Pregnancy outcome in free-ranging vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops)

A preliminary assessment of individual female differences in conception rate and fetal wastage has been determined for a population of wild vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops). One of three troops of vervet monkeys, the subjects of a long-term behavioral study, was trapped and blood was obtained for electrophoretic analysis. Pregnant females exhibited a distinctive serum aminopeptidase phenotype allowing a conclusive determination of pregnancy. Of the seven females diagnosed as pregnant, three later gave birth. Of the females that aborted, two were nulliparous and one was very old. Studies of captive animals have indicated that age and rank may affect a female's ability to carry a fetus to term. These factors, rather than the trapping procedure, may have been responsible for most of the fetal loss in the trapped troop. A comparison of all three troops for a 3-year period indicated that there were fluctuations in yearly birth success of individual females, as well as a relatively high miscarriage rate. The results of this study indicate the advantages of obtaining joint behavioral and biological data.     

Origin and evolution of the Micronesian biota: Insights from molecular phylogenies and biogeography reveal long-distance dispersal scenarios and founder-event speciation

Micronesian islands taxa show high endemism rates, but very little is known about their biogeographical histories. The lack of systematic biogeography is mainly due to insufficient phylogenetic research in Micronesia. With the recent increase in published molecular biogeographic data, we were able to, for the first time, answer fundamental biogeography questions by reviewing and analyzing numerous geological, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This review, in addition to providing an overview of Micronesian geological history, confirmed the importance of long-distance dispersal mechanisms and founder-event speciation, and morphological and physiological adaptations of plant propagules to cross vast stretches of ocean by wind, ocean currents, bird, or bat dispersal. These adaptations to habitat and geological features, including reef types, determined colonization success as well as inland dispersal and speciation mechanisms. We further identified the source areas of the Micronesian biota and reconstructed historical dispersal scenarios: a dominant Austro-Melanesian dispersal scenario, an Indo-Malaysian connecting to the Austro-Melanesian dispersal scenario, and a Neotropical American and an African dispersal scenario toward Micronesia. Most generic origins were estimated between the Eocene and the Miocene and dispersed to Micronesia between the Miocene and the Pleistocene.