Cover Photo: Bonobos at Luo Scientific Reserve, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Credit: Nahoko Tokuyama)

The 15th International Symposium on Primatology and Wildlife Science
PROGRAM
Note: Pre-recorded talks and live Q&As will take place on Zoom, and poster sessions on LINC Biz.
Day 1 (Monday, March 1)
Time

Abstract

10:00–10:05

(min)
(5)

Title
Opening Remarks

Speaker

Affiliation

Gen'ichi
Idani

Wildlife ResearchCenter, Kyoto
University

Wild Animals and Conservation

Chair: Nahoko Tokuyama

10:05–10:25

O1

(20)

Examining the Possible Mechanisms andAdaptive Significance of Single and Multi-maleGroups in Horse Societies

PandoraPinto

Wildlife ResearchCenter, Kyoto
University

10:25–10:40

O2

(15)

Pair Chemistry in Golden Eagles: Relationshipbetween MHC Genes and Breeding SuccessAnnegret
Moto Naito

Wildlife ResearchCenter, Kyoto
University

FumiakiNomanoDepartment of
Evolutionary Studies
of Biosystems,
SokendaiToshitaka
Suzuki

The Hakubi Center for
Advanced Research,
Kyoto University

10:40–10:55

O3

(15)

Roosting Dynamics Predicted by Nepotism in a
Cooperatively Breeding Bird

10:55–11:35

K1

(40)

The Dawn of Animal Linguistics: Exploring
Referentiality and Compositionality in Bird Calls

11:35–13:00(85)<Lunch Break>Cognition and Welfare in Primates I

Chair: Yuko Hattori
Wildlife ResearchCenter, Kyoto
University
Wildlife ResearchCenter, Kyoto
University

13:00–13:15

O4

(15)

Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Reinforcement
Learning via Eligibility Traces

Yutaro Sato

13:15–13:30

O5

(15)

Oxytocin Promotes Species-relevant Outgroup
Attention in Bonobos and Chimpanzee

James
Brooks13:30–13:45

O6

(15)

The Effect of ‘Brightness Contrast’ inLuminance Discrimination Tasks for
Chimpanzees and Killer Whales

Ayumu
Santa

Primate ResearchInstitute, Kyoto
University

13:45–14:00

O7

(15)

Material Discrimination Based on Concepts in
Chimpanzees

MikuhoYokoyama

Primate ResearchInstitute, Kyoto
University

14:00–14:15

O8

(15)

Socially Contingent Video Can Facilitate
Referential Information Utilization in
Chimpanzees: A Progress Report

Shenwen Xu

Primate ResearchInstitute, Kyoto
University

14:15–14:30

O9

(15)

Feeding Decisions Predict Parasite Infection in
Sanctuary-housed Bonobos

CécileSarabian

Primate ResearchInstitute, Kyoto
University

14:30–15:00(30)<Coffee Break>iCognition and Welfare in Primates II

Chair: Andrew MacIntosh

15:00–15:15

O10

(15)

Evaluation of a Novel Activity Monitor for
Captive Japanese Macaques (Macaca fuscata)Vanessa
Gris

Primate ResearchInstitute, Kyoto
University

15:15–15:35

O11

(20)

Exploring Non-invasive Methods to Better
Understand the Stress Response of Japanese
Macaques (Macaca fuscata)NelsonBrochePrimate ResearchInstitute, Kyoto
University

Sakumi Iki

Department of
Evolutionary Studies
of Biosystems,
Sokendai

JoannaSetchell

Department of
Anthropology,
Durham University

15:35–15:50

O12

(15)

Play Escalation in Japanese Macaques: It is a
Matter of Relative Rank and Relative Age

15:50–16:30

K2

(40)

Why Conservation Needs Anthropology

16:30–17:00(30)<Coffee Break>(90)

Posters on LINC Biz [see p. iv for titles]

Poster Session I
17:00–18:30

Conserv’session Discussions: Close-proximity Pictures with Wildlife
18:30–19:30[See the attached flyer for details]

Day 2 (Tuesday, March 2)
Time

Abstract

(min)

Title

Speaker

Affiliation

Primate Bodies & Minds

Chair: Lira Yu

10:00–10:15

O13

(15)

Examining Long Bone Phenotypic Plasticity: A
Case Study of Skeletal Differences between
Northern and Southern Japanese Macaques

Rose Leach

Department of
Anthropology, Kent
State University

10:15–10:30

O14

(15)

Female Fertility Rates between Subspecies ofCaptive Rhesus Macaques

Emilee Hart

Department of
Anthropology, Kent
State University

10:30–10:45

O15

(15)

Species-specific Loss of Function of
Melanocortin-1 Receptor Gene (MC1R) in
Seven Endemic Species in Sulawesi Island

Xiaochan
Yan

Primate ResearchInstitute, Kyoto
University

10:45–11:00

O16

(15)

Staring “Death” in the Face: Chimpanzees’
Attention towards Conspecific Skulls and the
Implications of a Face-module Guiding thisBehavior

AndréGonçalves

Primate ResearchInstitute, Kyoto
University

Mirrors, Yawns, and Death: Connections?

James
Anderson

Department of
Psychology, Graduate
School of Letters,
Kyoto University

11:00–11:40

K3

(40)

Poster Session II & Lunch Break
11:40–13:00(80)

Posters on LINC Biz (see p. v for titles) and Lunchii

Chair: Gen’ichi Idani

Wildlife Science and Conservation
13:00–13:40

K4

(40)

From Himalaya to Ocean, from Glacier toTropical Rain Forest: Studies by a Strange
Biologist

Shiro
Kohshima

Wildlife ResearchCenter, Kyoto
University

13:40–14:00

O17

(20)

Re-evaluate Ethno-Ornithological Recognitionsof Kazakh Eagle Falconry for Conservation ofGolden Eagle, Western Mongolia

TakuyaSoma

Hakubi Center &WRC, Kyoto
University

14:00–14:30

O18

(30)

The Planet and Humans at a Crossroad and
SDGs

Masahiko
Horie

Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Japan

14:30–15:00(30)<Coffee Break>Japan–Australia Wildlife Science Collaboration

15:00–15:05

15:05–15:45

15:45–16:00

K5

O19

16:00–16:05

16:05–16:20

O20

16:20–16:25

Co-Chairs: Frank Grützner, Takashi Hayakawa
Faculty ofEnvironmental Earth
Science, Hokkaido
University
School of Life andEnvironmental
Sciences, University
of Sydney
School of Life andEnvironmental
Sciences, University
of Sydney(5)

Introduction

TakashiHayakawa(40)

Genomes & Threatened Species Conservation

Carolyn
Hogg(15)

The First Reference Genome for the Antechinus
Genus Provides a Resource for Investigating
the Genetic Basis of Semelparity and Agerelated Neuropathologies

PariceBrandies(5)

Introduction to Monotreme Biology

Frank
Grützner

School of Biological
Sciences, Universityof Adelaide(15)

Characterising the Gut Microbiomes in Wild andCaptive Short-beaked Echidnas Reveals DietAssociated Changes

Tahlia Perry

School of Biological
Sciences, Universityof Adelaide(5)

Introduction to Japan–Australia Collaboration

TakashiHayakawa

Faculty ofEnvironmental Earth
Science, Hokkaido
University

16:25–16:40

O21

(15)

Stress Monitoring in Captive Koalas(Phascolarctos cinereus) Using Urinary Cortisol
Concentration

KodzueKinoshita

Wildlife ResearchCenter, Kyoto
University

16:40–16:55

O22

(15)

What is the Favorite Leaf for Koalas: Koalas’
Diet Preference and Welfare Studies in Japan

Tadatoshi
Ogura

School of Veterinary
Medicine, Kitasato
University(5)

Closing Remarks

Hiroo Imai

Primate ResearchInstitute, Kyoto
University

16:55–17:00

iii

Poster Session I
Monday, March 1, 17:00–18:30 (core presentation time 17:00–18:00)
P1

Abdullah Langgeng

Diversity of Gastrointestinal Helminths in Japanese Macaques of the Jigokudani Snow
Monkey ParkP2

Aki Sugita

Selective Foraging of an Arboreal Folivore, the Japanese Giant Flying Squirrel(Petaurista leucogenys)

P3

Akihiro Itahara“Corvids Tracking Studio”: The Motion Capture System as a Novel Tool to Study theGaze of Corvids

P4

Akiho MuramatsuLongitudinal Study of Chimpanzees’ Working Memory

P5

Boyun Lee

High- & Middle-ranked Mothers Aggressively Handle Little Higher-ranked 2-3-monthold Infants in Yakushima Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata yakui)

P6

Chika Zemmoto

Preliminary Characterization of Personality and its Genetic Factors in Two Dog Breeds

P7

Chisato Tanaka

Physiological and Behavioral Studies for Reintroduction in Tsushima Leopard Cat(Prionailurus bengalensis euptilurus)

P8

Cody Ruiz

Macaque Y-chromosome Introgression: Bioinformatic Analysis of Y‐Chromosome
Proteins in Macaca mulatta, M. fascicularis, and their Indochinese Hybrids

P9

David Fasbender

Socioecological Implications of the Unusual Distribution of Bonobos in the TL2LandscapeP10

Ena Onishi

Behavioral Synchronization: Timing of Urination among Captive Chimpanzees

P11

Gema Palacino-Gonzalez

The Development of Mother-Calf Interactions in Wild Harbour Porpoises (Phocoena
phocoena) Studied with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

P12

Hana Goto

Gene Expression Analysis in a Hylobates lar Brain: Toward the Elucidation of the
Molecular Mechanism of SongP13

Hiroto Yoshimura

Does Over-marking Effective on Mate Search? A Mathematical Simulation

P14

Kana Arai

What Influences Eggshell Gas Exchange and is Personality based on PhysicalCharacteristics in Different Avian Species? Research Plan and My Goals at PWS

P15

Kenneth KeukEnter SimuNet: a Social Network Simulation Framework, with a Zest of Empiricism

P16

Koki Yoshimura

What is “Tameness” in Captive Red Foxes?: with Reference to Self-domestication
Hypothesis

P17

Kotaro Kondo

Genetic Origin of Koalas Captive in Japan: toward the Investigation of Innate Diet
Preference

P18

Linda Shearwin-Whyatt

Monotremes Shed Light on Mammalian EvolutioniPoster Session II
Tuesday, March 2, 11:40–13:00 (core presentation time 11:45–12:45)
P19

Madoka HattoriComparison of Facial Morphology between Wildcats and Domestic Cats

P20

Makiko Take

Food Transfer in Golden-faced Saki: Developmental Change in Juveniles’ Begging
Behavior

P21

Qi Luan Lim

Phylogenetic Relationship of the Malayan Tapir in Japan

P22

Rena Numabe

The Change of Bitter Sensitivity to PTC in Each of Individuals and the Relationshipbetween TAS2R38 Polymorphism and Food Preference

P23

Shohei Shibata

What Did He See on the Surface of the Puddle? A Male Chimpanzee Produced an
Alarm Call at a Water Puddle

P24

Sofia Vilela

Impact of Game Hunting on Physiological Stress Levels of Wild Red Deer

P25

Sok Hwan Lee

The Evolution of Social Status: Investigation on Prestigious Behavior in Chimpanzees
and Bonobos

P26

Sota Inoue

Influence of Age of Breeding Mare is Not Negative on the Racing Performance of their
Offspring as Commonly Assumed

P27

Takumasa Yokoyama

Variable Functions of Genito-Genital Rubbing among Female Bonobos (Pan paniscus)

P28

Takumi Ezawa

Genetic Analysis of Captive Echidnas in Japanese Zoos using Noninvasive Spine
Samples

P29

Takuto Sugimoto

Research on the Social Behavior of Horses

P30

Tamao Maeda

How is Spatial Structure of Multilevel-society Decided?

P31

Tomoe Torii

Spatial Relationships in Finless Porpoises by Aerial Videos

P32

Toshiki Minami

New Trends of Infant Handling by Japanese Macaques (Macaca fuscata) in a
Provisioned Group

P33

Yeongju Lee

Acoustic Communication by Non-vocal Sound in the Free-ranging Horse Group

P34

Yige Piao

The Operant Conditioning of Short-tailed Pit Vipers (Gloydius brevicaudus) Based on
Different Infrared Shapes

P35

Yuko Kuriyama

Socioecology of Iriomote Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis iriomotensis)

ii

K1

The Dawn of Animal Linguistics: Exploring Referentiality andCompositionality in Bird Calls
Toshitaka N Suzuki1*
1

The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University* toshi.n.suzuki@gmail.com

Establishing the theory of language evolution is an ongoing challenge in science. One
profitable approach in this regard is to seek the origins of linguistic capabilities bycomparing language with the vocal communication systems of closely related relatives(i.e., the great apes). However, several key capabilities of language appear to be absent in
non‐human primates, which limits the range of studies, such as direct phylogenetic
comparison of linguistic capabilities. A further informative approach lies in identifying
convergent features in phylogenetically distant animals and conducting comparative
studies. This approach is particularly useful with respect to establishing general rules forlanguage evolution. In this article, I review recent findings on linguistic capabilities in apasserine bird species, the Japanese tit (Parus minor). Field experiments have revealed
that Japanese tits produce unique alarm calls when encountering predatory snakes, which
serve to enhance the visual attention of call receivers with respect to snake‐like objects.
Moreover, tits often combine discrete types of meaningful calls into fixed‐orderedsequences according to an ordering rule, conveying a compositional message to receivers.
These findings indicate that two core capabilities of language, namely, referentiality andcompositionality, have independently evolved in the avian lineage. I describe how theselinguistic capabilities can be examined under field conditions and discuss how suchresearch may contribute to exploring the origins and evolution of language.

