Book Review: Primate Males. Peter M. Kappeler,Cambridge University Press,Cambridge, U.K., 2000, xii + 316pp., $85.00 (hardback); $37.95 (paperback)

International Journal of Primatology -     

Probably never human. Review of chimpanzee material culture: Implications for human evolution,by W.C. McGrew. Cambridge,U.K., Cambridge University Press, 1992, 277 pp, $79.95, cloth

Pregnanediol-3α-glucuronide (PdG) was measured in the urine of six Goeldi's monkeys during pregnancy and the postpartum period. A stress-free, non-invasive urine sampling technique permitted frequent collection of urine from members of the breeding group. A comparison of the periovulatory profiles of PdG and estrone conjugates revealed close agreement. The day of ovulation was defined as that immediately preceding a 2-4 day period with two consecutive urine samples for which the PdG content was in excess of 0.20 μg/mg Cr and 0.40 μg/mg Cr, respectively. In urine samples collected from parturition to the next ovulation, 70.9% of the PdG-values were below 0.20 μg/mg Cr, whereas 99.2% of the urinary PdG concentrations measured during pregnancy were greater than this “threshold concentration”. A conception cycle was therefore defined as one in which the concentration of urinary PdG remained above 0.20 μg/mg Cr in all urine samples collected between day 1 and day 20 after ovulation. Gestation length was 151.5 ± 1.6 days (mean ± SEM, n = 6; range 147-157 days). The postpartum ovulation occurred 22.6 ± 4.7 days (mean ± SEM, n = 9; range 11-53 days) following birth. With the exception of two non-conception postpartum cycles observed in one female, with inter-ovulatory intervals of 26 and 27 days, postpartum ovulation resulted in conception, giving a 77.8% conception rate for nine observed cycles. The simple and rapid radioimmunoassay used in this study requires 5 h from urine collection to the final result, hence permitting daily monitoring of a large sample of females. It thus has important potential for conservation breeding programs and for other scientific investigations carried out with this endangered primate species. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Reproductive biology of invertebrates. Volumes I and II: Edited by K. G. Adiyodi and R. G. Adiyodi,Wiley, New York, 1983. 770 pp. and 692 pp. $110.00 and $94.00

Biological control agents (biorationals) are increasingly important in pest control concepts. Certain insect viruses, particularly the baculoviruses (nuclear polyhedrosis viruses), are considered to have potential as biological pesticides and could be used widely in the environment. Therefore, test animals must be selected and methods and laboratory systemsdeveloped to evaluate the safety of these agents to nontarget species. A simple laboratory system has been designed and used to determine risks of infectivity and pathogenicity of an insect Baculovirus, originally isolated from the Alfalfa looper, Autographa californica, to a nontarget arthropod, the grass shrimp, Palaemonetes vulgaris, by dietary exposure. This laboratory method also permits evaluation of other microbial biorationals against nontarget aquatic species, and provides an inexpensive standardized procedure of safety testing. Results from this study indicated that histopathological, ultrastructural, and serological methods used provided no evidence that experimental exposure to the virus in our test system caused viral infection or related pathogenicity in the grass shrimp.     

Book Review: The Biology of Traditions. Models and Evidence. Edited by Dorothy M. Fragaszy and Susan Perry,Cambridge University Press,Cambridge, UK. 2003, xvii + 456 pp., $90.00 (hardback)

International Journal of Primatology -