Japan Monkey Centre Research Articles

The Japan Monkey Centre Primates Brain Imaging Repository of high-resolution postmortem magnetic resonance imaging: The second phase of the archive of digital records

A comparison of neuroanatomical features of the brain between humans and our evolutionary relatives, nonhuman primates, is key to understanding the human brain system and the neural basis of mental and neurological disorders. Although most comparative MRI studies of human and nonhuman primate brains have been based on brains of primates that had been used as subjects in experiments, it is essential to investigate various species of nonhuman primates in order to elucidate and interpret the diversity of neuroanatomy features among humans and nonhuman primates. To develop a research platform for this purpose, it is necessary to harmonize the scientific contributions of studies with the standards of animal ethics, animal welfare, and the conservation of brain information for long-term continuation of the field. In previous research, we first developed a gated data-repository of anatomical images obtained using 9.4-T ex vivo MRI of postmortem brain samples from 12 nonhuman primate species, and which are stored at the Japan Monkey Centre. In the present study, as a second phase, we released a collection of T2-weighted images and diffusion tensor images obtained in nine species: white-throated capuchin, Bolivian squirrel monkey, stump-tailed macaque, Tibet monkey, Sykes’ monkey, Assamese macaque, pig-tailed macaque, crested macaque, and chimpanzee. Our image repository should facilitate scientific discoveries in the field of comparative neuroscience. This repository can also promote animal ethics and animal welfare in experiments with nonhuman primate models by optimizing methods for in vivo and ex vivo MRI scanning of brains and supporting veterinary neuroradiological education. In addition, the repository is expected to contribute to conservation, preserving information about the brains of various primates, including endangered species, in a permanent digital form.

Gastrointestinal morphology and ontogeny of foregut‐fermenting primates

AbstractObjectivesColobines are a group of foregut‐fermenting AfroEurasian monkeys that includes more than 70 species grouped into 10 genera which are widely distributed throughout Asia and Africa. Colobines are classified as tripartite or quadripartite based on the number of compartments in their stomach. To expand our understanding of their morphophysiological digestive characteristics, we attempted to visualize their stomach using photographs, examine the ontogenetic development of gastrointestinal size, and evaluate the interspecific differences in gastrointestinal size relative to the body size with a special reference to differences in stomach types.Materials and MethodsGastrointestinal tracts were dissected from 144 deceased colobine specimens in the Japan Monkey Centre stored in formalin. We measured the gastrointestinal tracts of nine species with a tripartite stomach and two species with a quadripartite stomach. We used an allometric linear regression model to establish how body mass was related to stomach weights and all intestine lengths.Results and discussionOur results support previous findings about primate and colobine macroscopic digestive tracts. In particular, we document the small size of the openings connecting stomach compartments and found that it may be difficult to differentiate between a bulging haustrated pouch and a real praesaccus. The stomach mass analyses indicated hyperallometric stomach growth in colobine infants as opposed to isometric scaling in juvenile specimens and hypoallometric scaling in mature specimens, which is similar to findings in other foregut fermenters. Stomach weight was greater in species with quadripartite stomachs than in species with tripartite stomachs, which suggests that species with a quadripartite stomach possibly have a larger stomach capacity, supporting the concept of their evolutionary adaptation to folivory.

Behavioral Changes of Solitary Housed Female Pygmy Slow Lorises (Nycticebus pygmeaus) after Introduction into Group Enclosures.

Simple SummaryMost pygmy slow lorises confiscated in the illegal pet trade cannot be released back into the wild and end up in captivity for the rest of their lives. In the wild, their home ranges are large relative to their body size and they maintain a fairly solitary lifestyle compared to other primates. With the aim of improving their captive wellbeing, we tested to see whether female–female group pairings were in the animals’ best interest by looking at their behaviors before and after being moved to social housing in a larger enriched enclosure. With one nesting site per animal and ample space to avoid each other, all females opted to nest in pairs, not alone, and spent their time socially engaged in affiliative behaviors. We found that female pygmy slow lorises are more social than often assumed and that housing them with conspecifics is probably beneficial to their well-being in captivity.Pygmy slow lorises (Nycticebus pygmaeus) are threatened with extinction in the wild. Their nocturnal lifestyle and small size make them difficult to study in their natural habitat, but increasing evidence suggests that they are more social than previously thought. Our study was designed to assess the sociability of pygmy slow lorises by transferring six adult females from solo cages into environmentally enriched group home cages at the Japan Monkey Centre’s Slow Loris Conservation Centre. Two females were paired to create one group, while the other four were placed together in a second group. We compared their social interactions, activity budgets, and postural behaviors before and after social housing was initiated. We found that all-female slow loris groups had a high degree of sociality, preferred to stay close to each other, nested together every night, and spent less time in locomotion and more time grooming than when living alone. These results suggest that female pygmy slow lorises actively seek companions when available. The captive housing of all-female groups of lorises could lead to better husbandry practices and improved animal welfare by allowing them to have conspecific companions. We conclude that isosexual groups of pygmy slow lorises should be preferred over single housing when possible.

