Cayo Santiago (Puerto Rico, USA)

In 1938, when behavioral observations of wild primates were not yet successful, several hundred rhesus macaques were brought from India to Cayo Santiago, a 15.2 hectare island 1 km off the southeast coast of Puerto Rico (Rawlins & Kessler 1986). Since then Cayo Santiago has been home to these monkeys and 9 generations of their descendants. Today Cayo Santiago is a unique research and educational facility of the Caribbean Primate Research Center and the University of Puerto Rico. Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the University of Puerto Rico, Cayo Santiago welcomes dozens of scientists from around the world who study primate behavior, ecology and cognition. The advantages of this population for studies on kinship are the detailed demographic database including knowledge of matrilineal relatedness, births, deaths and migration events for every individual born on Cayo Santiago tracing back to 1956. In addition, systematic DNA sampling for paternity analyses have been conducted since 1992.

References:
Rawlins RG, Kessler MJ (eds) (1986) The Cayo Santiago macaques. History, behavior and biology. State University of New York Press, Albany

Rhesus Monkey

Cayo Santiago