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Jose Wellington A. dos |
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Research Title |
Selective factors contributing to the evolution of sociality in a spiny rat. |
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Research Keywords |
Mammals, Sociality, Mating Systems, Cooperative Breeding, Population Ecology |
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Location |
The
fossil dunes of the |
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Study Species |
Torch-tail spiny rat (Trinomys yonenagae) |
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My research interests lie in vertebrate behavioral ecology and population dynamics. I am particularly interested in the role of ecological and historical factors in shaping group-living patterns. Currently, I am studying the potential ways in that selective forces underlie the evolution of sociality. My organismal focus is the colonial spiny rat, Trinomys yonenagae, a species endemic to the semiarid dunes of the Sao Francisco River, Brazil. The question 'why this species is social, while all other echimyids are solitary' is my main conceptual orientation. I combine field methods and genetic techniques (microsatellite analyses) in order to characterize the social organization and the genetic mating system of T. yonenagae to grasp a better understanding of: (1) the potential factors driving the maintenance of group-living, (2) the roles of relatedness and ecological resources on philopatry and group formation, and (3) the effects of sociality on population dynamics and individual fitness. |
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