Stress and Parity Among Female Vervet Monkeys (Chlorocebus Pygerythrus) at Two Sites in South Africa
Date of Award
December 2022
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Anthropology
First Advisor
Trudy Turner
Committee Members
Christopher Schmitt, Emily Middleton
Keywords
cortisol, monkey, parity, stress, vervet
Abstract
This thesis examines the hypothesis that in both Soetdoring and !Gariep populations, a femaleSouth African vervet's parity status (nulliparous or parous) affects her physiological stress levels. Vervet monkey ecology and life history are examined to contextualize the relationship between stress and parity. The testing of this hypothesis involves the analysis of hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) of samples from nulliparous and multiparous adult females of the two different South African sites. The HCC was statistically analyzed to look for correlations between stress, parity status, and site. No significant relationship between stress and parity status was found. However, significant relationships were found between stress and population site and between weight and population site.
Recommended Citation
Gansemer, Jo, "Stress and Parity Among Female Vervet Monkeys (Chlorocebus Pygerythrus) at Two Sites in South Africa" (2022). Theses and Dissertations. 3001.
https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/3001