The menstrual cycle of the spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi)

Abstract

The ovarian cycles of four adult female spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) were followed daily throughout 30 days by means of vaginal swabs and blood samplings. Cytological analyses of the vaginal swabs and radioimmunoassay determination of the daily levels of estradiol‐17β (E2) and progesterone (P4) were done in order to classify the kind of ovarian cycle of this species. Our results show that Ateles geoffroyi females display menstrual cycles of about 24 days on average. By comparison with the well‐known menstrual cycles of women, apes, and Old World monkeys, the four distinctive cytological phases (bleeding, follicular, periovulatory, and luteal) could be recognized; mid‐cycle E2 peaks followed by mid‐luteal increases of the same hormone were present in all four females. P4 levels were higher after the E2 peak, although both hormones were present throughout the cycles. Also, age‐dependent features, hormone profiles, and changes in menstrual phases lengths were detected. Am. J. Primatol. 44:183–195, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Male-Induced Sociosexual Behavior by Vaginal Secretions in Macaca arctoides

“…We estimated different menstrual cycle phases-menses, follicular, periovulatory, early luteal, and late luteal (Slob et al, 1978b)-via cytological assessment of smears stained with Shorr's trichromic technique (Hernández-López et al, 1998). We experimented only with 5 of 10 females because 3 of them showed no regular menstrual cycles, 2 became pregnant during the test, and the rest were infants.…”

Urinary progesterone in free-ranging red howler monkeys (Alouatta seniculus): Preliminary observations of the estrous cycle and gestation

“…Although steroid and/or gonadotropin levels have been published for only nine [Wolf et al, 1977;Bonney et al, 1980;Hodges et al, 1981;Ghosh et al, 1982;Nagle & Denari, 1983;Shideler et al, 1994;Strier & Ziegler, 1997;Hernández-López et al, 1998;Valeggia et al, 1999] of the 58 recognized species in the family Cebidae [Groves, 1993], there is a consistent pattern of low concentrations of progesterone during the follicular phase of the estrous cycle and elevated concentrations in the luteal phase and gestation. Thus, the goal of this study was to develop and validate a radioimmunoassay (RIA) for measurement of unconjugated progesterone (P) concentrations in the urine of red howler monkeys, and to use P profiles to characterize the reproductive cycle of this species.…”

Tracking the Ovarian Cycle in Black-and-Gold Howlers (Alouatta caraya) by Measuring Fecal Steroids and Observing Vaginal Bleeding

“…Our results differ only from the cycles length described for free-ranging Alouatta seniculus (29.5±1.5 d) measured by Herrick et al (2000) using urine instead of fecal samples. In addition, the ovarian cycle lengths of females in the present study were similar to those of other New World primate species, including Ateles geoffroy (Campbell et al 2001;Hernández-López et al 1998), Brachyteles hypoxantus (Strier and Ziegler 1997), Callicebus moloch (Valeggia et al 1999), and Pithecia pithecia (Savage et al 1995). The fecal estrogen profiles match other profiles for New World primates, with estrogen peaks occurring within the progestin surge (Pryce et al 1994;Strier and Ziegler 1997;Ziegler et al 1996;Van Belle et al 2009).…”

“…Thus, for a long time it was thought that only the Old World primates menstruate because spiral arterioles are absent in the New World species (Guimarães 2001b). However, menstrual-type cycles have been described in Cebus apella (Nagle and Denari 1983) and Ateles geoffroy (Hernández-López et al 1998), but vaginal bleeding was discreet and detected by vaginal cytology only.…”