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Corley M, Garcia de la Chica A, van der Heide G, Rotundo M, Caccone A, Fernandez-Duque E. Inbreeding avoidance, competition and natal dispersal in a pair-living, genetically monogamous mammal, Azara's owl monkey ( Aotus azarae). ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2024; 11:240379. [PMID: 39113772 PMCID: PMC11305132 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.240379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2024] [Revised: 06/17/2024] [Accepted: 06/25/2024] [Indexed: 08/10/2024]
Abstract
Natal dispersal is an important life-history stage influencing individual fitness, social dynamics of groups and population structure. Understanding factors influencing dispersal is essential for evaluating explanations for the evolution and maintenance of social organization, including parental care and mating systems. The social and mating systems of Azara's owl monkeys (Aotus azarae) are infrequent among mammals; these primates are pair-living, serially and genetically monogamous and both sexes directly care for offspring. To evaluate the role that competition and inbreeding avoidance play in shaping dispersal patterns, we used 25 years of demographic and genetic data to examine how variation in timing of natal dispersal is related to social (adult replacements, step-parents, births and group size) and ecological factors (seasonal abundance of resources) in a wild population of A. azarae in Formosa, Argentina. We found that all males and females dispersed from their natal groups, but subadults delayed dispersal when a step-parent of the opposite sex joined the group, indicating that they may perceive these step-parents as potential mates. Dispersal was more probable when resource conditions were better, regardless of age. Overall, agonistic conflict over food and potential mates with adults in the natal group, as well as inbreeding avoidance, contribute to regulating dispersal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margaret Corley
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Owl Monkey Project, Fundación ECO, Formosa, Argentina
| | - Alba Garcia de la Chica
- Owl Monkey Project, Fundación ECO, Formosa, Argentina
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución-Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Laboratorio de Ecología y Comportamiento Animal, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | | | | | - Adalgisa Caccone
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Eduardo Fernandez-Duque
- Owl Monkey Project, Fundación ECO, Formosa, Argentina
- Department of Anthropology and School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Facultad de Recursos Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Formosa, Formosa, Argentina
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Freire Filho R, Inforzato I, Tabacow FP, Martins W, Possamai CB, Ferraz D, Hack ROE, Rocha S, Slomp DV, Nery MS, Almeida L, Fernandes N, Alves PPR, Mendes SL, Strier KB. Thanatology in the northern muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxanthus). Primates 2022; 63:335-342. [PMID: 35648246 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-022-00991-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2021] [Accepted: 05/07/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Primate thanatology, or the study of primate responses to dying and death, has become increasingly relevant in recent years. However, the number of reports remains small and the quality of published records is highly variable. Here, we extend the literature on comparative thanatology with observations on a population of the northern muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxanthus). We compiled all seven cases of muriqui responses to dead, dying, or abandoned infants observed by trained researchers of the Muriqui Project of Caratinga between 1998 and 2020. Four different adult females were observed carrying their dead offspring (n = 4) and one of these females was also observed carrying her dead grand-offspring (n = 1). Five of the seven cases involved dead newborns, one involved a newborn abandoned by its mother on the forest floor, and one involved a 1.6-year-old infant that was visibly ill and died after its mother left it on the ground. Dead newborns were carried for 1-3 days, and all cases occurred during the dry season months. No other age-sex classes were observed to interact with the dead or dying immatures. Our observations are consistent with hypotheses concerning the predominance of dead-infant carrying in other primates, and with the effects of climate on rates of corpse disintegration. They also show the value of long-term studies for obtaining and understanding anecdotal records of rare behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robério Freire Filho
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Centro de Biociências, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Avenida Prof. Moraes Rego, 1235 Cidade Universitária, Recife, PE, 50670-420, Brasil.