K2

Why Conservation Needs Anthropology
Joanna M Setchell1*, Emilie Fairet2, Kathryn Shutt-Phillips3, Siân Waters1 and Sandra Bell1
1

2

Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, UK
Wildlife Conservation Society - Congo, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo3
Fauna & Flora International, Cambridge, UK* joanna.setchell@durham.ac.uk

Biodiversity conservation is one of the grand challenges facing society. Many peopleinterested in biodiversity conservation have a background in wildlife biology. However,the diverse social, cultural, political, and historical factors that influence the lives ofpeople and wildlife can be investigated fully only by incorporating social science methods,
ideally within an interdisciplinary framework. Cultural hierarchies of knowledge and thehegemony of the natural sciences create a barrier to interdisciplinary understandings. I
will review three different projects that confront this difficulty, integrating biological andethnographic methods to study conservation problems. The first project involved wildlife
foraging on crops around a newly established national park in Gabon. Biological methods
revealed the extent of crop loss, the species responsible, and an effect of field isolation,
while ethnography revealed institutional and social vulnerability to foraging wildlife. The
second project concerned great ape tourism in the Central African Republic. Biologicalmethods revealed that gorilla tourism poses risks to gorillas, while ethnography revealed
why people seek to get (too) close to gorillas. The third project focused on humans andmacaques sharing a landscape in Morocco. Incorporating shepherds in the coproductionof ecological knowledge about primates built trust and altered attitudes to the primates.
These three case studies demonstrate how the integration of biological and social methods
can help us to understand the sustainability of human–wildlife interactions, and thus
promote coexistence. In each case, an integrated biosocial approach incorporating
ethnographic data produced results that would not otherwise have come to light. Researchthat transcends conventional academic boundaries requires the openness and flexibility
to move beyond one’s comfort zone to understand and acknowledge the legitimacy of‘other’ kinds of knowledge. It is challenging but crucial if we are to address conservation
problems effectively.

K3

Mirrors, Yawns, and Death: Connections?
James Anderson1*
1

Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Japan*j.r.anderson@psy.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Comparative research over the last 50 years has established that, among primates,
reliable and compelling evidence for visual self-recognition is limited to humans and thegreat apes. Prosimians and monkeys show no signs- certainly no more than highly
questionable signs- of visual self-recognition. The weight of these data suggests theexistence of a qualitative difference in self-awareness between, on the one handprosimians and monkeys, and on the other hand, great apes including humans. Researchover the past 15 years has also revealed the existence of a similar, though more nuanced,
gap in susceptibility to contagious yawning, which some authors attribute to species
differences in empathic abilities. And finally, research in the past 10 years has started toaddress in a more scientific way how other primate species react emotionally andcognitively to death, approaching topics such as grief, and understanding what deathmeans. In this presentation, I briefly review some of my contributions to these three fieldsof research, and suggest how three phenomena: self-recognition, contagious yawning, anddeath awareness, may be psychologically connected.

K4

From Himalaya to Ocean, from Glacier to Tropical Rain Forest:
Studies by a Strange Biologist

Shiro Kohshima1*
1

Wildlife Research Center of Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8203, Japan*kohshima.shiro.2s@kyoto-u.ac.jp

I would like to talk about my strange research career as a biologist because this will be
my last presentation in the PWS sympodium. I started my research career from the study
on insects living in the snow and ice. Although biological activity on glaciers has been
believed to be extremely limited, we found various biotic communities specialized to theglacier environment in various part of the world, such as Himalaya, Patagonia, Alaska
and Greenland. Some of these glaciers hosted various cold-tolerant insects, annelids andcopepods living in the glacier by feeding on algae and bacteria growing in the snow andice. Thus, the glaciers are simple and relatively closed ecosystems sustained by the
primary production in the snow and ice. Since the microorganisms growing on the glaciersurface are stored in the glacial strata every year, we showed that they could be newenvironmental signals for the past environment studies. We also showed that blooms ofalgae and bacteria on the glacier darken the surface and accelerate the glacier melting.
Although I continue to study on glacier ecosystems, I have also studied ecology andbehavior of various organisms with many strange students who studied dolphins (resting
behavior, habitat use, etc.), seals (vocal communication), primates including humans (eyemorphology), orangutans, civet (feeding ecology), porcupines, tapirs (social structure),
and elephants (vocal communication). For these studies, we have conducted field studies
in various part of the world such as Alaska, Amazon, Borneo, India and Africa. I will
introduce some of these studies and our project in Amazon to develop “Field Museum”
that can contribute not only to study and conservation of wildlife but also toenvironmental education and sustainable development of the local communities.

K5

Genomes & Threatened Species Conservation
Carolyn Hogg1*
1

School of Life & Environmental Science, The University of Sydney*carolyn.hogg@sydney.edu.au

Globally we are immersed in a biodiversity crisis with over 1 million species now
under threat of extinction. Of the 13,500 animal species listed as threatened by the IUCN,
less than 1% have genomic resources. To combat this, global genome initiatives havebeen established to create genomic resources for all eukaryotic life on earth. Yet areference genome does not conserve a species. Having the reference genome allows us todevelop a suite of tools to understand both genome-wide and functional diversity within
and between species. Conservation practitioners can then use these genetic resources toinform their decision-making. I will present case studies from Australia on how having
genomic data has helped us make conservation decisions for some of our most iconic
species. From translocating Tasmanian devils, that are threatened by an infectious cancer,
to managing the metapopulation of bilby behind fences and islands, to developing new
genomic tools for koala populations. By working closely with our conservation partners,
we are able to integrate the latest genomic tools into management practice in real-time.
Using the latest genome technologies we are able to make a significant contribution tounderstanding both the biology of our iconic Australian species as well as to their longterm conservation.

O1

Examining the Possible Mechanisms and Adaptive Significance ofSingle and Multi-male Groups in Horse Societies

Pandora Pinto1*, Renata Mendonça1, Monamie Ringhofer2, Kodzue Kinoshita1 and Satoshi
Hirata11

2

Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Institute for Advanced Study, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan*pandora_pinto@sapo.pt

In some feral horse populations, adult females (mares) are either associated with asingle male or multiple males (stallions). However, little is known on why such groups
with more than one male exist, considering that stallions fight to monopolize females.
The proposed study aims to address this question by reconsidering previously proposed
hypotheses and by assessing intraspecific variations in stallions’ traits. Research was
conducted on feral Garrano horses in Serra d’Arga, Northern Portugal.
(1) Body size is often an important determinant of male fighting ability and/or
dominance rank and, consequently, reproductive success. Stallions may, therefore, varyin “quality” which could be a differentiating factor between single-stallion and multistallion males. We examined the relationship between body size, sex, group type andnumber of females. Using a non-invasive laser distance meter, we determined individual
body length and height by overlapping photos of the horses and a measuring tape. Results
showed no significant differences in body length and height for all parameters assessed,
suggesting that size is not a determinant factor for feral horse society.
(2) Testosterone is often linked to aggressive and dominant behavior in males, which
provides a mechanism for reproductive competition. In view of that, we examined therelationship between fecal testosterone levels, group type (single-stallion, multi-stallion
or bachelor group), number of females in the group and dominance rank, during thebreeding season. Preliminary results showed that males in multi-stallion groups had
higher testosterone concentrations than single and bachelor males. Subordinate males
averaged higher than their dominant counterparts in multi-stallion groups and males insingle-stallion groups, while the number of females in the group didn’t seem to have mucheffect.
(3) Mate parasitism, by-product mutualism, reciprocal altruism and the consort
hypothesis have been used in the past to explain the multi-stallion group structure. In thispreliminary study, we test the advantages and functional characteristics predicted by thesehypotheses. We tested for differences in female group size and stability, disparities ingroup defense effort by males, activity budget of stallions and females, and stallion →mare aggression levels. We found no evidence that the males in multi-stallion groups
benefited from their relationship in terms of group size and stability, and activity budgets.
Subordinate males in multi-stallion groups contributed to group defense, while their
dominant counterparts were the least involved in female protection. Finally, mares fromsingle and multi-stallion groups did not exhibit different grazing and resting experiences,
nor were they significantly subjected to male harassment.

O2

Pair Chemistry in Golden Eagles: Relationship between MHC Genes
and Breeding SuccessAnnegret M. Naito*1, Yu Sato1,2, Miho Inoue-Murayama1
1

2

Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Japan
Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom*

annegret.naito.42m@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are said to influenceimmunocompetence and mate choice in many vertebrate species, and are of great interest toconservation geneticists due to their impacts on individual and population fitness. In this study,
we investigated the MHC gene region in the Japanese golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos japonica),a large apex predator listed as endangered by the Ministry of Environment. This subspecies’
reproductive success has been continuously declining in the wild, and captive breeding successremains limited to certain family lineages. We therefore aimed to shed light to any potential
genetic underpinnings of reproductive success by investigating the MHC genes of the captive
Japanese golden eagle population. Using amplicon sequencing, 18 individuals (10 pairs) wereanalyzed at the highly polymorphic MHC class II DRB exon 2, which encodes for the peptide
binding region (PBR) of the antigen presenting MHC class II protein. For each breeding pair, thenumber of DRB alleles, proportion of shared alleles, the predicted mean amino acid distances at
the PBR and non-PBR, and relatedness (data from a previous study using 19 microsatellite loci)were calculated. The number of eggs laid, proportion of fertilized and hatched eggs, proportionof stopped broods, and number of successful adoptions were extracted from the past 10 years’
reproduction data provided by zoos across Japan. A generalized linear mixed model approach wasused to analyze the relationship between the aforementioned MHC gene variables andreproductive data. Results showed a strong positive correlation between the proportion of eggs
hatched and amino acid distance at the PBR (p < 0.0001, R2 = 0.865), and weak negative
correlations between the proportion of stopped broods and amino acid distance at the PBR (p <0.05, R2 = 0.249) and non-PBR (p < 0.05, R2 = 0.220). These findings imply that reproductive
success increases if individuals of a pair are more dissimilar at MHC loci. An MHC-based
disassortative mating strategy has been observed in many vertebrate species and is thought tohave fitness benefits – choosing a mate with dissimilar MHC genotypes will increase the chancesof one’s offspring possessing more MHC alleles, increasing the offspring’s immunocompetence
against various types of pathogens. Although the sample size of our study is limited, the results
suggest the possibility of MHC-based disassortative mating in the Japanese golden eagle. Specificmechanisms underlying our findings are yet to be investigated, but it is possible that MHC
dissimilarity in breeding pairs leads to lowered pre-hatching death rates in chicks, thereby
increasing hatching success. These results are valuable for informing future captive breedingplans, as well as understanding trends in reproductive success in the wild. We hope to apply thisinformation towards in-situ and ex-situ conservation of the Japanese golden eagle.

O3

Roosting Dynamics Predicted by Nepotism in a Cooperatively
Breeding Bird
Fumiaki Y. Nomano1*
1

Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, Sokendai, The Graduate University for Advanced
Studies, Hayama, Japan*

fumiaki.nomano@gmail.com

Family living is a stepping stone to higher sociality such as cooperative breeding.
Nepotism has been suggested to promote family living but evidence is scarce.
Nepotistic interactions may occur during any group activities that enhance fitness ofgroup members but entail a potential of unequal sharing of such benefits. I studied
huddle roosting in the chestnut-crowned babbler, Pomatostomus ruficeps, acooperatively breeding bird endemic to the semi-arid zone in south-eastern Australia.
Group members sleep in a roost nest and save night-time energy loss through huddlinginside. However, birds near the entrance hole may not gain from the huddling as muchas the rest of the group. Roosting behaviour of identified individuals was monitored,
using a PIT (passive integrated transponder)-tag detection system. Late-entering
individuals were more likely to exit earlier in the morning, and had a higher chance ofcoming close to the entrance hole during the night. A closer look at tag records during
roost entrance revealed tag detection patterns in line with competition over earlier
entrance. Subordinate females unrelated to the dominant pair was later to enter than allother social classes. These roosting dynamics are likely to reflect the nepotistic
interaction during which immigrants are disadvantaged in securing a favourable
roosting position in the nest. Because most dispersers join existing social groups in thisspecies, such selective exclusion of immigrants from the central huddle can be a cost ofdispersal promoting family group formation via delayed dispersal.

