We Have Moved

Hi all. I just want to pop in and let everyone know that I have migrated to a new site. The Prancing Papio is no longer active.

Please visit my personal website Raymondvagell.com to learn more about my research and exciting current news. Thank you.

Experience My Color Vision Research and The Duke Lemur Center In Virtual Reality On Google Expeditions

I am really excited to share with you this amazing news! Three of the Google Expeditions that I worked on over the past year is now live! Just in time for World Lemur Day!

You can now go on a virtual tour "Can Ruffed Lemurs See Red?" to watch me do my lemur research at Duke Lemur Center. In this expedition, you will be able to see my research area and experience my color vision research as if you are there in person! What else can you see in this expedition? The surprise awaits ....

There is also a simulated expedition "Color Blindness in Lemurs" that lets you perceive the world as a dichromatic or trichromatic lemur! This collaboration with Vida Systems models polymorphic color vision in lemurs and lets viewer experience their world through virtual reality. What does the world look like if you are a color blind lemur? Take a look yourself ...

Lastly, you can take a virtual tour of "The Duke Lemur Center" to learn more about this research facility and the lemurs that call this special place home. Meet some of the rare and elusive lemurs.

Here is the list of the three Google Expeditions, with a brief description of the expedition:

1. Can Ruffed Lemurs See Red?
Ruffed lemurs are usually colorblind—all males are—but some females can see something the others can’t: the color red. But how do you ask a lemur to tell you what they see? Learn about Raymond Vagell’s color vision research at Duke Lemur Center. He asks lemurs to show him whether they can see red using a touchscreen. 

2. Color Blindness in Lemurs
Lemurs are a group of small primates found only on the small island of Madagascar. Due to Madagascar’s highly variable climate lemur evolution has produced a wide range of species, remarkable for such a small geographic area. Studies into Lemur’s visual system has revealed what colors these creatures can, and cannot see.

3. The Duke Lemur Center
The Duke Lemur Center in Durham, North Carolina (USA) has the largest collection of captive lemurs outside of Madagascar. Its mission is to advance lemur science and conservation, and is also open to the public for guided tours.

To find out how Google Expeditions work, click here. To access these expeditions, you'll need to download Google Expeditions and use a Google virtual reality headset such as a Google Cardboard. Follow instructions on the app on how launch Google Expeditions and view these lemur expeditions. Search the keyword "lemurs"

I Graduated!

Woohoo! I have finally defended my Masters thesis and graduated from the Animal Behavior and Conservation (ABC) program at Hunter College. It has been a long and winding road but I am very glad that this chapter of my life is over. Thanks to those that have been instrumental in getting me graduated, especially my advisers.

You can now read my Masters Thesis online from CUNY Academic Works:

Vagell, Raymond, "Does Genotype Correlate With Phenotype? Evaluating Ruffed Lemur (Varecia spp.) Color Vision Using Subject Mediated Automatic Remote Testing Apparatus (SMARTA)" (2017). CUNY Academic Works. http://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/182

Thesis defense

My advisers: (left) Dr. Andrea Baden and (right) Dr. Jim Gordon

GRADUATED!

Using Positive Reinforcement to Assist With Lemur Research: "50 Years of Lemurs at Duke" Exhibit

Were you able to check out the "50 Years of Lemurs at Duke" Exhibit In Duke University Perkins Library at Duke University? As I have mentioned here before, my lemur color vision research was featured in the "current research" exhibit as well as in an interactive video that talks about positive reinforcement. 

Communication & Behavior: Ruffed lemur color vision study

Interactive video: Using Positive Reinforcement to Assist With Lemur Research

If you weren't able to check out the exhibit, don't fret. I'm posting the "positive reinforcement" video here today. It's a short segment on how lemurs are trained using positive reinforcement for lemur research. Watch for my cameo, as well as my very smart black and white ruffed lemur Halley. Enjoy!

New Year, Same Research

Happy Lemur New Year!

Hope everyone had a great holiday and a new year. I spent Christmas and New Year in London and it was wonderful. I really needed the time off in my motherland. I'm excited that I finally had time to check out London Zoo (ZSL). They have amazing ring-tailed lemur and aye-aye exhibits! I also love their loris exhibits.

