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- ISBN: 9780198565857 | 0198565852
- Cover: Paperback
- Copyright: 6/29/2006
Recent progress in the field of wildlife disease ecology demonstrates thatinfectious disease plays a crucial role in the lives of wild animals. Parasitesand pathogens should be especially important for social animals in which highcontact among individuals increases the potential for disease spread. As one ofthe best studied mammalian groups, primates offer a unique opportunity toexamine how complex behaviours (including social organization) influence therisk of acquiring infectious diseases, and the defences used by animals to avoidinfection. This book explores the correlates of disease risk in primates,including not only social and mating behaviour but also diet, habitat use, lifehistory, geography and phylogeny. The authors examine how a core set of host andparasite traits influence patterns of parasitism at three levels of biologicalorganization: among individuals, among populations, and across species.A major goal is to synthesize, for the first time, four disparate areas ofresearch: primate behavioural ecology, parasite biology, wildlife epidemiology,and the behavioural and immune defences employed by animals to counterinfectious disease. Throughout, the authors provide an overview of theremarkable diversity of infectious agents found in wild primate populations.Additional chapters consider how knowledge of infectious diseases in wildprimates can inform efforts focused on primate conservation and human health.More generally, this book identifies infectious disease as an important frontierin our understanding of primate behaviour and ecology. It highlights futurechallenges for testing the links between host and parasite traits, includinghypotheses for the effects of disease on primate social and mating systems.