O4

Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Reinforcement Learning via Eligibility
TracesYutaro Sato1*
1

Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan*sato.yutaro.76w@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Associating an action with its outcome lies at the core of animal learning. It becomes difficult
when the outcome is delayed in time and other decision-making events occur between the causal
action and its outcome, raising so-called credit-assignment problem. In the framework of
reinforcement learning, one solution for this is by means of eligibility trace. It keeps past actions
eligible for value update for a while according to the elapsed time since its occurrence. Learning
mechanisms like this may play a determinant role in regulating timescale of animal learning
abilities. Experiments with humans have shed light on roles played by eligibility traces in learning
by using behavioral tasks that are specifically designed for that aim. This approach is useful tobetter know the properties of eligibility trace like the speed of its decay while suppressing
contributions of other learning mechanisms. However, this line of research is lacking in
nonhuman animal literature. Here, following a previous human study, I devised a delayedfeedback task tailored to nonhuman animals and examined whether chimpanzees (Pantroglodytes) could solve this task using a touchscreen experiment. In this task, participants needed
to learn the value of three choice options. A food reward was delivered depending on participant
choices, but the choices did not affect which options are presented in following trials, that is, statetransitions were independent of actions. Of particular interest was whether participants could
appropriately learn the value of an option associated with a delayed reward. The results show thattwo of five chimpanzee participants could learn it appropriately, indicating that at least some
chimpanzees can learn by utilizing their action history via mechanisms like eligibility traces, as
humans can. Further, three human participants underwent basically the same task, and all of them
could learn much faster than those chimpanzees. This highlights a potential inter-species
difference between chimpanzees and humans, although it is difficult to conclude it and, inparticular, which aspect of learning process differs between the species, due to the small sample
size.

O5

Oxytocin Promotes Species-relevant Outgroup Attention in Bonobos
and Chimpanzee
James Brooks1*, Fumihiro Kano1, and Shinya Yamamoto1,2
1
2

Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Institute for Advanced Study, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan*

jamesgerardbrooks@gmail.com

The hormone neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) has attracted considerable research attention overthe last decade for its role in human ingroup-outgroup psychology. However, comparative
research on the evolutionary basis of OT’s role in intergroup relations is lacking. Bonobos andchimpanzees are humans’ two closest relatives and display remarkable differences in intergrouprelations, with lethal intergroup aggression led by males in chimpanzees and largely tolerant
intergroup associations led by females in bonobos. Previous research has found that bonobos
preferentially attend to ingroup females and chimpanzees to ingroup males, that OT is released inadvance of chimpanzee border patrols, and that exogenous OT affects the two species’ social
attention differently. We thus compared the effect of OT on group-based social attention. We
found that OT selectively shifted attention toward the outgroup in the sex primarily involved inintergroup encounters, eliminating the bias found in previous studies. This demonstrates that
despite their divergent patterns of intergroup relations OT promotes outgroup attention in bothbonobos and chimpanzees in species-relevant ways. We thus suggest the OT system may have aconserved role in hominid intergroup relations but supports the evolution of divergent speciesrelevant instantiations.

O6

The Effect of ‘Brightness Contrast’ in Luminance Discrimination
Tasks for Chimpanzees and Killer Whales
Ayumu Santa 1*, Ikuma Adachi 1and Koji Kanda 2
1

Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan
2
Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan* santa.ayumu.63u@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Cognitive abilities are products of evolution and are shaped by both phylogenetic andenvironmental factors. In order to examine how environmental factors have affected on
the evolution of cognitive abilities, comparative studies on mammals living in underwater
environment, which is far different from terrestrial environment, are essential.
Cetaceans (dolphins and whales) have been highly adapted to the underwater
environment and have developed their cognitive abilities according to the characteristicsof the environment. While many researches have been conducted on auditory abilities ofcetaceans, it is not well understood how they use their visual abilities. Then, it issuggested that contrast of luminance may play an important role in object recognition of
cetaceans with low visual acuity and no color vision. In order to examine how cetaceans
perceive contrast, I decided to examine whether one of the visual effects called‘brightness contrast’ occurred or not. When the effect of ‘brightness contrast’ is occurred,
contrast of luminance between object and background is enhanced and helps observers toseparate objects visually from background.
In this study, I examined this effect by conducting similar luminance discrimination
tasks for 6 chimpanzees in Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University and 2 killer
whales in Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium. Research aim is to develop a new researchmethod which enables us to conduct visual tasks for killer whales and to examine theeffect of “brightness contrast” in these two species. Through luminance discrimination
tasks, I succeeded to develop a new experimental method for killer whales and the resultsof experiments showed that the effect of ‘brightness contrast’ was observed in both
chimpanzees and 1 killer whale. Therefore, it was suggested that contrast of luminanceplay an important role not only in terrestrial mammals but also in visual objects
recognition of the underwater mammals. In the future, I will examine the magnitude ofthe effect for two species and if possible, conduct comparison between them.

O7

Material Discrimination Based on Concepts in Chimpanzees
Mikuho Yokoyama1*, Ikuma Adachi1
1Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan*yokoyama.mikuho@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Animals including humans live surrounded by a lot of objects made of various materials.
Without touching them, we can effortlessly perceive what materials they made of and tell whatkind of features they have. This ability is known as material discrimination and it helps us to judge
the quality of the objects and make a behavioral decision. A lot of studies found that humans are
extremely good at visual discrimination of materials and the reason is that they have the conceptsof each material. They also show the concepts have shaped by integrating multiple level
information sensed by multiple modalities through the previous experiences and this process isfacilitated by labeling the information by language. Chimpanzees, one of the most evolutionallyclosest species to us, are also surrounded by a lot of materials and discriminate them in their daily
life like us although they do not share any language system with us. Therefore, we conducted two
experiments to chimpanzees to examine how they discriminate materials and whether theirdiscrimination is based on concepts of materials. In the first experiment, we conducted an
identical matching-to-sample task by using images of 6 materials to reveal whether they havevisual sensitivities toward differences between material categories. The results showed not only
did they have the sensitivities, but they spontaneously grouped stimuli by material categories.
Moreover, it is also known that humans integrate multiple levels of visual information from lowlevel one such as luminance or contrast to high-level one such as glossiness or roughness to shapeconcepts of materials. To examine how chimpanzees use the information for their discrimination,
we conducted three kinds of image analysis to stimuli used in the experiment and compared themwith the performances of chimpanzees. The results revealed that they did not solely depend on
low-level information but possibly integrate multiple levels of image information. In the second
experiment, we added auditory stimuli to the first experiment as interferences and theirperformances of visual discrimination were degraded by them. This indicates they perceived
materials not only from vision but also auditory sensation. Together, these findings show thatchimpanzees integrate multiple level of information both within one modality and between
multiple modalities into concepts of materials without labeling by language. This suggests thatmaterial discrimination of humans based on concepts of materials emerged before language
evolution.

O8

Socially Contingent Video Can Facilitate Referential Information
Utilization in Chimpanzees: A Progress Report
Shenwen Xu1*, Ikuma Adachi1
1Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan*

vassxu@gmail.com

Humans are able to recognize out-of-sight events and objects referred by language. For suchreferential information comprehension, social contingency has been implicated as an important
catalyst in early language development. However, it remains unclear whether the role of social
contingency in referential ability is shared in non-linguistic animals. To address this, we tested
whether chimpanzees would utilize referential information more from contingent videos compare
to noncontingent videos. We employed a tool-choice task using two rooms. In the first room,
chimpanzees engaged in a social interaction with the experimenter and watched a food-hiding
event via video. They, then, received a choice task to pick up one of two tools, which is necessary
to get food in the next room. After that, chimpanzees moved to the next room to obtain food using
the tool. Only if they have had the right tool in hand, they can reach and extract the food. Results
showed that only one out of five chimpanzees performed better than expected by chance without
contingent cues, whereas more individuals performed at greater rates with contingent cues. The
data so far suggested that like humans, videos without social contingent cues may not be sufficientfor most of the chimpanzees to comprehend referential information; in contrast, contingent cues
can facilitate it.

O9Feeding Decisions Predict Parasite Infectionin Sanctuary-housed Bonobos
Cécile Sarabian1*, Raphaël Belais2 and Andrew J. J. MacIntosh1
1

2

Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan
Amis des Bonobos du Congo, Lola ya Bonobo Sanctuary, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo*sarabiancecile@gmail.com

Intense selection pressure from parasites on free-living animals has resulted in behavioral
adaptations that help potential hosts avoid sources of infection. In primates, such ‘behavioral
immunity’ is expressed in different contexts and may vary according to the ecology of the host,the nature of the infectious agent, and the individual itself. In this study, we investigated how thesensitivity of sanctuary-housed bonobos toward surrounding contaminated food associates withlevels of parasite infection. To do this, we assessed bonobos’ responses to soil- and fecallycontaminated food in behavioral experiments, and then compared the results with an estimate ofprotozoan infection across individuals. We found that aversion toward contaminated foodcorrelated negatively with Balantioides coli infection, a potentially pathogenic protozoantransmitted through the fecal-oral route. This relationship was mainly observed in experiments
involving intermediate and low levels of contamination. In the case of high contamination, mostsubjects were aversive to the presented food item and this may have mitigated any relationshipbetween feeding decisions and infection. We controlled for factors such as age category and sex
in our statistical models of infection to avoid potential confounds. The behavioral immunity
observed may be a consequence of the direct effects of parasites (infection), reflecting the firstscale of a landscape of disgust: individual responses. Indirect effects of parasites, such as loweredfood consumption and reduced social interactions, are also discussed in light of individual fitness
and primate evolution.

O10

Evaluation of a Novel Activity Monitor for Captive
Japanese Macaques (Macaca fuscata)Vanessa N. Gris1*, Yuto Sawada1, Akihisa Kaneko1, Juri Suzuki1,
Makoto Yamamoto2, Takako Miyabe-Nishiwaki1
1

Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan
2

Japan Animal Referral Medical Center, Kanagawa, Japan*gris.vanessa.23n@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Accelerometers are non-invasive activity monitors that provide real-time data on the frequency,
duration and intensity of physical activities. While it does not describe the exact behavior, an
increase or decrease in the amount of activity suggests modification of the routine, leading to theinvestigation of the cause.
So far, validity and reliability of a novel veterinary monitor (Plus Cycle®, JARMeC, Kanagawa,Japan) have been reported in cats. Given that captive macaques are in constant observation
regarding their health status and stress levels, non-invasive monitoring is valuable tool for the
improvement of welfare in captivity. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between
activity monitor physical activity count and directly observed behavior. Three healthy female
macaques (8.4 kg – 10.3 kg; 9 years old) housed in pairs in indoor cages were evaluated. The
accelerometer was accommodated in a double-layer hand-made nylon collar and put in themacaque’s neck. The accelerometer epoch was set at 1 minute and data was expressed as counts
per minute. The behavior was assessed by videorecording each macaque using an infrared nightvision camera (CAM-3, UENO-JP, Japan) from 17:00 to 10:00 for 8 days. Video were analyzed
to define four levels of activity: rest (0; no movement of the trunk), light (1; short movements oftrunk and limbs), moderate (2; movement of trunk and limbs, eventual walk, body shake orscratch), vigorous (3; prolonged period of walk, jump, scratch, body shake). In a second video
analysis, accelerometer and videos were synchronized and three hundred minutes were randomly
selected to be classified from 1 to 3 according to the activity level observed.
Linear regression showed a Pearson’s correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.8316, indicating a highcorrelation between measured activity count and activity observed. Video observation showedthat the macaques were restless and frequently touched the adapted collar on the first day. Alongthe week the signs of discomfort decreased gradually, indicating that a period of acclimatation isnecessary. Cage mates did not try to touch or bite the collar from one another. Preliminary results
suggest that Plus Cycle® can be used to quantify spontaneous activity and activity intensity incaptive macaques.
This is an ongoing study and data is being collected to determine the activity profile, accuracy
for jumping measurement, optimal sampling interval and suitability of the device for the species
in this type of housing condition.

