Skeletal age during hurricane impacts fluctuating asymmetry in Cayo Santiago rhesus macaques.

ABSTRACT: As natural disasters become more frequent due to climate change, understanding the biological impact of these ecological catastrophes on wild populations becomes increasingly pertinent. Fluctuating asymmetry (FA), or random deviations from bilateral symmetry, is reflective of developmental instability and has long been positively associated with increases in environmental stress. This study investigates craniofacial FA in a population of free-ranging rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) that has experienced multiple Category 3 hurricanes since the colony's inception on Cayo Santiago, including 275 individuals from ages 9 months to 31 years (F = 154; M = 121). Using geometric morphometrics to quantify FA and a linear mixed-effect model for analysis, we found that sex, age, and decade of

SUBMITTER: Romero AN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10421717 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature