For arboreal primates, ground use may increase dispersal opportunities, tolerance to habitat change, access to ground-based resources, and resilience to human disturbances, and so has conservation implications. We collated published and unpublished data from 86 studies across 65 localities to assess titi monkey (Callicebinae) terrestriality. We examined whether the frequency of terrestrial activity correlated with study duration (a proxy for sampling effort), rainfall level (a proxy for food availability seasonality), and forest height (a proxy for vertical niche dimension). Terrestrial activity was recorded frequently for Callicebus and Plecturocebus spp., but rarely for Cheracebus spp. Terrestrial resting, anti-predator behavior, geophagy, and playing frequencies in Callicebus and Plecturocebus spp., but feeding and moving differed. Callicebus spp. often ate or searched for new leaves terrestrially. Plecturocebus spp. descended primarily to ingest terrestrial invertebrates and soil. Study duration correlated positively and rainfall level negatively with terrestrial activity. Though differences in sampling effort and methods limited comparisons and interpretation, overall, titi monkeys commonly engaged in a variety of terrestrial activities. Terrestrial behavior in Callicebus and Plecturocebus capacities may bolster resistance to habitat fragmentation. However, it is uncertain if the low frequency of terrestriality recorded for Cheracebus spp. is a genus-specific trait associated with a more basal phylogenetic position, or because studies of this genus occurred in pristine habitats. Observations of terrestrial behavior increased with increasing sampling effort and decreasing food availability. Overall, we found a high frequency of terrestrial behavior in titi monkeys, unlike that observed in other pitheciids.
Understanding the evolutionary and ecological mechanisms that shape the spatial divergence of signals involved in reproductive isolation is a central goal in studies of speciation. For birds with innate songs, such as the suboscine passerine birds, the integration and comparison of both genetic and ecological factors in explaining song variation at the microevolutionary scale are rare. Here, we evaluated the evolutionary and ecological processes underlying the variation in the songs of the Atlantic Forest endemic Drab-breasted Bamboo Tyrant (Hemitriccus diops), testing the effects of both stochastic and adaptive processes, namely the stochastic and acoustic adaptation hypotheses, respectively. We combined vocal, genetic, and ecological (climate and forest cover) data across the species’ range. To this end, we analyzed 89 samples of long and short songs. We performed analyses on raw and synthetic data song variables with linear mixed models and multivariate statistics. Our results show that both song types differ in spectral features between the 2 extant phylogeographic lineages of this species, but such vocal divergence is weak and subtle in both song types. Overall, there is a positive relationship of acoustic distances with the amount of forest cover in long songs. Our results suggest that there is cryptic geographical variation in both song types and that this variation is associated with low levels of genetic divergence in both songs and with ecological factors in long songs.
El mono tití del Caquetá (Plecturocebus caquetensis) es un primate críticamente amenazado debido a la pérdida de su hábitat. En los últimos años han incrementado los estudios sobre ecología, pero poco se conoce sobre su comportamiento reproductivo. Aquí reportamos los primeros registros del comportamiento reproductivo y el nacimiento de una cría de P. caquetensis en dos grupos en un fragmento de bosque en el departamento del Caquetá - Colombia en octubre de 2013. También registramos el ataque de Pithecia milleri al macho adulto con cría. Estos registros representan un aporte para el conocimiento de la historia natural de esta especie en peligro de extinción.
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