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4 - A Comparative Genetic Analysis of Acellular Cementum
- from Part I - The Biology of Cementum
- Edited by Stephan Naji, New York University, William Rendu, Lionel Gourichon, Université de Nice, Sophia Antipolis
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- Book:
- Dental Cementum in Anthropology
- Published online:
- 20 January 2022
- Print publication:
- 10 February 2022, pp 83-93
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Summary
This chapter details a comparative genetic analysis of several candidate genes associated with acellular cementum, namely ALPL, BMP-2, BMP-7, and ARNTL. More than 40 species of mammals, reptiles, and birds were included in this analysis. For each gene, we investigated the type of selection that best characterized its evolutionary history, identified species in which these genes were recently subject to positive selection, and demonstrated specific behavioral and morphological characteristics that influence the selection pressure on these genes. We found that, overall, ALPL, BMP-2, BMP-7, and ARNTL have been subject to purifying selection in the examined taxa; however, recent positive selection on three of these genes was identified in species that have experienced recent, rapid evolutionary changes in dental anatomy. In addition, we found that several species-specific characteristics, including diet, lifespan, tooth count, and radicularity, significantly predicted lineage-specific selection pressure on these genes. This chapter demonstrates that cementum genes have undergone significant evolutionary changes, and that certain phenotypic characteristics have influenced such changes
19 - The Cross River gorilla: Natural history and status of a neglected and critically endangered subspecies
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- By John F. Oates, Department of Anthropology, Hunter College, CUNY Graduate Center, 356 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, U.S.A., Kelley L. McFarland, PhD Program in Anthropology, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, U.S.A., Jaqueline L. Groves, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer BN1 9RH, U.K., Richard A. Bergl, PhD Program in Anthropology, CUNY Graduate Center, 356 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, U.S.A., Joshua M. Linder, PhD Program in Anthropology, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, U.S.A., Todd R. Disotell, Department of Anthropology, New York University, 25 Waverly Place, New York, NY 10003, U.S.A.
- Edited by Andrea B. Taylor, Duke University, North Carolina, Michele L. Goldsmith, Tufts University, Massachusetts
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- Book:
- Gorilla Biology
- Published online:
- 11 August 2009
- Print publication:
- 05 December 2002, pp 472-497
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Summary
In this chapter we summarize information on the morphology, genetics, and natural history of the West African gorilla population inhabiting the forests on the Nigeria–Cameroon border at the northern headwaters of the Cross River, a region at the western and northern limits of the species' range. A recent morphological analysis of skeletal specimens from this population has shown that they are sufficiently distinct from other western gorillas to justify being classified as the subspecies Gorilla gorilla diehli, a taxonomic name originally applied to them in the early twentieth century (Sarmiento and Oates, 2000). Just as the distinctiveness of the Cross River gorillas is being appreciated, their continued survival is in jeopardy. Recent surveys suggest that approximately 250 probably remain, concentrated in nine or more isolated hill areas. Because these gorillas are still hunted for their meat and parts of their habitat are under threat, they are one of Africa's most endangered primate taxa. After reviewing data on the status of the Cross River gorillas, our chapter ends by discussing some options for improving their prospects for survival.
In addition to the literature, the information we summarize derives from our own research: Field surveys in Nigeria (by JFO and KLM) and Cameroon (by JLG); an ecological study of a subpopulation inhabiting Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, Nigeria (by KLM); and the sequencing of mtDNA extracted from hairs of Nigerian gorillas shed into sleeping nests (by RAB and JML in the laboratory of TRD). All our results should be regarded as preliminary.
2 - The molecular systematics of the Cercopithecidae
- Edited by Paul F. Whitehead, Clifford J. Jolly, New York University
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- Book:
- Old World Monkeys
- Published online:
- 08 October 2009
- Print publication:
- 04 May 2000, pp 29-56
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Summary
Introduction
George H.F. Nuttall (1904:4) wrote: “The persistence of the chemical blood-relationship between the various groups of animals serves to carry us back into geological times, and I believe we have but begun the work along these lines, and that it will lead to valuable results in the study of various problems of evolution.” While enormous strides have been made in the field of molecular genetics, Nuttall's statement is still true. Our knowledge of the systematics of Old World monkeys, gleaned from both morphological and molecular approaches, is still poorer than many would admit.
In the 1960s, Nuttall's immunological approach was enhanced and used extensively by anthropologists and biochemists studying primates (Goodman, 1961, 1963; Sarich and Wilson, 1966, 1967). Karyological research by, for example, Chiarelli (1966) and Dutrillaux (1979) has also played a major role in primate evolutionary studies. The recognition of the potential of a “molecular clock” by Zuckerkandl and Pauling (1962) led to studies of protein sequences (Goodman et al., 1987). Research on primate DNA itself, and not merely its products, began in the late 1960s and early 1970s (Kohne et al., 1972; Benveniste et al., 1976), and was followed by restriction enzyme analyses of relationships among and between primate species and populations (Templeton, 1983; Melnick et al., 1993). The mapping and sequencing of portions of primate mitochondrial and nuclear genomes has also contributed greatly to primate systematics and population genetics (reviewed in Honeycutt and Wheeler, 1989; Koop et al., 1989; Melnick and Hoelzer, 1993).