Me and some ring-tailed lemurs

The Spring 2017 semester research has started and I am back in Durham for the week to meet my new research assistants. This semester, I will have 3 (possibly 4) research assistants to help me with my SMARTA color vision research. I am very excited to return to Duke Lemur Center and to continue my research, which was on hold since Thanksgiving. It was so nice to see the lemurs again. I do miss them.

My research is coming to an end soon. I am hoping to wrap everything up by the end of this Summer. I am going to miss Duke Lemur Center a lot so I am hoping to take in as much as I can this few months.

I low key love this place ;P 

My Research Is Featured On "50 Years of Lemurs at Duke" Exhibit In Duke University Perkins Library #Duke50

The "50 Years of Lemurs at Duke" exhibit at Duke Perkins Library opened on October 27th, 2016 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Duke Lemur Center. This exhibit, curated by Duke Lemur Center staff, features 50 years of Duke Lemur Center research and conservation. The different facets research and conservation are represented in media, research artifacts, and educational models. My ruffed lemur color vision research is featured in one of the exhibit case as well as an interactive video.

Communication & Behavior Exhibit Case

Close up of my color vision study write up

The exhibit case features two of my lemurs using the two modes of SMARTA (my research apparatus). On the left, a lemur is interacting with SMARTA as he is being trained while on the right, a lemur is interacting with the testing phase of SMARTA. My research asks a very simple question: Can ruffed lemurs perceive and differentiate red from green?

Look for the Lemur Center Videos kiosk

I talk about how positive reinforcement and training help my research

Over at the interactive video, my research is featured on the "Research Video" segment. It highlights how training is beneficial for research and one of the example is using positive reinforcement to train my ruffed lemurs. In this video, I talk about how my lemurs are positively reinforced with food reward to approach SMARTA as well as when they participate in their trials. Training is essential to teach and guide the lemurs on what they need to do, especially for cognitive tasks. You can't ask a lemur if they can see red directly, but with some ingenuity, you can use positive reinforcement to ask them this question.

Checking out the "50 Years of Lemurs at Duke" exhibit with my friend and colleague, Dr. Tara Clark

Please come check out this exhibit and let me know what you think. The exhibit is open to the public and is free. "50 Years of Lemurs at Duke" runs from October 20, 2016 to February 19th, 2017.

I've Been Busy: NEEP and Departmental Talk

I gave a poster presentation at Northeastern Evolutionary Primatologists (NEEP) earlier this month, held at Hunter College. It's my first time at NEEP and it's nice to see my regional colleagues. And yes, that's a "floating tablet". Command Strips are great to affix your tablet during poster presentation. They come off easily after you are done!

Northeastern Evolutionary Primatologists (NEEP) is the northeast "chapter" of primatologists that focus on evolution, ecology, and behavior. You can read more about this organization on their website, as well as on their Facebook group.

I also gave a short talk on my ruffed lemur color vision research for my department's Pre-Graduation event. This is the first time I actually presented with my preliminary data. I'm right on track for graduation next Spring. 

[Please don't jinx myself. Please don't jinx myself. Please don't jinx myself.]

The Animal Behavior and Conservation Program at Hunter College is offered as a Master's Program for those that are interested in behavior, evolution, conservation, welfare, and cognition.

Bon Voyage, Magellan!

We said goodbye to Magellan this week as he transitioned into the next chapter of his life at Dickerson Park Zoo --- fatherhood (hopefully!). I can't wait to see him in his new environment so hopefully one of these days, I'll plan a trip out to Springfield, MO. Bon voyage, Magellan!

BUT WHY IS MAGELLAN LEAVING THE DUKE LEMUR CENTER?

According to the Duke Lemur Center, Magellan's mother and brothers were acting aggressively towards him.

This is actually a natural phenomenon. Lemurs are "kicked out" of their natal group at a certain point of their life, and this is induced by aggressive behavior towards the lemur individual. This is a common mechanism for animals that dispersal. Literally getting the boot from the group. There are no helicopter parents in the lemur world. Ruffed lemurs live in a fission fusion group, so generally both sexes are kicked out of the group.

