This US-Venezuela Planning Visit grant will allow Ms. Elizabeth Congdon, a doctoral student working under the supervision of Professor Zuleyma Tang Martinez of the University of Missouri, St. Louis, to travel to Venezuela to help plan and participate in a field study with Professor Emilio Herrera of the Universidad Simon Bolivar in Caracas, Venezuela. The research will focus on the behavioral ecology and dispersal of the world's largest rodent, the capybara (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris), and will be of mutual benefit to the research programs at both institutions.
More specifically, Ms. Congdon will begin a detailed study of natal dispersal during the dry season of 2003, collecting pre-dispersal behavioral data and monitoring animal movements over time using radio telemetry technology. Professor Herrera will use molecular genetic analyses to examine patterns of paternity in social groups and relatedness among and between groups. These data will then be used together to evaluate the dispersal strategy of this species and the genetic ramifications of that strategy. Results from this planning visit will be used in Ms. Congdon's thesis dissertation work and will help to develop the collaboration between US and Venezuelan investigators. By examining the connection between genetic structure and dispersal, this research will contribute to the understanding of the social dynamics of this species and the evolution of sociality in general.
