Cayo Santiago

Some of the Key Contributions of Cayo Santiago have been:

Biomedical

• Malaria vaccine work during World War II.
  
  
• Perinatal physiology: Monkeys from Cayo Santiago were used to discover the rH factor.
  
  
• Reproductive control: The Hulka clip used in tubal ligation was developed using Cayo Santiago monkeys.
  
  
• Biological divergence: Dr. John Buettner Janusch first applied blood proteins to study biological divergence.
  
  
• Tetanus studies: Dr. Matt Kessler's tetanus studies acheived the first known eradication of a population-wide chronic disease prior to the elimination of smallpox in humans.
  
  
• Aging & disease: Dr. Jean Turnquist and Dr. Matt Kessler have been key people in showing how longevity is sometimes connected to the onset of various diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis, etc.
  
  

Behavioral

• Dr. CR Carpenter's studies provided the viability of establishing a primate colony outside its native habitat. Skeptics did not believe that rhesus macaques would adapt or that they could even breed. His research provided the foundation of our knowledge of behavior for primatology.
  
  
• Dominance relationships and longitudinal research: Dr. Stuart Altmann recognized the importance of maintaining a longitudinal, demographic database for a primate population. He was the first person to tattoo animals. Altmann's seminal work provided the basis for our understanding of primate dominance relationships.
  
  
• Kinship and social relationship: Dr. Donald Sade's important studies helped elucidate what factors determine dominance, and how a troop is formed. His investigations outlined the importance of kinship in social structure. His research showed that monkeys have complex social relationship based around female relationships.
  
  
• Maternal styles: Rhesus macaques have consistently served as a human model for mother-infant relationships. Research began in captive primate populations and Drs. Carol Berman, Barbara DeVinney, Kathy Rasmussen, James Warfield and Steven Suomi, put primate development into a naturalistic context. Their research has examined cross-generational styles in maternal behavior, and the interplay between social structure, mother and infant development.
  
  
• Rank and reproductive value: Dr. Bernard Chapais and colleagues linked behavioral changes in dominance rank to reproductive value of female rhesus macaques, as calculated from a life table. At the time of this study, this was the only accurate life table ever made for a primate population.
  
  
• Sexual selection: Dr. Joseph Manson's studies were among the first to show that female behavior affects male mating success and that it can counteract the effects of male-male dominance relationships.
  
  
• Recognition of maternal and paternal kin: Dr. Anja Widdig combined genetic paternity data with behavioral data to show that rhesus macaques recognize both maternal and paternal kin, and that they have preferential interactions with maternal and paternal kin over unrelated individuals.
  
  
• Variance in reproductive success in females and males. Drs. Fred Bercovitch and John Berard showed that lifespan, not onset of reproduction, is the best predictor of lifetime reproductive success.