COLOR VISION STUDY

Magellan was one of my research subject at the Duke Lemur Center. Along with his brothers (AJ and Rees) and mother (Kizzy), they participated in my color vision study last summer and fall.

Mine! Mine! Mine! MINE! Kizzy and her boys (AJ, Magellan, and Rees) can't seem to get enough of my apparatus. SMARTA or Subject-Mediated Automatic Remote Testing Apparatus is what I used to train and test these ruffed lemurs. I will post about why I am training these lemurs to touch the red square tomorrow. Stay tuned. Any questions in the meantime? Ask away. Photo by @prancingpapio #dukelemurcenter #lemurs #lemur #lemuria #lemurian #animaltraining #positivereinforcement #primate #primateofinstagram #primates #ruffedlemur #blackandwhiteruffedlemur #varecia #variegata #colsci #color #colorvision #colorscience #psychophysics #psychophysiology #psychology #anthropology #primatology #SMARTA #prancingpapio

A photo posted by Duke Lemur Center (@dukelemurcenter) on Jun 30, 2015 at 4:03pm PDT

I Presented A Poster On SMARTA And Ruffed Lemur Color Vision At #DLC50

When you show up and your outfit and hair matches your poster and table. #OnFleek

My poster for Duke Lemur Center 50th Anniversary Scientific Symposium is now available online. Please click here. Thank you Duke Lemur Center for inviting me to present my research, especially Dr. Erin Ehmke.

My credentials ;)

SMARTA: Subject-Mediated Automatic Remote Testing Apparatus for Color Vision Discrimination Tasks in Ruffed Lemurs (Varecia spp.) 

ABSTRACT:

Polymorphic color vision in ruffed lemurs (Varecia spp.) occurs due to an allelic variation of a single x-linked opsin gene that results in individuals being either dichromatic (red-green colorblind) or trichromatic depending on their opsin genotypes. The link between genotype and phenotype is well-established in haplorhines but not well-studied in lemurs. To investigate the color vision genotype-phenotype link in Varecia spp., the subject-mediated automatic remote testing apparatus (SMARTA) was developed. It aims to reduce biases and to accurately test the color discrimination abilities of inferred dichromatic and trichromatic individuals. SMARTA is an innovative novel apparatus for behavioral touchscreen discrimination tasks. It is controlled remotely via a smartphone app, has a motorized conveyer that automatically dispenses food rewards, automatically logs data online, and is relatively inexpensive to build.

Duke Lemur Center Celebrates 50 Years Of Awesomesauce and Totes Amazeballs Research #DLC50

Early last week, Duke Lemur Center celebrated its 50 year anniversary with a Scientific Symposium and Gala. Originally called Duke University Primate Center, it was renamed to Duke Lemur Center to reflect its scientific mission and, well, the fact that most of the residents in this facility are lemurs. Some slow loris and bush baby do call Duke Lemur Center their home.

I was fortunate and humbled to be invited to present my research at the poster session as well as doing demonstrations of my research. It's exciting to see that SMARTA and my ruffed lemur color vision study continue to engage and excite many people. Who says you can't do fun science that's engaging to BOTH the public and the lemurs? Speaking of, Halley was very excited to show off her SMARTA skills!

Loving lemurs with Lemur Love Co-Directors, Dr. Tara Clarke and Dr. Marni LaFleur

I enjoyed the scientific symposium tremendously. What a great gathering of lemur scientists and lemur lovers. Great job Duke Lemur Center staff for organizing and working this event!

I'm also very excited to have won the "Duke Lemur Center Mystery Bag" from the raffle as well as winning two auction bids: A personalized animal portrait from Julie Byrne (talented artist and Duke Lemur Center volunteer) and TWELVE(!!!) bottles of Loire Valley Wines from Rabelais Wines.

Content of the Duke Lemur Center Mystery Bag. There's a ruffed lemur inside!!!

Good News: I Got The Grant!

You guys! I got some exciting news to share. I'm elated to share with you, my readers, that I am the recipient of Duke Lemur Center's Director's Fund for Fall 2016!

OMG!!! I feel like an adult right now (don't laugh!). 