O11

Exploring Non-invasive Methods to Better Understand the StressResponse of Japanese Macaques (Macaca fuscata)Nelson Broche Jr.
Social Systems Evolution Section, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan
broche.nelson.63a@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp

What is stress? Although we all have an intuitive understanding, the concept of stress canbe difficult to precisely define. From a biological perspective, stress is often described as
any environmental, social, and/or physiological demand placed on an organism thatunbalances its natural regulatory state. A primary physiological system for studying stressis the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which when activated releases cortisol,a hormone that adaptively responds to stress in order to return the body back tohomeostatic balance. However, due to the biological costs of this response, frequent or
chronic release of stress-related hormones can become maladaptive and result in immune
dysregulation, impaired cognitive abilities, and as often reported in captive non-humanprimates an increase in self-injurious behavior. Therefore, studying the stress response of
non-human primates may provide us with strategies to more effectively manage the healthof populations under human care. Japanese macaques are closely interconnected withhuman activities such as being kept in captivity; whether in zoos and research facilities,
or even provisioned at monkey parks, where they often naturally inhabit areas near local
human populations. This species is ideal for developing and applying non-invasive tools
to better monitor their stress in a wider range of environmental contexts. This talk will
cover several of my projects that have aimed to monitor stress throughout both short- andlong-term periods in Japanese macaques using non-invasive methodologies to analyze
stress hormones found in saliva or feces. In the first study, a method for cooperative saliva
collection was developed in captive individuals in order to explore the temporal dynamics
of salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) enzyme in relation to acute, or short-term stress. In
human studies, sAA levels are shown to be positively correlated with increases of thehormone norepinephrine, allowing sAA to act as a biomarker for sympathetic nervous
system (SNS) activity. The SNS is associated with the fight-or-flight response and is aseparate but parallel stress response system to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)
axis. Similar to human studies, we found sAA responds quickly to mild stress in Japanesemacaques. Next, I will briefly report on an ongoing project where cooperative saliva
collection was expanded to the semi wild population of Japanese macaques on the islandof Koshima, Miyazaki. Focal individuals were continuously followed to record
behavioral data and saliva samples were collected after behaviors such as grooming,
conspecific aggression, and foraging. This project aims to determine both cortisol andsAA concentrations in saliva in order to better understand acute stress in a wild setting.
Finally, I will report on an ongoing study that tracked fecal cortisol concentrations andbehavior over 6 weeks in a captive population to better understand the relationshipbetween environmental factors and stress within a captive setting.

O12Play Escalation in Japanese Macaques: It is a Matter of Relative Rank
and Relative Age
Sakumi Iki1*, Nobuyuki Kutsukake1
1

Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies,
SOKENDAI, Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan* sakumi.iki@gmail.com

The question of how animal communication fails has received much less attention than thequestion of how animals successfully communicate. Using data from a group of Japanesemacaques (Macaca fuscata), this study focused on escalation from play fighting into serious
fighting as an incident of communication breakdown. We defined an individual who expressed
negative responses (e.g. screaming) when play escalated as the “victim”, and the other as the“aggressor”. We found that when play escalated, individuals with lower ranks or younger
individuals were more likely to be victims compared to their play partners. These results impliedthat play escalation was likely to be caused by the disproportionate use of force by relatively
higher-ranked or older players. We also found that victims’ post-escalation behaviors varied
according to the dominance relationships with the aggressors. That is, victims with higher
rankings than aggressors were more likely to counterattack their counterparts immediately after
escalation, while victims with lower rankings were more likely to evade their counterparts.
Overall, our results suggest that dominance relationships between individuals become manifest
upon escalation.

O13

Examining Long Bone Phenotypic Plasticity: A Case Study of Skeletal
Differences between Northern and Southern Japanese Macaques
Rose Leach1*, Dexter Zirkle1, Takeshi Nishimura2, Richard Meindl2, Mary Ann Raghanti2, andOwen Lovejoy1,21Department of Anthropology, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA
Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan2*

rleach9@kent.edu

Neanderthals exhibit a robust somatotype, thick cortical diaphyseal bone, shorter limb, andlarger thoraxes, relative to modern humans. While phenotypic differences could be a result of a
distinct genome, they may also reflect somatic plasticity in response to colder climates.
Geographical rules developed by Bergmann and Allen state that mammals in warmer
temperatures have a reduced thorax and longer limbs to aid in heat dissipation, whereas the robust
thorax and shorter limbs in cold climates serve to conserve heat. Japanese macaques have a longer
period of developmental exposure to their immediate environment and reside in areas of Japan
ranging from the colder regions of northern Honshu to the hot climates in southern regions like
Yakushima Island, providing an opportunity to examine these theories. Climate may affectJapanese macaque skeletal ontogeny, implying some level of plasticity and/or cold climate
adaptation. Therefore, we expect northern Japanese macaques will exhibit significant differencesin osteological architecture from southern Japanese macaques. This study sampled adultmacaques (M. fuscata fuscata and M. fuscata yakui, n=85) from the Kyoto University Primate
Research Institute Skeletal Collection. Sex-balanced data for each macaque were collected using
osteometrics. Preliminary plots show minimal variation in limb length between groups and noclear cline with increasing temperature. The results suggest that the cline does not exist, in part,due to the limited range in climate used in the study.

O14

Female Fertility Rates between Subspecies of Captive Rhesus
Macaques
Emilee Hart1,2*, Hans-Michael Kubisch2, Kathrine Falkenstein2 and Richard Meindl212Anthropology, Kent State University, Kent, OH, United States
Veterinary Medicine, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA, United States*ehart14@kent.edu

Other than humans, Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) are the most widely dispersed primate
species covering a geographic range from as far west as Afghanistan to the eastern Chinese coast.
Previous studies have compared female fertility rates among macaque species and has shown thatthe sinica group was more prolific than the fascicularis group, but these studies did not separate
the M. mulatta species into their subspecies which represent the extremes of their geographic
range. The current study focuses on two of the subspecies of captive M. mulatta: Indian-derived
and Chinese-derived housed within the long-established breeding colony at the Tulane National
Primate Research Center (TNPRC) in southeastern Louisiana to determine whether the average
number of female infants produced by a female (GRR) is consistent with previous findings. This
study will also compare the m(x) fertility curves between this subspecies and other macaquespecies in previous literature.
The records of 840 Indian-derived and 217 Chinese-derived females spanning a 30-year period
were analyzed to establish whether they had given birth while belonging to a designated age group.
Results show that the GRR is 3.801 for Indian-derived and 2.246 for Chinese-derived. The resultsof this study are compared to the female fertility rates found in the wild M. mulatta population in
Florida and the captive population at CPRC.

O15

Species-specific Loss of Function of Melanocortin-1 Receptor Gene
(MC1R) in Seven Endemic Species in Sulawesi Island

Xiaochan YAN *1, Kanthi Arum Widayati 2, Fahri Bajeber3, Laurentia Henrieta Permita Sari
Purba2, Bambang Suryobroto2, Yohey Terai4, Hiroo Imai1
1 Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan;
2 Department of Biology, Bogor Agricultural University, Bogor, Indonesia;
3Department of Biology, Tadulako University, Palu, Indonesia
4Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Hayama , Japan*

yanxch3@outlook.com

The melanocortin-1 receptor gene (MC1R) encodes a G-protein coupled receptor andplays a key role in regulating synthesis of the dark eumelanin and the red/yellow
pheomelanin in mammals. Mutations in MC1R have been shown to cause changes fromlight to dark in coat color. Several gain-of-function in MC1R result in increased
production of eumelanin in coat, whereas loss-of-function mutations result in increased
pheomelanin production, including red hair in human. Sulawesi macaques are sevenendemic species in Sulawesi island. Distinguishing from the other macaques, Sulawesi
macaques commonly have dark coat color, with variation on color brightness and color
pattern. To understand whether MC1R is related to the coat variation in Sulawesi
macaques, we investigated nucleotide sequences of MC1R gene from total 54 individuals.
We identified 26 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), of which 10 SNPs resulted in
species-specific nonsynonymous variants. All the 10 nonsynonymous substitutions
responsible for six species-specific haplotypes, while M. ocheata and M. brunescens
shared the amino acid haplotype. We predicted that 5 amino acid substitutions to theconsensus sequence do affect MC1R function. To clarify the effect of the substitutions,
we tested the functional property of agonist α-MSH binding activity of fixed variants ineach species. We found that species-specific MC1R variants exhibited partial loss-offunction in either agonist sensitivity or basal activity. Specifically, MC1R of M. maura
exhibited extremely low basal activity and low sensitivity to agonist, highly
corresponding to its light coat color. The changes in MC1R function are not simply
associated with coat color in the other six species. Our results suggested that fixation of
MC1R occurred among Sulawesi macaques, and MC1R variants evolved into different
functional characteristic among species. The apparent of loss-of-function MC1R variants
in Sulawesi macaques suggested that MC1R may have other important functions which
are unique to each species.

O16

Staring “Death” in the Face: Chimpanzees’ Attention towards
Conspecific Skulls and the Implications of a Face-module Guiding thisBehavior
André Gonçalves1*, Ikuma Adachi1,
1

Language and Intelligence Section, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japana.gnclves@gmail.com

Chimpanzees exhibit a variety of behaviors surrounding their dead ranging from several physicalinteractions to stationing around for extended periods and even revisiting the corpse. Much lessis known how they behave around or even if they show any interest in conspecific skeletons. In
an important contribution to the field of comparative thanatology, McComb and colleagues(2006), noticing wild elephants’ natural propensity to interact with conspecific skeletons, devised
an experiment whereupon they measured the elephant’s responses towards conspecific skulls andivory, using other controls such as buffalo and rhinoceros’ skulls and similar sized chunks ofwood. Their conclusions supported the notion that African bush elephants are significantly more
attentive towards conspecific stimuli than not, therefore suggesting some conspecific recognition
phenomenon taking place, due to the limitations of their study, McComb and colleagues could
not control for factors such as color, luminosity and size. By means of a looking-time paradigm
in chimpanzees, we tested their visual attention towards conspecific and non-conspecific skulls(cat, chimp, dog, rat), shown simultaneously in four corners of a screen in distinct positions(frontal, diagonal and lateral). Additionally, both faces and skull shaped stones of these animals
were used following the same methods. Overall, chimpanzees where attracted to conspecificrelated stimuli. The results show that 1) chimpanzees are significantly attracted towards
conspecific skulls , particularly forward faced and to a lesser extent diagonally; 2) they are
significantly attracted to conspecific faces in forward and diagonal angles; 3) they show a higher
looking trend towards conspecific skull-shaped stones facing forward but non-significantly and;4) similarly to elephants, within forward facing skull stimuli (diagonal/frontal), chimpanzees
show significant interest in teeth which are a visible cue for live conspecific faces. We suggest
chimpanzee skulls still retain relevant, albeit impoverished, face-like features that arguably
activate a domain specific face-module in the chimpanzee’s brain, guiding their attention to them.
Although, unlike wild chimpanzees, but perhaps notably, these captive subjects have neverinteracted with conspecific skeletons, this study proposes that, apart from learned, similar interest
exhibited by wild chimpanzees towards conspecific skulls can be explained by the same
recognition mechanism.

O17

Re-evaluate Ethno-Ornithological Recognitions of Kazakh Eagle
Falconry for Conservation of Golden Eagle, Western Mongolia

Takuya Soma1*
1

Hakubi Center (affiliated. Wildlife Research Center), Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan*soma.takuya.6z@kyoto-u.ac.jp

There are deep history of human and raptors interactions between Kazakh eagle hunters andGolden Eagle in the Altai Mountains. Eagle masters only tame female one, and they are release
to wild again after 4~5 year (after sexual maturity). Their art and knowledge for taming eagles
and, hunting strategy, are irreplaceable unique folklore, so called traditional ecological knowledge(T.E.K.), fostered centuries-lasting culture amongst the Kazakh nomadic herding community.
That knowledge always includes connotations for sustainable interactions with Golden Eagles. I
will discuss about how we should integrate unique taming art and knowledge accumulated by
Kazakh eagle hunters into conservation of Golden Eagles. The presentation shows concrete
ethnography of Kazakh eagle masters living in Sagsai village in Bayan-Ulgii Province, Mongolia.
The main focus of this presentation is to discuss that taming procedures of Golden Eagle may be,in some point, benefit to develop a total survivability of tamed eagles. Once tamed eagle canobtain non-humanphobic nature, at the same time, accepts wide range of dietary palatability due
to adaptation to unusual foods (such as dead meat, fish, dog, cattle, etc.). This presentation showsa potential case study implementing the actor-integrated wildlife conservation, in reference toethno-ornithological recognitions inherited by deep cultural contacts between Kazakh eagle
hunters and Golden Eagles.

O18

The Planet and Humans at a Crossroad and SDGs
Ambassador Masahiko Horie
Special Assistant to the Foreign Minister of Japan
Special Advisor to the President of Meiji University
The Planet and Humans are at a crossroads. The world population is over 7 billion today andwill be reaching 10 billion in the near future. We need to alleviate poverty of over ten billion
people in the world by supporting their economic development.
However, many developing countries’ endeavors for their nation building, in many cases, leadto further deterioration of environment and huge biodiversity loss.
At this lecture, we will review this conflict between Development and Environment including
problems of global warming and consider what we should do to save this Planet, Humans andBiodiversity. All the peoples of the world need to uphold the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) which was adopted at United Nations in 2015.

