Andrew J. Petto

Dental Ontogeny and Life-History Strategies: The Case of the Giant Extinct Indroids of Madagascar

While investigating ecogeographic size variation in the extant and extinct lemurs of Madagascar (Albrechtet al.1990; Godfrey et al.1990), one of us (LRG) noted the occurrence in the collections of the Academie Malgache of several unusually small demimandibles of Mesopropithecus an extinct “sloth lemur” (or palaeopropithecid) from southwest Madagascar. The specimens appeared, at first glance, to belong to adults; all of the permanent teeth were fully erupted. But the jaws were little more than two-thirds the size of those of adult Mesopropithecus globiceps from the same localities. They did not appear to belong to a new and smaller species of Mesopropithecus because the teeth were identical in size and morphology to those of M.obiceps.

Family history as a risk factor for ulcerative colitis–associated colon cancer in cotton-top tamarin

BACKGROUND & AIMS Little is currently known about the relationship between family history of colon cancer and ulcerative colitis-associated colon cancer. A nested case-control study was performed to evaluate the association between family history of colon cancer and spontaneously occurring colon cancer in cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus). METHODS Subjects were chosen from a colony of cotton-top tamarins held in captivity between 1968 and 1995. The cancer status of parents and grandparents was compared for 48 animals with colon cancer and 58 controls, all with histological confirmation of ulcerative colitis. Multivariate odds ratios were calculated using logistic regression. RESULTS A parental history of colon cancer was positively associated with risk of colon cancer (multivariate odds ratio, 2.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-6.3). Risk also increased as an animals total number of family members with colon cancer increased (multivariate odds ratio, 1.7 for each increase in the total number of family members with cancer; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-2.8). CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that cotton-top tamarins with ulcerative colitis are at significant increased risk for developing colon cancer if they have a family history of colon cancer. Further investigation of this relationship in both tamarins and humans is warranted.

The Effect of Perinatal and Juvenile Mortality on Colony-Born Production at the New England Regional Primate Research Center

Deforestation of primate habitats and local human predation, together with previous exportation of large numbers of primates for research, pets, and testing facilities, have created a crisis in animal populations in the wild. Of the colonies remaining in captivity, it is probable that those in research institutions and captive-breeding facilities offer the best hope for the reconstitution of sufficient numbers of animals to be relocated to natural habitats.

The effect of heterologous gonadotropins on the fecundity of rhesus monkeys

Ovarian stimulation with heterologous gonadotropins over a period of a single month did not depress the fecundity or fecundability of 50 rhesus monkeys as compared to 60 untreated monkeys in a timed breeding colony. The birth rates, seasonality of births, interbirth intervals, and waiting time to the next pregnancy were not significantly different before treatment, after treatment, or among the untreated. The stillbirth rate was not increased after treatment.