| Title |
Do chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) exhibit sleep related behaviors that minimize exposure to parasitic arthropods? A preliminary report on the possible anti-vector function of chimpanzee sleeping platforms
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Primates, September 2012
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s10329-012-0329-z |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
David R. Samson, Michael P. Muehlenbein, Kevin D. Hunt |
| Abstract |
Great apes spend half of their lives in a nightly "nest" or sleeping platform (SP), a complex object created by modifying foliage, which functions as a stable substrate on which to sleep. Of the several purported functions of SPs, one hypothesis is that they protect against parasitic infection. Here we investigate the role of SP site choice in avoiding molestation by arthropods. This study presents preliminary data on the insect-repellent properties of preferred sleeping tree species Cynometra alexandri. Insect traps were deployed in gallery forest habitats in which chimpanzees typically "nest." We compared traps placed adjacent to SPs artificially manufactured with C. alexandri trees to an open area within the same habitat. Multiple measures of arthropod counts indicate that simulated C. alexandri SP sites have fewer arthropods than similar non-SP sites. Volatile compounds secreted by C. alexandri foliage are hypothesized to repel annoying arthropods and/or mask chimpanzee olfactory signals. Of the total insects captured (n = 6,318), n = 145 were mosquitoes. Of the total mosquitoes captured, n = 47 were identified as Anopheles (female, n = 12). The prominent malarial vector Anopheles gambiae was identified among the captured mosquito sample. These results suggest that the presence of broken branches of the tree species C. alexandri reduce the amount of insects a chimpanzee is exposed to throughout a night's sleep. This great ape behavioral and socio-technological adaptation may have evolved, in part, to increase quality of sleep as well as decrease exposure to vectors of disease. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 20 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 3 | 15% |
| United Kingdom | 2 | 10% |
| Australia | 1 | 5% |
| Germany | 1 | 5% |
| Canada | 1 | 5% |
| Unknown | 12 | 60% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 16 | 80% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 2 | 10% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 5% |
| Scientists | 1 | 5% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 99 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Mexico | 1 | 1% |
| Kenya | 1 | 1% |
| Italy | 1 | 1% |
| Brazil | 1 | 1% |
| Unknown | 95 | 96% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 20 | 20% |
| Researcher | 15 | 15% |
| Student > Master | 15 | 15% |
| Student > Bachelor | 6 | 6% |
| Other | 5 | 5% |
| Other | 21 | 21% |
| Unknown | 17 | 17% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 45 | 45% |
| Social Sciences | 8 | 8% |
| Environmental Science | 8 | 8% |
| Psychology | 4 | 4% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 4 | 4% |
| Other | 11 | 11% |
| Unknown | 19 | 19% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 14. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 30 November 2015.
All research outputs
#2,226,365
of 22,679,690 outputs
Outputs from Primates
#161
of 1,014 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#15,651
of 171,752 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Primates
#1
of 8 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,679,690 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 90th percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,014 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 17.2. This one has done well, scoring higher than 84% of its peers.
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