O19

The First Reference Genome for the Antechinus Genus Provides a
Resource for Investigating the Genetic Basis of Semelparity and Agerelated Neuropathologies
Parice A. Brandies1*, Simon Tang1, Robert S.P. Johnson2, Carolyn J. Hogg1, Katherine Belov1
1

School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South
Wales, Australia
2
Zoologica: Veterinary and Zoological Consulting, Millthorpe, New South Wales, Australia*

parice.brandies@sydney.edu.au

Antechinus are a genus of mouse-like marsupials that are distributed throughout Australia and
New Guinea and possess a number of unique characteristics that warrant further investigation.
For example, Antechinus exhibit a rare reproductive strategy known as semelparity whereby
increased levels of corticosteroids during the annual breeding season results in extreme resource
shifts from immunity to reproduction, resulting in a complete die-off of all males in the weeks
following mating. Additionally, antechinus have been found to naturally develop age-related
neuropathologies similar to that of humans, suggesting that they may be a suitable model for
Alzheimer’s disease. A reference genome is key to exploring how the unique traits of theantechinus may be encoded at the genetic level. We provide the first annotated antechinus
reference genome for the brown antechinus (Antechinus stuartii). The reference genome is 3.3Gb
in size with a scaffold N50 of 73Mb and 93.3% complete mammalian BUSCOs. Using
bioinformatic methods we assign scaffolds to chromosomes and identify 0.78Mb of Ychromosome scaffolds representing the largest amount of Y-chromosome sequence data available
for any marsupial species. Comparative genomics revealed interesting expansions in the NMRK2
gene and the protocadherin gamma family, which have previously been associated with aging andage-related dementias respectively. Transcriptome data from a variety of tissues displayed
expression of common Alzheimer’s related genes in the antechinus brain and highlight thepotential of utilising the antechinus as a disease model. The first antechinus reference genome
will promote future research that could have large implications for both humans and other wildlife.

O20

Characterising the Gut Microbiomes in Wild and Captive Shortbeaked Echidnas Reveals Diet-Associated Changes
Tahlia Perry1*, Ella West1, Raphael Eisenhofer2, Alan Stenhouse1, Isabella Wilson1, Belinda
Laming3, Peggy Rismiller1,4, Michelle Shaw3, Frank Grützner1*
1

Environment Institute, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005,
Australia
3
Perth Zoo, 20 Labouchere Road, South Perth, WA 6151, Australia
4
Pelican Lagoon Research and Wildlife Centre, Penneshaw, SA 5222, Australia
5
Taronga Wildlife Nutrition Centre, Taronga Conservation Society Australia, Mosman, NSW 2088,
Australia

2*tahlia.perry@adelaide.edu.au

The short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) is an iconic Australian animal as one of
only three egg-laying mammals alongside the long-beaked echidna and the platypus. The shortbeaked echidna is the most widespread native mammal in Australia and commonly held in zoos,
however, much of their biology is still unknown as they are cryptic animals making them difficult
to study in the wild. To combat this, we developed an Australia-wide citizen science project,
EchidnaCSI, to gather population data and scat material to perform molecular analysis on.
Through this innovative approach and in combination with collaborations with Taronga and PerthZoos, we investigated for the first time the gut microbiomes of wild and captive-held echidnas.
This research revealed a high level of variability in echidna gut microbiomes between individuals
and locations, and a major divergence between echidnas held in zoos in comparison to their wild
conspecifics. Echidna gut microbiomes are mostly dominated by taxa belonging to the phyla
Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidota, Actinobacteriota, and Fusobacteriota. Althoughechidnas are often mistakenly categorised as myrmecophagous mammals (diet consisting mostlyof ants and termites), their gut microbiome consists of many putative plant-fermenting bacteria,suggesting plant matter may play a significant role in their diet. This first analysis of echidna gut
microbiome highlights extensive microbial diversity in wild echidnas and changes in microbiome
composition in managed populations as well as changes as a result of different diets. This is a firststep towards using microbiome analysis to better understand gastrointestinal biology and improve
management in these iconic animals.

O21

Stress Monitoring in Captive Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) Using
Urinary Cortisol Concentration
Kodzue Kinoshita1* and Etsuko Miyakawa2
1

2

Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Kanazawa Zoological Gardens, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan*kinoshita.kodzue.8v@kyoto-u.ac.jp

In many species, environmental changes and physiological changes are considered to
be factors that cause stress in individuals. The health status, including stress in captive
animals, is often monitored by observing changes in behavior such as facial expression
and appetite, and the state of excrement. However, koalas sleep for an average of 18 to
20 hours a day making it is difficult to interpret their expressions and to note small
behavioral changes. Therefore, behavioral observations alone cannot determine theirhealth condition, including stress. We evaluated whether measuring cortisol
concentration can capture their stress status using urine. Fresh urine samples werecollected from six adult koalas at the Kanazawa Zoological Gardens for two years from
October 2015 to November 2017 (n = 865) and preserved at -20 °C. After centrifuging
the urine thawed at room temperature, the cortisol concentration was measured by enzyme
immunoassay, and the value corrected by the creatinine level was used. In addition, their
behaviors were also recorded, and their relationship with the cortisol values was evaluated.
Our result showed that the urinary cortisol concentration was significantly high during
the periods related to estrus, pairing with a male, delivery, and illness. In addition, theday after the construction of their exhibition, the cortisol concentration was high. Thissuggests that the urinary cortisol concentration clearly reflected the physiological stressof koalas.

O22

What is the Favorite Leaf for Koalas: Koalas’ Diet Preference andWelfare Studies in Japan
Tadatoshi Ogura1
1

School of Veterinary Medicine, Kitasato University, Aomori, Japan* togura@vmas.kitasato-u.ac.jp

Environmental education and scientific research on wild animals are included in the missionsof many modern zoos. Nevertheless, most Japanese zoos have limitations in terms of manpowerand budget costs to conduct education programs and research activities independently. Similarly,
educational facilities, such as universities, have difficulties in keeping their own collections ofwild animals for academic investigation and classroom education. Therefore, our laboratory, at
Kitasato University, has worked together with zoos on educational and research activities
focusing on animal behavior and environmental enrichment. The project did not involve only
researchers, but also students and zoo staff members too, producing the durable educational andresearch benefits.
As one of our research activities, we have studied feeding preference of koalas (Phascolarctos
cinereus). The koala is an arboreal folivore that specialises on the leaves of Eucalyptus spp.
Although koalas have a strong preference for this diet, the cues used to discriminate between
preferred and unpreferred leaves are still unclear. A series of our studies have investigated what
the factors affecting their preference are. For example, the smelling behavior of koalas wasstudied using a food selection experiment to determine if volatile compounds were related to koala
food selection. The behavioral observation on 10 captive koalas housed in Higashiyama Zoo andKanazawa Zoo, Japan, revealed the subjects ate the leaves more after sniffing than without it,suggesting that volatile compounds may be an important cue when choosing preferred leaves.
Next, four koalas in Higashiyama Zoo were fed a choice of six Eucalyptus leaf species
simultaneously. The duration of the koalas’ feeding behavior and the Eucalyptus species on which
they fed were recorded. The volatile compounds contained in the leaves were investigated using
gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The subsequent multiple
regression analysis showed that the amount of certain volatile compounds such as β-linalool, αthujenal, geranial and so on, the majority of which were classified as a group of secondary
metabolites, terpenes, was related to the foraging duration on leaves, but was expressed differently
for each subject. These results from the behavioral and odorant analyses, namely koalas sniff
leaves before eating or rejecting them and the feeding duration depends on the amount of specificvolatile compounds, suggested that koalas smell the specific volatile compounds when
determining their individually different preference from the available choices. Our researches on
koalas’ feeding preferences will enable captive management caring their diet requirement andwelfare.

P1

Diversity of Gastrointestinal Helminths in Japanese Macaques of the
Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park
Abdullah Langgeng1*, Andrew MacIntosh1
1

Social Systems Evolution, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan*abdullahlanggeng@gmail.com

The Japanese macaque is the most northerly-living non-human primate, distributed fromwarm-temperate to cool-temperate forests across Japan. Like all primates, Japanese macaques
host several kinds of parasites, including helminths, lice, protozoa, etc. Generally, geographicaland climatic factors play important roles in the diversity of gastrointestinal (GI) parasites infecting
a host. Two decades ago, a coprological survey of gastrointestinal helminths infecting Japanesemacaques across their range showed a strong latitudinal gradient in parasite species richness(Gotoh, 2000), mimicking the general pattern of increasing biodiversity approaching the equator.
Our study aimed to replicate this earlier parasitological survey at one of the sites: the Jigokudani
Snow Monkey Park in Nagano, where monkey hot spring bathing behavior occurs. Fecal samples
were collected opportunistically from sixteen adult female macaques of different social ranks
during two study periods: winter 2019 – 2020 and summer 2020. Coproscopic examination of
146 fecal samples collected during both seasons uncovered four species of GI nematodes,
belonging to the genera Trichuris, Streptopharagus, Oesophagostomum, found in all sixteen
subjects, and Strongyloides, found in three subjects. Sample-to-sample prevalence and infection
intensity were variable across the study. Our results demonstrate significantly higher parasite
diversity than was found in the previous study, when only Trichuris was detected in the troop.
Whether our results simply reflect increased sampling effort, methodological improvements,
random variation or recent changes in parasite distribution remains unclear, but further
investigation of other populations of Japanese macaques are now needed to confirm patterns ofparasite biodiversity across Japan.
Keyword: Japanese macaque, gastrointestinal helminths, infectious disease

P2

Selective Foraging of an Arboreal Folivore, the Japanese Giant Flying
Squirrel (Petaurista leucogenys)
Aki Sugita1*, Mayumi Shigeta2, Noriko Hayashi2 and Nobuyuki Kutsukake1
1

Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies,
SOKENDAI, Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan
2
Tama Forest Science Garden, Research and Management Organization, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan*

Sugita_aki@soken.ac.jp

It is widely known that plants contain phytochemicals which act as digestion inhibitor and toxin,
and also that fibers composing plants reduce digestion efficiency. To cope with these difficulties,
folivores show morphological and behavioral adaptation such as having large and long guts andshowing selectivity in their food.
Many arboreal folivores select foraging parts and species based on nutritional content. Japanese
giant flying squirrels are an arboreal folivore that distribute widely in Japan. Similar to otherarboreal folivores, this species has elongated guts and forage wide range of trees species and tree
parts. Still, the criteria of food selectivity remain unclear. For further understanding of giant flying
squirrels’ foraging behavior, their selectivity in food items use needs to be examined.
Fieldworks were conducted at Tama science garden, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan. From July 2017
to June 2019, we searched for food remnants with unique bite marks of giant flying squirrels
under the canopy of all the trees taller than 8m heights within the study site (n=2305). During thetwo years of survey, we obtained 477 food marks form 33 tree species. It was found that theyused various types of trees including arboreal, deciduous, broad leaf and conifer trees. They also
used various tree parts as their food. Statistical analyses will be performed on the selectivity intheir food use.

P4

Longitudinal Study of Chimpanzees’ Working Memory
Akiho Muramatsu
1

Institute for Advanced Study, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan*akiho.muramatsu@gmail.com

With regards to chimpanzees’ working memory, previous studies have revealed that child
chimpanzees have a greater ability than adult chimpanzees and adult humans. These studies foundsimilarities and differences between chimpanzees’ and humans’ memorizing capacities andstrategies. Furthermore, their results suggested that chimpanzees’ working memory might change
throughout their life. There are, however, no longitudinal studies of working memory in a single
chimpanzee. Even in human studies, while there are reports and studies about developmental andaging effects on working memory ability, most studies are based on the comparison of a younggroup and an elder group.
This study aims to chart the change in chimpanzees’ working memory over their life course.
Chimpanzees in Kyoto University Primate Research Institute have participated in memory studies
for more than a decade. I collected and analyzed ten years of data covering the life phase ofchimpanzees from child/sub-adult to adult and from adult to elderly. I will report a progress of
my analysis.

P5High- & Middle-ranked Mothers Aggressively Handle Little Higherranked 2–3-month-old Infants in Yakushima Japanese Macaques(Macaca fuscata yakui)
Boyun Lee1* and Takeshi Furuichi1
1Social System Evolution Section, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan*

lee.boyun.74x@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp

In Yakushima Japanese macaques, females rarely handle other females' infants in aggressive
ways except their behaviors (e.g., foraging, resting) are interrupted by the infants. We, however,found that high- & middle-ranked females aggressively handle others' infants, although they are
not interrupted by the infants. This aggressive infant handling, which is defined as a handlingfollowed by negative responses (e.g., crying, trying to escape) from the infant handled and bycontinuous handling despite the negative responses, has certain characteristics: (a) the handler
handles the infant whose mother is little higher-ranked than her; (b) no lowest-ranked female does
this kind of handling; (c) the handler and the infant are not close relatives; (d) the handler has her
own infant in many cases; (e) the infant handled is 2–3 month old—more immature or moremature infants not aggressively handled in this way.

