Sympatry between Alouatta caraya and Alouatta clamitans and the rediscovery of free-ranging potential hybrids in Southern Brazil

Abstract

Records of sympatry between Alouatta caraya and A. clamitans are rare despite their extensive range overlap. An example of their current sympatry and the rediscovery of free-ranging potential hybrids of A. caraya and A. clamitans in the forests of the Upper Paraná River, Southern Brazil, are reported in this paper. Eight groups were observed in the study area: five monospecific groups of A. caraya, two of A. clamitans, and a group containing two adult males and two adult females of A. caraya and a sub-adult male and two adult females identified as Alouatta sp. The color of the last three individuals was a mosaic between the two species; this is consistent with previously described variations in museum specimens collected in the Paraná River in the 1940s that had been identified as potential hybrids. The results from this study emphasize the need for scientific studies in the region of the Ilha Grande National Park, one of the few regions in the Paraná River that currently harbors both howler species.

Phylogeography of the Mantled Howler Monkey (Alouatta palliata; Atelidae, Primates) across Its Geographical Range by Means of Mitochondrial Genetic Analyses and New Insights about the Phylogeny of Alouatta

“…While hybridization is a possible explanation, other possible explanations include incomplete lineage sorting, or historic introgression (to be differentiated from recent hybridization) [RuizGarcía et al 2016c]. Other cases of hybridization for different Alouatta taxa were those reported by Aguiar et al [2007], who described hybridization between A. caraya and A. guariba clamitans (= fusca) in a group of 8 individuals observed near the Paraná River in Brazil, which is in the ecotone between the rainforest and the Cerrado. The hybrid monkeys showed intermediate morphological characteristics.…”

Are howler monkey species ecologically equivalent? Trophic niche overlap in syntopicAlouatta guariba clamitansandAlouatta caraya

“…In particular, in NE Argentina and S Brazil, there is evidence of one of the few known contact zones between brown howlers (BR; Alouatta guariba ssp. clamitans) and black and gold howlers (BLG; A. caraya) [Agostini et al, 2008;Aguiar et al, 2007;Bicca-Marques et al, 2008;Di Bitetti et al, 1994], two morphologically and genetically well-differentiated species [Cortés-Ortiz et al, 2003;Gregorin, 2006;Groves, 2001]. A. guariba and A. caraya belong to two different sister clades that appear to have come secondarily into contact in the region [Cortés-Ortiz et al, 2003].…”

“…Owing to overall similarity in the set of ecological requirements and behavioral adaptations that characterizes all howler species throughout their distributions [e.g., interspecific differences in howler diets, ranging, and activity patterns are smaller than habitat and seasonal intraspecific differences; Crockett & Eisenberg, 1987], they have been classified as ecospecies, i.e., a group of ecologically equivalent (and mutually exclusive) congeners usually representing parapatric replacements across sharp biogeographical boundaries [Peres & Janson, 1999]. Although relatively rare, a few narrow contact zones, where species pairs are occasionally syntopic, have been reported [Agostini et al, 2008;Aguiar et al, 2007Aguiar et al, , 2008Bicca-Marques et al, 2008;Büntge & Pyritz, 2007;Chames & Olmos, 1997;Cortés-Ortiz et al, 2007;Defler, 2004;Di Bitetti et al, 1994;Iwanaga & Ferrari, 2002;Pinto & Setz, 2000;Wallace et al, 1998]. In particular, in NE Argentina and S Brazil, there is evidence of one of the few known contact zones between brown howlers (BR; Alouatta guariba ssp.…”

Primatology in southern Brazil: a transdisciplinary approach to the conservation of the brown-howler-monkey Alouatta guariba clamitans (Primates, Atelidae)

“…I). To confront the challenge of conserving these species, the severe habitat fragmentation and its potential and observed impacts on primate populations have focused the attention of primatologists in southern Brazil (PRINTES, 1999;RIBEIRO & BICCA-MARQUES, 2005;AGUIAR et al, 2007;SILVA & CODENOTTI, 2007).…”

“…Since the beginnings of primatology in southern Brazil, several studies have examined behavior and ecology in A. g. clamitans (PRATES et al, 1990a;JARDIM & OLIVEIRA, 2000;MIRANDA et al, 2004;MIRANDA et al, 2005) and Alouatta caraya (BICCA-MARQUES, 1992;. In the past decade, primatologists have given increasing attention to the severe habitat fragmentation and the ways in which it impacts the primate populations (PRINTES, 1999;RIBEIRO & BICCA-MARQUES, 2005;AGUIAR et al, 2007;SILVA & CODENOTTI, 2007). One focus of these studies has been conflicts resulting from the proximity of human and non-human primate populations near urban areas (PRINTES, 1999;.…”