Impacts of the spread of the new coronavirus on the museum education activity of Japan Monkey Centre

Impacts of the spread of the new coronavirus on the museum education activity of Japan Monkey Centre

Infant Pelage Color Change and Infant Handling in Captive Black-and-White Colobus

Colobine monkeys generally spend less time each day engaged in social interactions than other primates. However, a notable feature of their social interaction involves females exchanging infants (i.e., infant handling). Here, we report on the handling of an infant in relation to pelage color change in a group of black-and-white colobus (Colobus guereza) housed in the Japan Monkey Centre. We found large variation in the speed of infant pelage color change among body parts (range 100–216 days) and documented that infant handling by non-mothers was related to the infant pelage color and/or moving ability (infant independence). Non-mothers, especially females, were clearly attracted to the newborn infant and often handled the infant in a few weeks of its birth, but handling decreased with infant age and corresponded both with the loss of the natal coat color and the infant acquiring effective locomotory independence. We document interesting patterns, but the conclusions we can draw are limited and future research should consider separating effects of infant pelage color and infant locomotory independence and evaluate the effect of infant body mass.

The Japan Monkey Centre Primates Brain Imaging Repository for comparative neuroscience: an archive of digital records including records for endangered species

Advances in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computational analysis technology have enabled comparisons among various primate brains in a three-dimensional electronic format. Results from comparative studies provide information about common features across primates and species-specific features of neuroanatomy. Investigation of various species of non-human primates is important for understanding such features, but the majority of comparative MRI studies have been based on experimental primates, such as common marmoset, macaques, and chimpanzee. A major obstacle has been the lack of a database that includes non-experimental primates’ brain MRIs. To facilitate scientific discoveries in the field of comparative neuroanatomy and brain evolution, we launched a collaborative project to develop an open-resource repository of non-human primate brain images obtained using ex vivo MRI. As an initial open resource, here we release a collection of structural MRI and diffusion tensor images obtained from 12 species: pygmy marmoset, owl monkey, white-fronted capuchin, crab-eating macaque, Japanese macaque, bonnet macaque, toque macaque, Sykes’ monkey, red-tailed monkey, Schmidt’s guenon, de Brazza’s guenon, and lar gibbon. Sixteen postmortem brain samples from the 12 species, stored in the Japan Monkey Centre (JMC), were scanned using a 9.4-T MRI scanner and made available through the JMC collaborative research program (http://www.j-monkey.jp/BIR/index_e.html). The expected significant contributions of the JMC Primates Brain Imaging Repository include (1) resources for comparative neuroscience research, (2) preservation of various primate brains, including those of endangered species, in a permanent digital form, (3) resources with higher resolution for identifying neuroanatomical features, compared to previous MRI atlases, (4) resources for optimizing methods of scanning large fixed brains, and (5) references for veterinary neuroradiology. User-initiated research projects beyond these contributions are also anticipated.

日本モンキーセンターの再生

日本モンキーセンターの再生

The 60th anniversary of Japanese primatology

Japanese primatology is considered to have begun in December 1948, when Kinji Imanishi (then 46 years old), Shunzo Kawamura (24 years old), and Junichiro Itani (22 years old) visited Koshima Island to look into the possibility of conducting a field study of Japanese monkeys there. Kawamura and Itani were already impressed by the well-organized procession of monkeys they had observed at Cape Toimisaki the previous month when they were observing semi-wild horses as Imanishi’s assistants (Itani 1991; Kawai 2007). As Imanishi had already read through Carpenter’s pioneering studies, his change of study targets from horses to macaques was not according to the mood of the moment. This was a case in which Fortune knocks on the door of the person who is prepared for it (Nishida 2007). Since this epoch-making survey of Japanese monkeys in the natural habitat of southern Japan, 60 years have passed, and we celebrated the 60th anniversary of Japanese primatology last year. During this period, Japanese primatology gradually took shape as it passed several milestones, such as the establishment of the Japan Monkey Centre in 1956, the Laboratory of Physical Anthropology at Kyoto University in 1962, the Kyoto University Primate Research Institute in 1966, the Tsukuba Primate Research Center in 1978, and the Primate Society of Japan in 1985. The first issue of Primates appeared in 1957, 5 years earlier than the second primate journal, Folia Primatologica. However, owing to its irregular publication in the earliest period, producing only one volume in 2 years, vol. 50 appears this year, in 2009. Consequently, vol. 50 of Primates is publishing special contributions in the first and second issues. Primates has published many momentous papers, including those on the proposal to study primate culture, the initiation of wild gorilla research, and primate politics (vol. 1); the importance of kin relationships in organizing primate societies and the first detailed study of primate vocalizations (vol. 4); the first documentation of primate cultural transmission and the discovery of infanticide (vol. 6); discoveries of chimpanzee (vol. 9) and bonobo (vols. 20 and 23) social units; and a contribution to the social brain hypothesis (vol. 31). As one of the events to commemorate the 60th anniversary, the associate editors based in Japan gathered at Inuyama in the summer of 2007 to discuss the special publication of Primates. Because the special issue on Japanese macaque studies had been published not long before (vol. 39), we decided to collect reviews on recently developed studies based on the editors’ recommendations. Regrettably, some candidates could not comply with our request because of the tight publishing schedule. However, 11 authors eventually accepted our invitations, and we are pleased to announce that we will feature the first three papers in this issue. Eight papers will appear in the next issue, to be published in April. In 2002, the editorial board of Primates was reorganized into associate editors and an advisory board, whose members have increased both in number and in international representation. In 2003, Springer began publishing Primates with the financial support of the Japan Monkey Centre and the Primate Society of Japan. These two changes strengthened the reviewing power of the journal (three referees ordinarily review original articles and one referee reviews short communications, in T. Nishida (&) Japan Monkey Centre, Inuyama, Japan e-mail: nishida@jinrui.zool.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Five Decades for World Primate Zoo Japan Monkey Centre, Institute and Museum of Primates along with Primate Research in Japan