I submitted a proposal to fund the remainder of the cost of my research project as well as money to build more of my testing apparatus. As some of you might know, this research project has been going on for unexpectedly long. Though, I am not complaining because I am having fun working with the lemurs and the staff at Duke Lemur Center. Special shout out to my team of research assistants. Without them, this project would not be possible.

If you are interested in my ruffed lemur color vision research project and the novel apparatus (SMARTA) that I built for this research, you can read about it on:

Duke Lemur Center Spring 2016 Newsletter: Do You See What I See?

Lemur Conservation Network: On The Ground with Raymond Vagell


Or my academic posters:

SMARTA: Subject-Mediated Automatic Remote Testing Apparatus For Color Vision Discrimination Tasks (Vagell, Vagell, & Baden, 2015)

Novel Skill Acquisition in Ruffed Lemurs (Varecia spp.): Preliminary Data from SMARTA Color Vision Study at Duke Lemur Center (Vagell et al., 2016)

Now off the celebrate!

#IPSASP16 Poster Session

Novel skill acquisition in ruffed lemurs (Varecia spp.): Preliminary Data from SMARTA Color Vision Study at Duke Lemur Center

Raymond Vagell, Vance J. Vagell, Stephanie J. Tepper, Isabel M. Avery, Rachel L. Jacobs, James Gordon, & Andrea L. Baden.

Psychophysical studies are necessary for many questions related to the evolution of primate sensory systems, particularly in primate color vision, but such studies remain limited, especially in many lemur species. This may be in part because lemurs require extensive training to novel procedures. We trained ruffed lemurs (Varecia spp.) on the Subject-Mediated Automatic Remote Testing Apparatus (SMARTA) for a color vision pilot study at Duke Lemur Center from May to November, 2015. 18 animals were initially used but only 5 were trained. We selected animals based on their initial interest in participating and their continued interest across the first 20 sessions. Training time ranged from 42 to 265 minutes, across 32 to 172 sessions. We found no correlation between total training time and age, r(4) = 0.088, p = 0.888, or between number of training sessions and age, r(4) = 0.048, p = 0.940.Furthermore, we found no significant difference between sexes in mean total training time (t(3) = 0.29, p = 0.605) or total number of training sessions (t(3) = 0.243, p = 0.824). While acknowledging our sample size, we found no evidence that training is influenced by age and sex. Although training requires an initial time investment that varies across individual study subjects, the SMARTA helps to eliminate user bias and error, which outweighs the time investment.

A copy of my IPS/ASP 2016 poster (Vagell et al., 2016) can be downloaded here.

If you are interested in SMARTA, a copy of that poster (Vagell, Vagell, & Baden, 2015) can be downloaded here.

I'm presenting my poster at #IPSASP16 tonight

Come hear me talk about training my ruffed lemurs to use SMARTA tonight at the poster session!

I'm at The Joint International Primatological Society & American Society of Primatologists Conference in Chicago this week! #IPSASP16

I'm at IPS/ASP 2016 in Chicago this week! So excited to hear all these talks and to network with everyone.

I will be presenting a poster on training my ruffed lemurs to use SMARTA. The poster will be on Thursday, and I will have a PDF version of it online tomorrow.

If you are interested in SMARTA and my color vision study, you can read about it on:

Duke Lemur Center Spring 2016 Newsletter

Lemur Conservation Network

My ASP poster from last year! (Vagell et al., 2015)

I'm also currently looking for research assistants and am hoping I can find potential candidates at the conference. Know someone that like working with lemurs and are great with technology? Send them my way! Here's the Job Listing.

Please come talk to me at the conference! :)

Summer Time Sadness

I'm still training and collecting data with the ruffed lemurs, more accurately, my assistants are still training and collecting data with the ruffed lemurs. After a minor hiccup with data collection (which I rather not discuss), I am back to square one collecting my color vision data. Unfortunately, all of the lemurs that had previous did testing trials seemed to had forgotten how to use SMARTA so we had to re-train them again. Well, everyone except Halley.

