UNC Ecology Seminar: Charles Nunn

Parasites in Paradise: Why do Primates Have so Many Parasites, and What Factors Influence Parasite Success?

An incredible diversity of parasites and pathogens infect primates, including sexually transmitted viruses and bacteria, insect-borne protozoa that cause malaria, and helminths that infect the gastrointestinal tract. Some of these pathogens - such as those with sexual transmission - spread through contact networks. Sociality may influence the dynamics of other parasites. Increased group size, for example, may increase the ability of vectors to locate hosts, and larger groups require larger day and home ranges, potentially increasing exposure to environmentally transmitted parasites. In this talk, I show how research that integrates theoretical modeling and recent advances in phylogenetic comparative methods is providing new insights to primate disease ecology. With this integrative perspective, we can better understand the diversity of primate parasites and pathogens in broad evolutionary perspective, including those that infect humans.