Primate Immunity and a Warming Planet

Rackham doctoral candidate and biological anthropologist Jordan Lucore researches primate socioecology and endocrinology. As part of her graduate studies, Lucore studied biomarkers of wild capuchin monkeys in Costa Rica, revealing a decline in the animal’s immune system performance in higher temperatures. Younger monkeys seem to be particularly vulnerable to heat. The research plays a critical role in deepening scientific understanding of how rising global temperatures impact wild animals.

“We suspect that the immune system will continue to be more severely affected by these rising temperatures,” Lucore says. “When your immune system becomes depressed, there could be health implications—you could be more susceptible to infection. We believe that these results could extend to other species, as well. It’s difficult to connect this to humans because humans don’t live in this natural environment. But, as temperatures heat up, there’s no reason to suspect that those temperatures wouldn’t affect humans in similar ways.”

Learn more about Lucore’s research in this article and video by Michigan News.