Five Decades for World Primate Zoo Japan Monkey Centre, Institute and Museum of Primates along with Primate Research in Japan

Environmental Contributions to Cranio-facial Variation in Crab-eating Monkeys (Macaca fascicularis)

The purposes of the present study were to investigate the difference in craniofacial size of M. fascicularis (crab-eating monkey) living in wild and captive environments and to analyze the allometry between craniofacial size and body weight. Total of 111 M. fascicularis female skulls, included 82 wild, and 29 captive or bred in artificial environment in Japan Monkey Centre were examined. Thirty two cranial landmarks, body weight, humeral length and femoral length were measured using a digital caliper. Also, cranial index, difference of the measurement (D) and ratio of the difference to wild (R) were used. Allometric analysis was performed among those measurements in two groups. It could be seen that all measured dimensions were larger in the captive group than the wild. These differences in craniofacial size seemed to be related to the high level of nutrition. The measurements (D) and (R) of the facial region tended to be higher than those of neurocranial region and limbs. Slopes of all measurements were low against ideal values, isometric baseline or references. These implied that increase in body weight in captive environments were excessive against the other measurements.

Present Status of Japan Monkey Centre and Some Suggestion for Its Future

Present Status of Japan Monkey Centre and Some Suggestion for Its Future

Official statement of the Japan Monkey Centre on the ‘Shimokita incident’

The Japan Monkey Centre issued the following official statement concerning the aerial spraying of herbicide which was carried out at the end of June on the Shimokita Peninsula. It invites all who are interested in the research of nature to understand and support its aim for the conservation of wild Japanese monkeys and the protection of nature from artificial destruction. Copies of the statement (in Japanese) have been sent to a number of inland individuals and organizations concerned.

Oral findings of wild Japanese monkeys

The incidence and severerity of oral diseases in wild Japanese monkeys have never been adequately documented. A group of wild Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata fuscata) consisting of forty-nine individuals was captured on Shodoshima island and fed on a natural raw diet in a very large open cage for six months before examination. The forty-nine monkeys examined were classified into four groups in respect to dental age. Group I deciduous dentition (0-1 year) 12 animals Group II mixed dentition (1-5 years) 13 animals Group III permanent dentition (5-9 years) 13 animals Group IV permanent dentition (9-23 years) 11 animals The oral condition of these monkeys was investigated as a part of the general physical examination carried by the Japan Monkey Centre. This paper is a part of the comparative study of the oral condition among wild and artificially fed monkeys and the purpose of comparison is to clarify whether artificially produced food has an etiological role in major dental diseases or not. Both tooth and periodontal tissue examination were carried out in this study. P-M-A index, gingival pocket-depth, tooth mobility, calculus and debris indices, tooth caries and so on were investigated and recorded. To tranquillize the animals, a tranquillizing agent (produced by Shionogi Seiyaku) was given before experiments. The results of this study were as follows:

Investigation on the helminth parasites in the Japan monkey centre during 1959 – 1961

Investigation on the helminth parasites in the Japan monkey centre during 1959 – 1961

The Japan Monkey Center

Previous articleNext article No AccessResearch ReportsThe Japan Monkey CenterPaul E. SimondsPaul E. Simonds Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 3, Number 3Jun., 1962 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/200296 Views: 7Total views on this site Citations: 4Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1962 The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological ResearchPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Claire Cardinal Japan Monkey Centre, (Apr 2017): 1–2.https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119179313.wbprim0391Amanda Rees A place that answers questions: primatological field sites and the making of authentic observations, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 37, no.22 (Jun 2006): 311–333.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2006.03.008Pamela J. Asquith Provisioning and the study of free-ranging primates: History, effects, and prospects, American Journal of Physical Anthropology 32, no.S10S10 (Jan 1989): 129–158.https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.1330320507H. Ned Seelye Social behavior of non-human primates in captivity, Science Education 50, no.11 (Feb 1966): 69–75.https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.3730500120

On supply of Japanese monkeys for research at Japan monkey centre

On supply of Japanese monkeys for research at Japan monkey centre