P6

Preliminary Characterization of Personality and its Genetic Factors in
Two Dog Breeds
Chika Zemmoto1＊, Minori Arahori1, 2, Yuki Matsumoto2, Miho Inoue-Murayama1
1

Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Anicom Specialty Medical Institute Inc., Yokohama, Japan2*zemmoto.chika.48n@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Dogs have lived with humans since ancient times and even today they enrich our lives
as working dogs and as companions. Humans have created various breeds of dogs byselecting not only for their size, hair and shape but also for their behavioral characteristics.
Their intraspecific differences in personality are well known. Understanding individual
differences is important in pet-keeping, so it would be useful to know their personalities
in advance. Therefore, survey of genetic polymorphisms and their effect on differencesin personality among dog breeds is important.
In this study, we aimed to investigate the genetic contribution to dog personality. We
examined the relationship of personality and genotypes in two dog breeds, Miniature
Dachshunds and Toy Poodles, which were selected because of their popularity andaccessibility to large sample sizes compared to other breeds. We conducted aquestionnaire survey of 169 Miniature Dachshunds and 257 Toy Poodles enrolled inAnicom pet insurance. The questionnaires consisted of 39 items and were collected alongwith swab samples. We performed exploratory factor analyses on the questionnaire datafrom each breed. The results suggested that the breeds had different numbers of
personality factors, indicating that each breed should be treated separately in future
personality studies. We checked the candidate genes in these breeds and found weakassociations between androgen receptor short repeat variants and high “aggressiveness”
in both breeds. Then we performed genome-wide association studies on all personality
factors in each breed and found novel SNPs which may be related to “dog-directedsociability” in Miniature Dachshunds and “carelessness” and “aggressiveness” in Toy
Poodles.

P8

Macaque Y-chromosome Introgression: Bioinformatic Analysis of Y‐
Chromosome Proteins in Macaca mulatta, M. fascicularis, and their
Indochinese Hybrids
Cody A. Ruiz1*, Morgan E. Chaney1, Masanoria Imamura2, Hiroo Imai2, and Anthony J. Tosi1
12

Dept. of Anthropology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA
Dept. of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi,Japan*cruiz3@kent.edu

Species in the genus Macaca typically live in multimale‐multifemale social groups withmale macaques exhibiting some of the largest testis: body weight ratios among primates.
Males are believed to experience intense levels of sperm competition. Several
spermatogenesis genes are located on the Y‐chromosome and, interestingly, occasional
hybridization between two species has led to the introgression of the rhesus macaque(Macaca mulatta) Y‐chromosome deep into the range of the long‐tailed macaque(M. fascicularis). These observations have led to the prediction that the successful
introgression of the rhesus Y‐haplotype is due to functional differences inspermatogenesis genes compared to those of the native long‐tailed Y‐haplotype. We
examine here four Y‐chromosomal loci—RBMY, XKRY, and two nearly identical copiesof CDY—and their corresponding protein sequences. The genes were surveyed in
representative animals from north of, south of, and within the rhesus x long‐tailed
introgression zone. Our results show a series of non‐synonymous amino acid substitutions
present between the two Y‐haplotypes. Protein structure modeling via I‐TASSER
revealed different folding patterns between the two species' Y‐proteins, and functional
predictions via TreeSAAP further reveal physicochemical differences resulting from non‐synonymous substitutions. These differences inform our understanding of the evolutionof primate Y‐proteins involved in spermatogenesis and primate speciation.

P10

Behavioral Synchronization: Timing of Urination among Captive
Chimpanzees

Ena Onishi1*, Sota Inoue1, James Brooks1 and Shinya Yamamoto2
1
2

Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study, Kyoto, Japan*

enaonishi@gmail.com

Behavioral synchronization, including phenomena such as contagious yawning andfacial mimicry, has gained increased scientific attention. It is a fundamental ability
required for social animals to maintain group cohesion and operate in collective behavior.
This study examined the possibility of synchronized urination in captive chimpanzees(Pan troglodytes). To our knowledge, no previous study has examined such aphenomenon. We aimed to quantitatively demonstrate the existence of synchronizedurination of captive chimpanzees. We then investigated the effects of social closeness onsuch synchronization to investigate possible mechanisms of the phenomenon. We
observed 4 groups of captive chimpanzees (N=20) for cumulative 421 hours at
Kumamoto Sanctuary. We recorded all urinations with a resolution of 1 second as wellas grooming interactions and physical proximity at 2-minute intervals. The observed
results were then compared to a simulation (100 sessions) of random urination timings.
We found synchronizations within 68 seconds occurred at a higher rate than predicted by
the simulation. We did not find a clear relationship with social bond strength so far, whichneeds further investigation with larger sample size.

P11

The Development of Mother-Calf Interactions in Wild Harbour
Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) Studied with Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles (UAVs)
Gema Palacino-Gonzalez *, Sara Torres Ortiz, Magnus Wahlberg
Institute of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M, Denmark*

gpalacinobio@hotmail.com

Studying cetacean behaviour in the wild can be difficult, due to the aquatic lifestyle and wide
distribution of these animals. One of the less known species is the harbour porpoise (Phocoena
phocoena). Significant gaps still remain in our understanding of the behaviour and developmentof the species. Such information is of great importance for protecting porpoises, especially calvesduring the most vulnerable period of their life cycle. Unmanned aerial vehicles or drones represent
an innovative and effective way to observe cetaceans in their natural environment. The aim of
this study was to assess the affiliative relationship of mother-calf pairs by measuring the lengthand relationship (in terms of distances) between the mother and her calf in two different periodsof the neonate´s life cycle. Data analysis was performed from drone-based video recordings withthe help of Drone Video Measure software, a new computer program developed at the Universityof Southern Denmark (SDU Dronecenter. Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Instituttet). Results show
that, during the first months after birth, calves stayed significantly closer to their mother andsynchronized their breathing with her more often than during the final part of the lactation period.
This shows that the bond between the mother and her calf is strongest during the first months after
birth and gradually decrease during lactation. This has important implications for our
understanding of harbour porpoise behaviour and how to design relevant and adequate
conservation measures for the species.
Keywords: mother-calf pair; harbour porpoise, unmanned aerial vehicle, drone, social
behaviour, affiliation, photogrammetry.

P12

Gene Expression Analysis in a Hylobates lar Brain:
Toward the Elucidation of the Molecular Mechanism of SongHana Goto1*, Takao Oishi2, Yasuhiro Go3, Takashi Hayakawa4,5
1

Division of Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido,Japan
2
Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan
3
Cognitive Genomics Research Group, Exploratory Research Center on Life and Living Systems(ExCELLS), National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan
4
Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
5
Japan Monkey Centre, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan*

hanapon-gto33@eis.hokudai.ac.jp

Gibbons (Hylobatidae, Primates) are a group belonging to Hominoidea. Theymorphologically, karyologically are classified into four distinct genera (Hoolock,
Hylobates, Nomascus, and Symphalangus). They are extremely arboreal and inhabit insubtropical to tropical rainforest of Southeast Asia. They mainly use forest canopy andform specialized locomotion using their long upper limbs, which is called brachiation.
Their species-specific, sex-specific vocalization, called the song, is also unique among
primates. Some gibbon species perform duet between heterosexual pairs. It was reported
that hybrid gibbons indicated a significant genetic component of the song (Brockelman
and Schilling, 1984). Many studies of the gibbon song have been conducted based on the
acoustic analysis, but few on the molecular analysis. To investigate the genetic basis of
the song, we comprehensively analyzed mRNA from several brain regions of a deceased
Hylobates lar using a next-generation sequencer (RNAseq). We identified gene
expressions potentially involved in vocalization, such as FOXP2. We will discuss thedifference of gene expression patterns among the regions in terms of neural development
and regulation of the gibbon song.

P13

Does Over-marking Effective on Mate Search? A Mathematical
Simulation
Hiroto Yoshimura1*, Sota Inoue1, Satoshi Hirata1 and Kodzue Kinoshita1
1Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan*

hrt.yoshimura@gmail.com

Scent marking is a common behavior among animals. For instance, felids leave scentmarks with urine, feces or glandular secretions. When mammals encounter a scent-markof another individual, they often place their own scent-mark on top of or very close to it.
This phenomenon is known as “over-marking”. Over-marking occurs among individuals
in various relationships such as breeding pairs, same-sex competitors, social groupmembers and sometimes different species. In this study, we focused on scentcommunication among different sexes. Although function of over-marking withindifferent sexes is still uncertain, mate-attraction has been suggested to be one of thepossible functions of this phenomenon. Especially for solitary animals which have broad
activity ranges, scent marks can be an important tool to acquire information about location
and reproductive status of potential mates. Several studies reported that marking
frequency increased during the mating season among various species, supporting the roleof scent marking in mating. However, few studies investigated the effect of over-marking
on mate search.
The present study hypothesized that over-marking is effective to efficiently encountermates. We compared the efficiency of mate search of individual animals performing overmarking with that of individual animals not performing over-marking in silico under avariety of conditions. The preliminary results indicated that over-marking might beeffective to reduce time and traveled distance to encounter another individual. Althoughin silico analyses do not completely reflect actual movements of animals, the present
study provides insights into adaptive significance of over-marking in the context of matesearch.

P15Enter SimuNet:a Social Network Simulation Framework, with a Zest of Empiricism
Kenneth Keuk1*, Julie Duboscq2, and Andrew MacIntosh1
1

2

Social Systems Evolution, Kyoto University Primate Research Institute, Inuyama, Japan
UMR7206 Eco-anthropologie et Ethnobiologie, CNRS –MNHN –Paris Diderot, Paris, France*

kenneth.keuk.57m@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic teaches us two things: (1) we need to improve ourunderstanding of disease transmission, especially in wildlife, and (2) pandemics heavily
hamper a researcher’s ability to travel to the field to study wildlife. Should you findyourself stuck in the middle of these two, stick along/fear not! In the last few decades,disease ecology and epidemiology gained great insights from empirically-inspired
simulations. This approach – coined in silico research – allows to test a broad range ofhypotheses under our current best way of modelling biological phenomenon like diseasetransmission. Over the last few decades, animal social network analysis arose as a
powerful tool to describe transmission patterns within interconnected individuals. But
because graph theory – the science of networks – was historically first transposed to more
abstract fields such as computer network or the world wide web, there is currently no
network simulation framework that can accommodate the empiricism of animal social
research. For this purpose, I developed SimuNet, an R package, to flexibly represent thedifferent steps in which empirical and practical considerations can happen in animalsocial network analysis. SimuNet can be used to generate a broad range of weighted
networks taking real-life animal social observations. And because all the smallest
intermediate steps are simulated and can easily be tweaked, social systems now also havea framework in which to test empirical hypotheses in silico. How does your choice of
behavioural sampling affect your results? What happens when you tend to miss theperipheral individuals in a group? What happens to the network when a central individual
disappears? How can this change disease transmission in the group? Now you can addressthese questions as easily as installing a package.

P16

What is “Tameness” in Captive Red Foxes?: with Reference to Selfdomestication Hypothesis
Koki Yoshimura1*
1

Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan*

forest.bwcat@gmail.com

In this study, I re-evaluated the self-domestication hypothesis by observation of foxes’ (Vulpes
vulpes) reactions to humans. Domesticated animal species are known to have some physical andbehavioral traits in common. Such “domestication syndrome” includes feminized head,depigmentation, reduced aggression, enhanced social cognition, etc. Because the similar
syndrome is also found in non-domesticated primates such as bonobos (Pan paniscus) andhumans (Homo sapiens), these species are sometimes said to be “self-domesticated.” The “selfdomestication” process of these primates is often inferred from that of dogs, as the latter is also
said to be self-domesticated in its earliest phase. On the other hand, dogs’ domestication process
has been modeled with a domestication experiment (artificial selection of “tame” animals) of red
foxes. Thus, bypassed by the domestication of dogs, primate “self-domestication” is often
discussed as a process of selection of “tameness.” However, there are two major concerns withthis inference. The first is that the fox domestication experiment was conducted in a confinedenvironment, whereas the self-domestication of dogs should have occurred in an open
environment. The second is that the experiment was conducted by artificial selection, whereas“self-domestication” should have occurred without it. In this study, I observed foxes in the North
Fox Farm, in Hokkaido, Japan, a tourist facility where foxes are kept in a wide enclosure and havefree access to other foxes and human visitors. The Farm do not control the mating of foxes thus
they are not artificially selected. Focal animals were thirteen 0–1-year-old individuals. I recorded
and typified foxes’ reactions to humans (tourists and staff). The principal component analysis
showed that fearful responses (escape) and friendly responses (contact and approach) were notopposite reactions. Rather, the opposite of the friendly responses appeared to be ignoring.
Aggressive responses were not observed in this study. Foxes ignored humans when the distance
between them was not likely to be close, but escaped when the distance was likely to be close.
These results suggest that the behaviors of unfriendly foxes may change from “ignoring” to“fearful responses” to “aggressive responses” as the environment becomes more confined so thatfoxes have less options to avoid approaches by humans. If this is also applicable to dogs, thecurrent picture of self-domestication process of dogs may require a reconsideration. Although theselection to reduce aggression is now believed to be the key, this idea may be falsified. Because
the environment in which dogs would have self-domesticated should have been an open
environment, and it is likely that unfriendly canine ancestors would have easily escaped fromhumans rather than to show aggressive responses. As suggested by this study, the friendly and theaggressive/escape responses may not have been opposite reactions in the self-domestication ofdogs. Therefore, we will still need to re-examine which behavior was really selected for in the
self-domestication of dogs, before we easily apply the current inference to the self-domestication
process of primates.

