School of Policy Studies, Kwansei Gakuin University, Gakuen, Sanda, 669-1330, Japan.
Primates. 2023 May;64(3):285-303. doi: 10.1007/s10329-023-01063-y. Epub 2023 Apr 4.
In this essay, I summarize my research career, with reference to the early days of the Laboratory of Physical Anthropology (LPA) at Kyoto University led by Kinji Imanishi and Junichiro Itani. When I started conducting research on the sexual behavior of Japanese macaques in 1975, I made some unexpected observations. High-ranking males did not obtain high mating success. Estrous females often rejected the courtships of high-ranking males and chose to mate with lower-ranking males. Some male-female dyads exhibited long-lasting affinitive relations, but they avoided mating. Females frequently showed 'excessive' sexuality. Clear explanations for some of these observations do not exist. After that, I changed my study subjects several times from chimpanzees, Yakushima macaques (a subspecies of Japanese macaque), and ringtailed lemurs. It is difficult to summarize my findings into a consistent story. Instead, I review my research and experiences. Throughout my career, I kept two things in mind. The first was established by Imanishi at the Laboratory of Physical Anthropology at Kyoto University: to explore the evolution of human society. Second, I tried to understand seemingly incomprehensible phenomena using evolutionary theory. Despite adhering to these foundational concepts, things did not always work out as planned.
在这篇文章中，我总结了我的研究生涯，其中提到了由今西锦司和饭谷俊次郎领导的京都大学生物人类学实验室（LPA）的早期历史。1975 年，当我开始研究日本猕猴的性行为时，我有了一些意想不到的观察结果。高等级雄性并没有获得高交配成功率。发情雌性经常拒绝高等级雄性的求爱，而选择与低等级雄性交配。一些雌雄对表现出持久的亲和关系，但它们避免交配。雌性经常表现出“过度”的性行为。对于其中一些观察结果，没有明确的解释。之后，我多次改变研究对象，从黑猩猩、屋久岛猕猴（日本猕猴的一个亚种）和环尾狐猴。很难将我的发现总结成一个一致的故事。相反，我回顾了我的研究和经验。在我的整个职业生涯中，我牢记两件事。第一是由今西锦司在京都大学生物人类学实验室所确立的：探索人类社会的进化。第二，我试图用进化理论来理解看似难以理解的现象。尽管坚持这些基本概念，但事情并不总是按计划进行。