Yes, Halley, the black and white ruffed lemur. My pride and joy Halley. She had last used the SMARTA over 6 months ago and when I set that apparatus right in front of her, she remembered where she had left off. At the moment, Halley and Pandora are currently taking a break from my study because ... THEY GAVE BIRTH OVER A MONTH AGO! Halley gave birth to 2 boys (Cosmo and Astro) while Pandora gave birth to a boy (Kalani) and a girl (Sally).
 

Lemurpalooza: Thanks For Coming Out!

Lemurpalooza was a huge success. Despite the fact that it was hot and muggy out, many showed up to the event. Thanks to those that came and stopped by my table to chat with me about ruffed lemurs and color vision.

Here's a link to Duke Lemur Center's Facebook page Live Video if you have missed the event and would like to watch.

Lemurpalooza 2016: Saturday, June 4th 2016 at Duke Lemur Center

MRW someone said Lemurpalooza is BACK!

Lemurpalooza is back again for yet another exciting palooza for Summer 2016. Hosted by Duke Lemur Center, Lemurpalooza 2016 will have food trucks, live music, and lemurtastic activities for kids and kids at heart. You can also walk around and view the lemurs at your own pace (usually you'll need to be escorted by a tour guide) as well as being able to "adopt" the lemurs. Money from these sponsorship goes to maintaining the lemurs at Duke Lemur Center as well as to fund conservation work.

 As usual, I will be at Lemurpalooza this year. Hear me talk about my color vision research and learn more about my ruffed lemurs! You will be able to see all the ruffed lemurs that I mentioned in my blog posts, especially Halley & Pandora. Come find me at Lemurpalooza!

You will also be able to "adopt" some of the lemurs as well and I do encourage you to do so, not only for the animals but also for all the necessary conservation work in Madagascar.

THIS IS ONE OF THE FEW EVENTS WHERE ADOPTING A LEMUR IS PERFECTLY OK!

From Duke Lemur Center's website:

Bring a blanket, join us for a picnic, and meet the lemurs in the Adopt-a-Lemur Program at the Duke Lemur Center (DLC), from 5 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 4th. Your sponsorship will help us care for the lemurs at DLC and support the conservation work we do around the world.

NOSH, a wonderful supporter of the Duke Lemur Center, will be selling picnic style dinner at Lemurpalooza. They will be offering burgers, their famous brisket and portabella mushroom burgers for vegetarians or bring your own picnic basket.

Come meet unique primates you can’t see anywhere else in the U.S. This will be a special evening experience that allows families to stroll and view the animals at their own pace (Usually a visit to the center must be a guided tour.) Keepers and education staff will be on hand to answer all questions about each animal up for adoption. Engaging educational activities will be provided for kids and kids at heart. Community fun, gorgeous lemurs, and an opportunity to conserve the environment and endangered animals all add up to a perfect summer evening.

How your donation helps lemurs
In 2012, lemurs were named the most endangered mammals on the planet. The Duke Lemur Center has been caring and learning from lemurs for nearly 50 years. It is the world’s largest sanctuary for these animals outside of their native Madagascar. When you adopt a lemur, you not only help cover the $7,400 per year cost it takes to care for each animal, but also support our work in the U.S., Madagascar and around the world to study and save these endangered animals.

With your tax-deductible donation, you’ll receive regular updates and photos on the animals of your choice, and you won’t have to scoop the poop! These animals stay at the Duke Lemur Center, and we do the dirty work. In addition to adopting a lemur, you can help save lemurs by entering our silent auction and featuring great DLC experiences and swag along with other community goodies!

Animals up for adoption 

• Raven, our ‘movie star,’ had her big screen moment in the recently released IMAX documentary, Island of Lemurs: Madagascar.
• Tasherit is a busy crowned lemur mother, managing the demands of two young boys!
• Teres is our super-star ring-tailed researcher who can find food in a puzzle box faster than you can blink an eye.
• Presley is a blue-eyed black lemur named after the blue-eyed ‘King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.’ Blue-eyed black lemurs are one of two non-human primates to have truly blue eyes.
• Pompeia is a six-year-old Coquerel’s Sifaka and recent mother who is one of less than 60 individuals of her species living in captivity.
• Grendel is a male aye-aye. The Duke Lemur Center has had more success at breeding aye-ayes than any other institution in the world.
• Thistle is a teacup-sized female mouse lemur. Because mouse lemurs develop Alzheimer’s-like symptoms as they age, researchers at the Duke Lemur Center hope their non-invasive mouse lemur research will help us better understand the aging brain.