P17

Genetic Origin of Koalas Captive in Japan:
toward the Investigation of Innate Diet Preference
Kotaro Kondo1*, Takashi Hayakawa2,3,
1
2

Graduate School of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University , Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University , Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
3
Japan Monkey Centre, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan*kondo.kotaro.s0@elms.hokudai.ac.jp

Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) are arboreal marsupials that inhabit eucalypt forestsof eastern Australia. They feed almost exclusively on leaves of Eucalyptus spp. There are
more than 600 species in the genus Eucalyptus; nevertheless, a koala selectively chooses
and feeds on limited species of Eucalyptus, and also chooses certain individual trees
within a species. Thus, koalas are known as the fussy eaters. It has not been well known
how koalas choose their diet.
The sense of taste is important to assess whether the food is acceptable or not. The
taste of foods is recognized with taste receptors expressed on the taste buds of the tongue.
Taste receptor genes evolutionarily change their copy numbers and/or nucleotide
sequence that causes the functional changes contributing to the adaptation to new novel
environments and diet. Koalas are distributed from north to south in eastern Australia.
This geographical variation provides difference of the species availability of eucalyptus
trees to koalas. Therefore, there might be genetic variants of taste receptors specific toregions to adapt their habitat environments and diets.
Aiming future investigation of the innate diet preference of koalas, we firstinvestigated the genetic origin of 11 koalas in Higashiyama zoo, Nagoya, where their dietpreferences were surveyed by behavioral studies. Phylogenetic analysis withmitochondrial DNA control region has shown that koalas can be divided into four linages
corresponding geographically: two northern lineages, a central lineage and a southern
lineage. The nucleotide sequence of their mitochondrial DNA control region showed that
there are all the 4 lineages. Thus, we can investigate the difference in preference between
the four lineages. Based on this result, we will investigate genetic variations of taste
receptors and discuss the relationship with diet preferences and geographical origin. This
will also lead to sustainable husbandry of koalas based on their innate diet preference.

P18

Monotremes Shed Light on Mammalian Evolution
Linda Shearwin-Whyatt1*, Yang Zhou2, Natasha Bradley1 and Frank Gruztner1
1

2

School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia,
BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China and Villum Center for Biodiversity Genomics, Depart of Biology,
University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
*linda.shearwin@adelaide.edu.au

The platypus and echidna (monotremes) are the only egg-laying mammals and are an
extraordinary amalgam of mammalian and reptilian features. They represent the mostancient, extant mammalian lineage, having diverged from all other (therian) mammals
approximately 187MYA1. As such they provide invaluable insight into mammalianevolution. With the generation of the first draft echidna genome and greatly improved
platypus genome assemblies1, we have begun to identify genetic alterations that are
unique to the monotreme lineage compared to therian mammals and identify genetic
differences that underlie the unique biology of the platypus or the echidna. We haveshown that loss of genes involved in gastric function is common to both the platypus andechidna and that monotremes lack a key gene in the haemoglobin breakdown pathway,
haptoglobin. The haptoglobin gene was previously thought to be common to all mammals
but our finding suggests that monotremes have evolved a unique mammalian
haemoglobin breakdown system. Together these findings advance our understanding of
the molecular basis of monotreme biology and mammalian evolution.

P19

Comparison of Facial Morphology between Wildcats and Domestic
Cats
Madoka Hattori1*, Atsuko Saito2, Shinya Yamamoto3 , Miho Nagasawa1, Takefumi Kikusui1
1

2

Department of Animal Science and Biotechnology, Azabu University
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human Sciences, Sophia University
3
Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Japan*hattorimadoka@gmail.com

Domesticated animals commonly display low cortisol secretion, reduced aggression andjuvenilized head known as the domestication syndrome. Previous studies have shown thatdomestic cats have low cortisol levels than wildcats; however, their behavior and morphology
have not been investigated in a comparative way. In this study we compared facial morphology
of four categories in cats: African wildcats (Felis lybica), feral mongrels, owned domesticmongrels, and owned domestic purebred cats (Felis catus). We measured their facial depth (noselength adjusted by distance between eyes) and eye angle. We also collected feces from owned
domestic mongrels and owned domestic purebred cats to measure cortisol levels, and investigatedbehavioral characteristics by questionnaires to the owners. The results showed that face depth ofdomestic cats was shorter than that of African wildcats and the distance of owned domestic
purebred cats was significantly shorter than that of owned domestic mongrels. In terms of theangle, owned domestic purebred cats was found to be lower than owned domestic mongrels. There
were no significant differences in fecal cortisol levels, sociability, and aggression. These results
suggest that domestication causes the facial morphology of domestic cats to be more juvenilized
than African wildcats but further studies are needed to investigate its effects on their endocrineand behavior.

P20

Food Transfer in Golden-faced Saki:
Developmental Change in Juveniles’ Begging Behavior
Makiko Take1* and Takakazu Yumoto1
1

Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan*

take.makiko.77a@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp

The dietary shift from mother’s milk to solid foods is the common challenge for all
mammals. Some neotropical primates are known to fill the gap by the frequent foodtransfer from caregivers to infants. The importance of food transfer should be highespecially for primates in the subfamily Pitheciinae which is recognized as “seed eater”,
because of their extractive foraging style requiring manual dexterity, robust teeth, andpowerful jaws. However, little is known about their food transfer or the developmental
process of the feeding behavior. We observed two free-ranging groups of Golden-faced
Saki (Pithecia chrysocephala) in Manaus, Brazil. Through 908 hours of observation, werecorded 398 food transfer events. All events were initiated by juveniles' begging and no
proactive food offerings was observed. Among them, 52% of the begging were by 4
individuals of 0-year-old, and 48% were by 7 individuals of 1-year-old. The begging
frequency was not different between 0-year-old and 1-year-old, but the success rate of the
begging was higher in 1-year-old. The diversity of begged fruits was less in 1-year-old.
They begged more frequently for fruits that require longer handling time. These results
suggested that older juveniles were begging more selectively to optimize their food-intake
efficiency.

P21

Phylogenetic Relationship of the Malayan Tapir in JapanQi Luan Lim1*, Geetha Annavi2, Miho Inoue-Murayama1
1

2

Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia*

lim.luan.77r@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp

The Malayan tapir (or Asian tapir; Tapirus indicus Desmarest) is the only Asian member of
the Tapiridae family in the order Perissodactyla. The species is native to Peninsular Malaysia,
southern Thailand and Myanmar, and Sumatra of Indonesia. It is listed in CITES Appendix I and
IUCN Red List (“endangered”) with a population estimation of not more than 2,500 individuals
worldwide. Japan as one of the countries with a captive breeding programme of the Malayan tapir
has for decades maintained a captive tapir population in the zoos and a breeding center, but genetic
analysis has been scarce. Mitochondrial marker such as the control region, or D-loop, is amaternally-inherited neutral marker useful for the inference of intra- and interspecies
phylogenetic and phylogeographic relationships. The captive Malayan tapir population in Japan
has not been assessed with this marker, albeit an attempt by a previous study was made toinvestigate the phylogenetic and phylogeographic relationships of the Japanese captive population
using the mitochondrial cytochrome B gene on captive samples originated from Malaysia,
Thailand and Sumatra of Indonesia. To further understand the genetic diversity of the maternallineages of the Malayan tapir in Japan captivity, in this study, we used a partial sequence of themitochondrial control region (507 bp) to compare the genetic diversity of the Japanese captive
population (n = 20) with the captive and/or wild populations in Peninsular Malaysia (n = 44) and
Thailand (n = 37). We found a total of 32 variable sites within the 101 samples, and among which
27 sites were parsimony-informative. Based on the parsimony-informative sites, we detected
three novel haplotypes on top of 19 haplotypes found in Malaysian and Thailand samples.
Haplotype network indicated two major clades where the Japanese samples could be found,
representing seven out of 22 haplotypes detected in total samples. Potential loss of mitochondrial
genetic diversity is high given that only three haplotypes were possessed by four females in theJapanese sample. We hope to analyze more Japanese samples in the future to get a better pictureof the haplotypic distribution in Japan captive populations.
Acknowledgment: We are grateful to Yokohama Zoological Gardens “Zoorasia”, Preservation
and Research Center, city of Yokohama, Tama Zoological Park, Nagasaki Bio Park, Fukuoka
Zoo, Chiba Zoological Park, and Shizuoka Municipal Nihondaira Zoo for providing the Malayan
tapir DNA samples.

P22

The Change of Bitter Sensitivity to PTC in Each of Individuals and theRelationship between TAS2R38 Polymorphism and Food Preference
Rena Numabe1*1Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Aichi, Japan* numabe.rena.44c@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Introduction. Human has the innate ability to perceive thousands of compounds as bitter,and 25 taste 2 receptors (TAS2Rs) have been known as the bitter taste receptors.
TAS2R38 is the bitter receptor having polymorphisms and it is said that this gene is oneof the responsible genes for interindividual difference of bitter perception. It is identified
that one of the agonists of TAS2R38 is PTC and the polymorphisms should influence thepreference to Brassicaceae vegetables. Besides, some studies reported genotypes of
TAS2R38 may have relations to smoking and alcohol intake. In many studies, the taste
tests for dividing participants’ bitter sensitivity into 3 groups (supertasters, medium
tasters, and non-tasters) was done only once. In this study, I focus on the changes of taste
sense in each of the individuals and the relationship between TAS2R38 genotypes andpeople’s bitter sensitivity or food preference.
Methods. The participants had the taste tests using PTC test papers performed once aweek, for 2 months. I collected DNA samples from oral swab samples to identify their
genotypes of TAS2Rs by DNA sequence. And the data of the participants’ age, sex, thechange of their physical condition, and preference of vegetables and drinks were collectedby the questionnaire.
Results. The TAS2R38 genotypes of most of the participants were PAV/PAV, PAV/AVI
and AVI/AVI. The changes of the bitter sensitivity to PTC were observed in allparticipants, however, there exist the significant difference between PAV/PAV (tasters)group and AVI/AVI (non-tasters) group continuously. The PAV/PAV carriers tend toperceive PTC bitterness stronger than the AVI/AVI carriers, consistent with the previous
studies. There was no correlation of their physical condition with the change of the resultsof the taste tests. Also, there was a little correlation between the bitter sensitivity to someof Brassicaceae vegetables including glucosinolate and TAS2R38 genotypes. Because
the structure of glucosinolate is similar to that of PTC, preference for Brassicaceae
vegetables could be connected to the sense of bitterness. On the other hand, there was no
association between TAS2R38 genotypes or their bitter sense for other foods and thebitter sense.
Discussion. The change of the bitter sensitivity to PTC suggests that the classification of
taste sensitivity by only once taste test may be uncertain result. In order to avoid picking
outliers, it is reasonable that we repeat taste test several times and use the median foranalysis. No significant correlation between TAS2R38 genotype and people’s bitter
sensitivity or food preference would be because that the questionnaire was performed
without actual food tasting, and the bitterness and taste depended on personal image.
Based on this data, I am going to continue to perform the taste test and questionnaire withmore participants. Because similar polymorphisms of TAS2R38 was observed in otherprimate species, such as macaques and chimpanzees, it will help to know the better way
to feed them or their health conditions.

