Increasingly, behavioral ecologists have applied quantitative genetic methods to investigate the evolution of behaviors in wild animal populations. The promise of quantitative genetics in unmanaged populations opens the door for simultaneous analysis of inheritance, phenotypic plasticity, and patterns of selection on behavioral phenotypes all within the same study. In this article, we describe how quantitative genetic techniques provide studies of the evolution of behavior with information that is unique and valuable. We outline technical obstacles for applying quantitative genetic techniques that are of particular relevance to studies of behavior in primates, especially those living in noncaptive populations, e.g., the need for pedigree information, non-Gaussian phenotypes, and demonstrate how many of these barriers are now surmountable. We illustrate this by applying recent quantitative genetic methods to spatial proximity data, a simple and widely collected primate social behavior, from adult rhesus macaques on Cayo Santiago. Our analysis shows that proximity measures are consistent across repeated measurements on individuals (repeatable) and that kin have similar mean measurements (heritable). Quantitative genetics may hold lessons of considerable importance for studies of primate behavior, even those without a specific genetic focus.

中文翻译：

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将定量遗传学方法应用于灵长类动物的社会行为

行为生态学家越来越多地应用定量遗传学方法来研究野生动物种群的行为进化。未管理群体中定量遗传学的前景为在同一研究中同时分析遗传、表型可塑性和行为表型选择模式打开了大门。在本文中，我们描述了定量遗传技术如何为行为进化研究提供独特且有价值的信息。我们概述了应用定量遗传技术的技术障碍，这些障碍与灵长类动物行为研究特别相关，特别是那些生活在非圈养种群中的灵长类动物，例如，对谱系信息、非高斯表型的需求，并证明了这些障碍中有多少现在是可以克服的。我们通过将最新的定量遗传方法应用于空间邻近数据来说明这一点，这是一种简单且广泛收集的灵长类社会行为，来自圣地亚哥岛的成年恒河猴。我们的分析表明，邻近度测量在对个体的重复测量中是一致的（可重复的），并且亲属具有相似的平均测量值（可遗传的）。定量遗传学可能为灵长类动物行为的研究提供相当重要的教训，即使是那些没有特定遗传焦点的灵长类动物行为。