| | - Igor Inforzato
- Centro de Pesquisa e Conservação, Projeto BioBrasil, Sociedade Zoológica de Antuérpia, Antuérpia, Belgium.,Bicho do Mato Instituto de Pesquisa, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
| | - Fernanda P Tabacow
- Muriqui Instituto de Biodiversidade: MIB, Rua Euclydes Etienne Arreguy Filho, Centro Caratinga, MG, 35300-372, Brazil
| | - Waldney Martins
- Departamento de Biologia Geral e Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade e Uso dos Recursos Naturais, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Montes Claros, MG, 39401-089, Brazil
| | - Carla B Possamai
- Muriqui Instituto de Biodiversidade: MIB, Rua Euclydes Etienne Arreguy Filho, Centro Caratinga, MG, 35300-372, Brazil
| | - Daniel Ferraz
- Rede Eco-Diversa para Conservação da Biodiversidade, Rua Glicério Dias Soares 76, Niterói, Tombos, MG, 36844-000, Brazil
| | - Robson O E Hack
- Instituto de Tecnologia para o Desenvolvimento, LACTEC, Avenida Comendador Franco 1341, Jardim Botânico, Curitiba, 80215-090, Brazil
| | - Samantha Rocha
- Arvo Vida Ambiental, Rua Professor Antonio Tupy Pinheiro, Boa Vista, Curitiba, PR, 82650-100, Brazil
| | - Daniel V Slomp
- Secretaria do Meio Ambiente e Infraestrutura do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, SEMA-RS, Avenida Borges de Medeiros, 1.501, 7º andar, Centro Histórico Porto Alegre, RS, 90119-900, Brazil
| | - Marcello S Nery
- Muriqui Instituto de Biodiversidade: MIB, Rua Euclydes Etienne Arreguy Filho, Centro Caratinga, MG, 35300-372, Brazil
| | - Letícia Almeida
- Muriqui Instituto de Biodiversidade: MIB, Rua Euclydes Etienne Arreguy Filho, Centro Caratinga, MG, 35300-372, Brazil
| | - Naíla Fernandes
- Programa de Pós Graduação em Biologia Animal, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, 36570-900, Brazil
| | - Pedro Paulo Rezende Alves
- Taxa Mundi Institute, Rua Vereda dos Buritis 140, Veredas da Lagoa, Lagoa Santa, MG, 33239-659, Brazil
| | - Sérgio L Mendes
- Instituto Nacional da Mata Atlântica (INMA), Avenida José Ruschi 4, Santa Teresa, ES, 29650-000, Brazil.,Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal Do Espírito Santo, Vitória, ES, 29075-010, Brazil
| | - Karen B Strier
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
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Van Belle S, Di Fiore A. Dispersal patterns in black howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra): Integrating multiyear demographic and molecular data. Mol Ecol 2021; 31:391-406. [PMID: 34661321 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2021] [Revised: 10/03/2021] [Accepted: 10/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Dispersal is a fundamental process in the functioning of animal societies as it regulates the degree to which closely related individuals are spatially concentrated. A species' dispersal pattern can be complex as it emerges from individuals' decisions shaped by the cost-benefit tradeoffs associated with either remaining in the natal group or dispersing. Given the potential complexity, combining long-term demographic information with molecular data can provide important insights into dispersal patterns of a species. Based on a 15-year study that integrates multiyear demographic data on six groups with longitudinal and cross-sectional genetic sampling of 20 groups (N = 169 individuals, N = 21 polymorphic microsatellite loci), we describe the various dispersal strategies of male and female black howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra) inhabiting Palenque National Park, Mexico. Genetically confirmed dispersal events (N = 21 of 59 males; N = 6 of 65 females) together with spatial autocorrelation analyses revealed that the dispersal pattern of black howlers is bisexual with strong sex-biases in both dispersal rate (males disperse more often than females) and dispersal distance (females disperse farther than males). Observational and genetic data confirm that both males and females can successfully immigrate into established groups, as well as form new groups with other dispersing individuals. Additionally, both males and females may disperse singly, as well as in pairs, and both may also disperse secondarily. Overall, our findings suggest multiple dispersal trajectories for black howler males and females, and longer multiyear studies are needed to unravel which demographic, ecological and social factors underlie individuals' decisions about whether to disperse and which dispersal options to take.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarie Van Belle