Reservations are required. Call 919-401-7252 to reserve your spot and mark your calendar to meet the new adoptees at the Duke Lemur Center. 

Tickets are $50 per car and are fully tax deductible.

WHAT: Lemurpalooza

WHEN: 5 – 8 p.m., Saturday, June 4th, 2016.

WHERE: Duke Lemur Center, 3705 Erwin Rd in Durham. For directions please visit http://lemur.duke.edu/about-the-duke-lemur-center/directions

HOW: To reserve your spot, please call 919-401-7252

Read About My Ruffed Lemur Color Vision Research in Duke Lemur Center's Spring 2016 Newsletter

My ruffed lemur color vision research at Duke Lemur Center was recently highlighted in their 2016 Spring Newsletter! Here's a link to the PDF version of this newsletter which I have uploaded on Research Gate.

A preview of my article in the Duke Lemur Center 2016 Spring Newsletter

To sign up for Duke Lemur Center newsletter please click here.

I Talked About SMARTA and Ruffed Lemur Color Vision A Lot This Week

Duke Lemur Center presentation cover page

I gave a 30 minute presentation on Tuesday at Duke Lemur Center this week for their "Lemurs, Science, and Beer" seminar. The title of the talk is "Do You See What I See? Studying Ruffed Lemur (Varecia spp.) Color Vision using SMARTA".  In this presentation, I did a brief talk about how color vision came to be and what the world might look like for ruffed lemurs if they cannot see red or if they can see red. Then, I talked about my research questions and how I try to answer them by using SMARTA.

Hey, I know this Raymond Vagell guy! 

The event had a great turn out. It even attracted a few public attendees as I had advertised the talk on Facebook and Twitter. I'm glad that I was able to talk about what SMARTA is and how it is used to study ruffed lemur color vision to the DLC staff because they've seen me conducting my research but probably doesn't really know what I'm doing. Thanks to all my friends who came to support me. 

That's Carme using SMARTA

On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to talk about SMARTA and ruffed lemur color vision to Scaling Stem participants who came to visit DLC. I talked about how SMARTA came to be and how it was built. Then, I showed the participants how SMARTA works. Because this is a women in STEM group, it was apropos to have Halley demonstrate how SMARTA works. Without skipping a beat, Halley did her color vision trials perfectly and her enthusiasm wow-ed the crowd.

Giving a talk to Scaling Stem participants. Helping me demonstrate SMARTA is my lemur assistant, Halley

On Thursday, I gave a brief talk to a group of college freshmen that are interested in animal cognition studies. Though the talk was brief, I was able to share some tips on designing animal studies and things to expect when working with animals. This time, Carme helped demonstrate SMARTA. She also wow-ed the crowd with her cognitive skills in discrimination tasks.

Giving a brief talk about my color vision project 

This has been a long week! But, I am glad that I was given the opportunity to talk about my research and sharing my stories not only to the DLC staff, but also to educators and students. This week is also my last week at DLC for awhile. I am flying back to NYC and will be back to DLC periodically until the study is done around August. My assistant will be continuing this study while I am away. Thanks to Dr. Erin Ehmke for giving me the opportunities to share my work with the DLC family, educators and students.

Lemur, Science, and Beer Talk: April 5th, 4PM at Duke Lemur Center

Come join me on Tuesday, April 5th at 4PM where I will be presenting a talk on my ruffed lemur color vision study titled "Do You See What I See? Studying Ruffed Lemur Color Vision using SMARTA. I will talk about the ruffed lemurs and their color vision, what SMARTA is, as well as how this study is conducted.

This event is open to the public and will be held at Duke Lemur Center in Lemur Landing (where the gift store is). I've started a Facebook event for this talk. Hope to see you all there!


Duke Lemur Center 

3705 Erwin Rd, Durham, NC 27705

Phone: (919) 489-3364
Lemur Landing is directly right in front of the parking lot.