P23

What Did He See on the Surface of the Puddle?
A Male Chimpanzee Produced an Alarm Call at a Water Puddle
Shohei Shibata1*, Chie Hashimoto1 and Takeshi Furuichi1
1

Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan*

shibata.shouhei.73c@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are known to have a fear of water, a condition known ashydrophobia. However, the extent of the fear depends on populations; adolescent chimpanzeesin Mahale put their fingers into the water of a stream as play and both matured and juvenile
chimpanzees of a group in Senegal even soak in water puddles. The factors that cause thosedifferences in hydrophobia are still unclear.
Here we share a series of videos of a male chimpanzee of the M group producing alarm call ata water puddle and responses from other males recorded in Kalinzu Forest Reserve, Uganda. In
the middle of traveling on a large path, one male suddenly produced an alarm call at a water
puddle next to him and jumped back. The call panicked the party for about fifteen seconds. Aftercalming down, three chimpanzees carefully inspected the puddle and two of them displayed at
the puddle. One hypothesis is that the male felt afear response upon seeing an “unfamiliar” face
and/or figure of a conspecific.
We also observed inspection behaviors similar to this report at another place with a small
stream both in rainy season and dry season. In dry season, there is little water at that place andthey inspected where the water runs in rainy seasons. Those places are not covered by trees andthe surface of water reflects images. This report provides the hypothesis that the image reflectionsof water affect behaviors of chimpanzees and shape the differences in hydrophobia.

P24

Impact of Game Hunting on Physiological Stress Levels of Wild Red
Deer
Sofia Vilela1*, António Alves da Silva1, Rupert Palme2, Kathreen E. Ruckstuhl3, José Paulo
Sousa1, Joana Alves1
1

2

Centre for Functional Ecology (CFE), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
3
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada*vpsofia.a@gmail.com

Hunting is a very common activity all over the planet. However, its practices may induce
intense stress responses in wildlife, which can have important consequences for prey populations
and, consequently, for hunting management. The wild population of red deer (Cervus elaphus) is
one of the most harvested during the seasonal hunting in the Lousã Mountain, Portugal.
To evaluate the impact of hunting activity on the red deer population, different biologicalsamples were collected from hunted individuals during two hunting seasons. Short and long-term
stress levels were examined by assessing cortisol and its metabolites in blood, feces and hair. The
immunological and physical conditions of the animals were also evaluated. As expected, results
showed an increment of cortisol levels measured in the hair during the months of harvesting.
Surprisingly, we found a tendency for plasma cortisol levels to decrease during the hunting season,
which could be interpreted as habituation, or as a result of the duration of the hunt itself.
Regarding fecal cortisol metabolites, and contrary to our predictions, the concentrations in feces
did not show any clear patterns across months.
Taken together, our results suggest an influence of hunting activities on the physiological stresslevels in red deer. We highlight the potentially important role of hair to assess physiological stress,
although more studies are needed to fully understand its suitability as an indicator of long-term
stress. The framework of the present study emphasizes the importance of simultaneously using
multi-temporal procedures to assess short and long-term effects in studies focused on
physiological stress reactions.

P26

Influence of Age of Breeding Mare is Not Negative on the Racing
Performance of their Offspring as Commonly Assumed
Sota Inoue1*, Tamao Maeda1
1

Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto university, Japan*sota.inoe@gmail.com

In general, it is considered that the ageing of breeding mares would negatively affect the racing
performance of their offspring. Although this general idea has never statistically examined so far,certainly, the older breeding mares may be a risk, considering the issue of chromosomal
abnormalities. However, there is room for doubt as to whether the effects of pregnancy at old age
will continue to affect horses that have grown to the point where they can participate in racing.
Therefore, the mechanism by which pregnancy at old age reduces the race performance of theoffspring is unknown. We constructed two hypotheses. 1) pregnancy at old age affects thedevelopment of their offspring; 2) low quality stallions are likely to be chosen as a partner of anolder breeding mare. To address which hypothesis is plausible, we examined the effect of the ageof the breeding mare on the racing performance of their offspring with controlling the effect ofstallions’ quality, age, and ID, sex of the offspring, trainer, and the location of training center. We
sampled information of racing horses which were registered to Japan Racing Association fromthe website of Japan Bloodhorse Breeders’ Association. We confirmed the racing performance ofhorses which was born from older mares was lower than those which born from younger mares.
However, results of Generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) with hurdle model showed that theeffect of age of breeding mare was not significant. On the other hand, the quality of stallions
showed the significant effects. Furthermore, age of breeding mare was negatively correlated tothe quality of stallions, although the variance inflation factor was low. Therefore, we concluded
that the effect of the age of the breeding mare was negligible or only limited and rather the qualityof the stallion had important influence of the racing performance of the offspring. This conclusion
seems to be likely, considering the production system of racing horses. Low quality stallions, inother words, cheap stallions would be likely to be chosen as a partner of older mares which
potentially have a risk on giving birth. The present study showed that the general idea that thehorses which was born from the older mare would show low performance may not be understoodcorrectly.

P27

Variable Functions of Genito-Genital Rubbing among Female Bonobos(Pan paniscus)
Takumasa Yokoyama1*1Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan*

takumasa.yokoyama.23s@kyoto-u.ac.jp

Primates, including humans, engage in various sexual behaviors that are not for reproductive
success directly. Homosexual behaviors include such sexual behaviors which do not directly
result in reproductive success. The adaptive functions of homosexual behaviors in humans arestill poorly understood, despite many previous studies that have referred to the function ofhomosexual behaviors in non-human primates in order to understand the evolutionary origin ofhuman homosexual behaviors.
Female bonobos (Pan paniscus), who are the closest living relatives of humans, engage insame-sex socio-sexual behaviors frequently, called genito-genital rubbing (GG rubbing). GG
rubbing appears to be multifunctional (e.g., reconciliation, mate attraction, tension regulation,
expression of social status, social bonding), which helps us receive valuable insight forunderstanding the evolutional functions of homosexual behaviors.
In the current study, we examine the function of GG rubbing among female bonobos at Wamba,
Luo Scientific Reserve, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Our results showed that the social
rank of females was related symmetrically in the initiation of GG rubbing, which previous studies
reported different results. The more females had proximity and engaged in grooming behaviors,
the more they engaged in GG rubbing, supporting the social bonding hypothesis. In Wamba, we
could not confirm the clear linear dominance hierarchy among females, and the female-female
dominance ranks were stable. These results indicate that the function of GG rubbing may bevariable depending on female-female relationships among multiple bonobo populations.

P28

Genetic Analysis of Captive Echidnas in Japanese Zoos using
Noninvasive Spine Samples
Takumi Ezawa1* and Takashi Hayakawa2,3
1

Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
2
Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
3
Japan Monkey Centre, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan*

vbhndswm@eis.hokudai.ac.jp

Short-beaked echidnas are documented as having five subspecies but little is known about
genetic basis of their phylogeny. A previous study showed that the D-loop sequence region of
mitochondrial DNA of the short-beaked echidna did not clearly reflect the formal subspeciesclassification and divided echidna populations into three clusters (two groups in Australia and one
group in New Guinea) (Summerell et al. 2019). The study concluded that further research is
required to clarify the regional distribution of echidna subspecies.
There are captive short-beaked echidnas in Japan. They imported to Japan several dozen years
ago due to their longevity, but their geographical origins are unknown. In this study, we analyzed
their genetics using noninvasive spine samples. After washed and rinsed, we cut 1-cm from theroot end of the spine, crushed it using the bead beater homogenizer, and then extracted DNA using
the QIAamp Investigator Kit. After PCR amplification of the D-loop region of mtDNA,
sequenced it and created a phylogenetic tree.
As the first trial, we analyzed four noninvasive spine samples of two echidnas in Higashiyama
Zoo. We successfully amplified their mtDNA sequences and their mtDNA haplotype is identicalto Queensland & New South Wales haplotypes. We will analyze their auto- and sex chromosomes,
add individuals in other zoos, and investigate recodes at the time when they were imported so as
to discuss phylogeography of captive echidnas.

P30

How is Spatial Structure of Multi-level Society Decided?

Tamao Maeda1*, Satoshi Hirata1 and Shinya Yamamoto2
1
2

Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Institute for Advanced Study, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan*

tamao@powarch.com

Some mammalian species of different taxonomic groups, including humans, havedeveloped social structures with nested levels of organization. In this multilevel society,the smallest core groups are called ‘unit’, and multiple units aggregate to form higherlevel group. A multilevel society is one of the most complex social systems in animals,
but their function and evolutional process are still poorly understood. Investigation on
factors that affect social relationships and spatial structure of a group may provide theimplication on the mechanism and the function on the society. The current study aimed
to investigate how unit-level social relationships are decided in a multilevel society offeral horses by comparing the spatial structure in 2018 and 2019. During 2018, the feral
horse population experienced a significant decrease because of the human capturing, andthe unit composition largely changed. The analysis suggested that the absence of thebachelor, males which could not hold any female to form a harem unit, weaken thecohesion among harems. This implies the bachelor threat hypothesis, that multilevel
society benefits harems to have more effective protection from bachelors’ harassments.
In addition, the social network analysis revealed that the inter-harem spatial proximity iscorrelated to the inter-male relationships, suggesting harem-male have an important role
to maintain the inter-unit cohesion. Relatedness had no significant correlation to the intermale and inter-harem relationships. In other species forming multilevel society, genetic
relationships are considered as the most important factor to decide relationships among
units, but our study indicates that non-genetic aspects could be also important.

P31

Spatial Relationships in Finless Porpoises by Aerial Videos
Tomoe Torii1*, Naruki Morimura1, Satoshi Hirata1
1

Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan*

torii.tomoe.75z@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Finless porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis sunameri) are distributed throughout theshallow (usually <50 m deep) coastal waters of Japan. Their group size has been reported to be
1.97 individuals in previous research, yet aggregations of more than 100 individuals have been
observed. A recent study revealed that a bird’s-eye observation technique using a drone may
generate new considerations on finless porpoise behavior and sociality, as finless porpoises haveno dorsal fins, which reduces their visibility for surface observations. We planned a drone study
for estimating more accurate group size through direct observations. At the Misumi West Port,
Ariake Sound, Japan, settled finless porpoises are well recognized among local people. We
conducted an observational study for collecting day-long behavioral data at Misumi West Port bydrones. We collected data for 5131 minutes from November 2019 to November 2020. We definedgroups by using interindividual distances, and mean group size was 1.47 individuals.

P32

New Trends of Infant Handling by Japanese Macaques (Macaca
fuscata) in a Provisioned Group
Toshiki Minami1* and Takeshi Furuichi1
1

Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Aichi, Japan*

minami.toshiki.73m@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Infant handling is a behavior by nonhuman primates in which individuals other than the mother(hereafter, ‘handlers’) handle infants (e.g., grooming, holding, carrying, and aggressiveinteractions). A lot of studies from a variety of species have investigated which individuals handle
infants more frequently. In Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata), which is the subject animals inthis study, previous works showed that (1) females handle infants more than males, (2) juveniles
handle infants more than adults, and (3) handlers handle kin infants more than non-kin infants. In
a provisioned group, however, we found some different trends from these reported tendencies.
The current presentation reports the novel trends of infant handling by Japanese macaques andmakes implications for the mechanism and function of this behavior. The subject animals wereJapanese macaques in Arashiyama Monkey Park Iwatayama, Kyoto, Japan. Monkeys in this park
have been provisioned since this park was open in 1954. All 13 infants who were born in 2020
were selected as focal subjects. Behavioral data recording was conducted from August to
December 2020. By focal animal sampling, contact time between infants and handlers during
infant handling and handlers’ name were recorded. The total focal time for each infant was morethan 500 minutes (average: 542.2 minutes, SD = 25.5). There were the similar results withprevious studies; (1) females handled infants more than males and (2) juveniles handled infants
more than adults. However, some unreported trends were also confirmed; (3) juvenile handlers
handled non-kin infants more than kin infants (19.2% towards kin infants), and (4) infant handlingby adult females were regularly observed. Focusing on infant handling by adult females, we found(5) adults who did not have their own offspring under 3 years old handled infants more than adults
who had their own offspring, (6) adults who had kin infants handled infants more than adults who
did not have kin infants, and (7) adults who had kin infants did not necessarily handled their kin
infants (only 19.4% of all handling by those adults were directed to kin infants). These results
provide some useful implications for the mechanism and function of infant handling especiallyby adult female Japanese macaques.

P33

Acoustic Communication by Non-vocal Soundin the Free-ranging Horse Group
Yeong-ju Lee1*, Satoshi Hirata1
1

Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan*yjroah@gmail.com

Horses communicate in diverse ways using visual, chemical, tactile, and auditory
signals. As a highly social species, they are known to recognize other individuals as wellas the social category and convey their emotional states with various vocalizations andnon-vocal sounds. Studies on acoustic communication of horses have mainly focused on
the vocalizations—involving the use of larynx—such as whinny, a call seeking social
contacts with herd mates who are out of view. However, non-vocal sounds could also
play important roles in their communication, given that horses have very sensitive hearing,and that non-vocal sounds can be subtler signals making them less detected by predators
than vocalizations. I plan to examine whether and how the non-vocal sound types are usedin the communication of horses living in social groups throughout the year. This would
further the understanding of the details of horse social life and contribute to improving
the management and welfare of horses.