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
| | - Anthony Di Fiore
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.,Tiputini Biodiversity Station, College of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Cumbayá, Ecuador
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Status of the northern muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxanthus) in the time of yellow fever. Primates 2018; 60:21-28. [DOI: 10.1007/s10329-018-0701-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2018] [Accepted: 11/11/2018] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
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Link A, Milich K, Di Fiore A. Demography and life history of a group of white-bellied spider monkeys (Ateles belzebuth) in western Amazonia. Am J Primatol 2018; 80:e22899. [PMID: 30047998 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2018] [Revised: 05/22/2018] [Accepted: 06/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Species-specific demographic parameters and life history variables are important for understanding how individual primate taxa have adapted to evolutionary and ecological pressures and for conducting interspecific comparisons as well as for conducting population viability analyses and for managing captive populations. Here, we describe results from a 12+ year study of the demographic dynamics of a wild group of white-bellied spider monkeys (Ateles belzebuth belzebuth) living near the Tiputini Biodiversity Station in a largely pristine rainforest in western Amazonia. Across the study period, group size varied between 25 and 37 individuals, and there was a clearly female-biased sex ratio within all age classes. Females were the dispersing sex, as 19 females born into the group disappeared close to reaching adult body size and were presumed to have emigrated, while seven subadult or adult females joined the group during the study period. We estimated the age of dispersal for females at 5.9 ± SD 0.4 years (N = 13). Our study confirms that males are the philopatric sex, as all natal males have remained in the group and some have begun to reproduce, while no males have immigrated. Males began ranging independently from their mothers at ∼4.5 years of age and began copulating with adult females by the age of ∼5 years. Females had long inter-birth intervals (44.2 ± SD 7.8 months; range: 32-64 months, N = 21). Based on our data, female spider monkeys might have longer life spans than males, as only one out of six adult males but 9 out of 11 adult females present in the group in mid 2005 were still present in January 2018. The slow development and extended life histories of wild spider monkeys pose significant challenges for the ability of these primates to cope with habitat degradation and hunting throughout their geographical distribution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrés Link
- Proyecto Primates, Bogotá, Colombia
- Department of Biological Sciences, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
- School of Management, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Krista Milich
- Department of Anthropology, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
- Department of Anthropology, Washington University, Saint Louis, Missouri
| | - Anthony Di Fiore
- Proyecto Primates, Bogotá, Colombia
- Department of Anthropology, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
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Abstract
Some anthropologists and primatologists have argued that, judging by extant chimpanzees and humans, which are female-biased dispersers, the common ancestors of humans and chimpanzees were also female-biased dispersers. It has been thought that sex-biased dispersal patterns have been genetically transmitted for millions of years. However, this character has changed many times with changes in environment and life-form during human evolution and historical times. I examined life-form and social organization of nonhuman primates, among them gatherers (foragers), hunter-gatherers, agriculturalists, industrialists, and modern and extant humans. I conclude that dispersal patterns changed in response to environmental conditions during primate and human evolution.
