bioanthropological community to analyze, integrate, and mine the data. Subsequently, this affects how anthropologists create and distribute knowledge. There is a growing need for more training in bioinformatics within anthropological spaces and the development of user-friendly bioinformatic tools for analysis, mining, and modeling of both local and global datasets. This thesis showcases the use of (applied) bioinformatics tools to construct seven new whole mitochondrial genomes to study primate variation. Furthermore, this thesis entails an investigation of the guenon radiation to develop and document bioinformatics and statistical tools to perform a phylogenetic analysis of the genus Cercopithecus. Finally, the utility of the pipelines for other researchers in the Detwiler Lab Group and the potential for further phylogenetic studies are discussed.

This research represents the first multi-year investigation of the feeding ecology of Gombe’s Cercopithecus populations. The main goal of this study was to identify dietary overlap and distinctiveness among the phenotypes in our study group, a mixed species group of guenons comprised of C. ascanius, C. mitis, and C. ascanius x C. mitis hybrids. Field assistants collected feeding data using ad libitum observations as well as instantaneous scan sampling at 30-minute intervals from July 2014 to December 2018. A total of 63 plant species were identified in our group’s diet. Results indicate that a significant difference exists between the diets of each phenotype. The results also found an unusually high percentage of invertebrate eating (54%) in our group. These findings suggest that invertebrates are an important food resource for the Gombe study group and may help facilitate coexistence in an environment where there are many sympatric primate species.