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Strier KB. What does variation in primate behavior mean? AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2017; 162 Suppl 63:4-14. [PMID: 28105716 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2016] [Revised: 09/29/2016] [Accepted: 10/07/2016] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Interest in intraspecific behavioral variation has grown with concerns about the ability of primates to adapt to the rapidly changing ecological and demographic conditions that threaten their survival. Now, in addition to identifying the causes and phylogenetic distribution of normative, species-specific behavior patterns for interspecific comparisons, there is widespread recognition of the need to incorporate intraspecific variation. This variation is evident across groups and populations of the same species as well over the long histories of single groups of long-lived, socially complex animals with overlapping generations. Yet, analyses of both cross-sectional and longitudinal data require explicit criteria about how to classify and interpret behavioral variation, and must be sensitive to the limitations of space-for-time substitutions in these comparisons. Current approaches have made great advances, but there remains an urgent challenge of understanding intraspecific variation in a way that will facilitate the development of new predictive models to assess population resilience and extinction risks in the face of climate change and other anthropogenic influences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen B Strier
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705
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Städele V, Pines M, Swedell L, Vigilant L. The ties that bind: Maternal kin bias in a multilevel primate society despite natal dispersal by both sexes. Am J Primatol 2016; 78:731-44. [PMID: 26890431 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2015] [Revised: 02/02/2016] [Accepted: 02/02/2016] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
In many social animals, individuals derive fitness benefits from close social bonds, which are often formed among kin of the philopatric sex. Hamadryas baboons, however, exhibit a hierarchical, multilevel social system where both sexes disperse from their natal one-male-unit (OMU). Although this would seem to hinder maintenance of kin ties, both sexes appear largely philopatric at the higher order band and clan levels, possibly allowing for bonds with same sex kin by both males and females. In order to investigate the possibility of kin bonds in hamadryas baboons, we identified kin dyads in a band without known pedigree information using a large panel of genetic markers: 1 Y-linked, 4 X-linked, and 23 autosomal microsatellites and part of the mitochondrial hypervariable region I. With these data, we performed a kinship analysis while accounting for misclassification rates through simulations and determined kinship among two types of dyads: leader and follower males and female dyads within OMUs. Leader and follower males were maternal relatives more often than expected by chance, suggesting that kinship plays a role in the formation of these relationships. Moreover, maternal female relatives were found in the same OMU more often than expected by chance, indicating that females may be motivated to maintain post-dispersal contact with maternal female kin. Our results suggest that hamadryas baboons can recognize maternal kin and that kin selection has contributed to shaping their complex social system. This implies that an ancestral maternal kin bias has been retained in hamadryas society. Am. J. Primatol. 78:731-744, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronika Städele
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Mathew Pines
- Filoha Hamadryas Project, Awash National Park, Metahara, Ethiopia
| | - Larissa Swedell
- Filoha Hamadryas Project, Awash National Park, Metahara, Ethiopia.,Department of Anthropology, Queens College, City University of New York, Flushing, New York.,New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, New York.,Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Linda Vigilant
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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Strier KB, Lee PC, Ives AR. Behavioral flexibility and the evolution of primate social states. PLoS One 2014; 9:e114099. [PMID: 25470593 PMCID: PMC4254976 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0114099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2014] [Accepted: 11/03/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Comparative approaches to the evolution of primate social behavior have typically involved two distinct lines of inquiry. One has focused on phylogenetic analyses that treat social traits as static, species-specific characteristics; the other has focused on understanding the behavioral flexibility of particular populations or species in response to local ecological or demographic variables. Here, we combine these approaches by distinguishing between constraining traits such as dispersal regimes (male, female, or bi-sexual), which are relatively invariant, and responding traits such as grouping patterns (stable, fission-fusion, sometimes fission-fusion), which can reflect rapid adjustments to current conditions. Using long-term and cross-sectional data from 29 studies of 22 species of wild primates, we confirm that dispersal regime exhibits a strong phylogenetic signal in our sample. We then show that primate species with high variation in group size and adult sex ratios exhibit variability in grouping pattern (i.e., sometimes fission-fusion) with dispersal regime constraining the grouping response. When assessing demographic variation, we found a strong positive relationship between the variability in group size over time and the number of observation years, which further illustrates the importance of long-term demographic data to interpretations of social behavior. Our approach complements other comparative efforts to understand the role of behavioral flexibility by distinguishing between constraining and responding traits, and incorporating these distinctions into analyses of social states over evolutionary and ecological time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen B. Strier
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53705, United States of America
| | - Phyllis C. Lee
- Behaviour and Evolution Research Group, Psychology, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, United Kingdom
| | - Anthony R. Ives
- Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53705, United States of America
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