The goals of this first chapter to our volume “Howler Monkeys: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservatio... more The goals of this first chapter to our volume “Howler Monkeys: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation” are to highlight the importance of long-term studies for understanding howler behavioral ecology, evaluate the concept of howlers as a colonizing species, and to identify those aspects of howler behavior that are well studied from those that require further study. Although there have been numerous studies of individual species of howler monkeys, and several reviews of the genus Alouatta, there was only one volume dedicated to Alouatta. This was a special issue of the International Journal of Primatology (issue 3) published in 1998. This issue, edited by M. Clarke, was the result of a symposium entitled “Howlers: Past and Present,” organized by K. Glander at the 1988 Congress of the International Primatological Society held at Brasilia, Brazil. In this seminal volume there are 11 contributions, four of them were reviews (two on the conservation status on howlers, one on parasites, and one on population characteristics), four were on A. palliata, and two on A. arctoidea. This issue was an important contribution to the study of howler monkeys, but also revealed our limited knowledge of the vast majority of howler species. Given significant advances in the tools available to primate researchers coupled with a dramatic increase in the number of howler species and groups studied, we have put together a single comprehensive volume that integrates our current knowledge of the behavioral, ecological, social, and evolutionary processes that have shaped the life history of this taxon. Our volume includes 15 chapters divided into four sections (1) introduction, (2) behavioral ecology, (3) conservation and management, and (4) conclusion.
The microbiome is critical to host health and disease, but much remains unknown about the determi... more The microbiome is critical to host health and disease, but much remains unknown about the determinants, levels, and evolution of host-microbial diversity. The relationship between hosts and their associated microbes is complex.
OBJECTIVES We investigated the diversity of the pygmy marmoset, Cebuella pygmaea, by comparing ge... more OBJECTIVES We investigated the diversity of the pygmy marmoset, Cebuella pygmaea, by comparing genetic, morphological and pelage traits of animals from Peru and Ecuador. MATERIALS AND METHODS We extracted DNA from museum specimen osteocrusts and from fecal samples collected from free-ranging individuals. We sequenced the mtDNA cytochrome b gene and the control region from samples collected at 13 different sites and used Bayesian inference and Maximum Likelihood to identify distinct clades. We took measurements of the crania of a subset of these specimens (n = 26) and ran a logistic regression to determine if any of the cranial measurements (n = 22) could predict a specimen's clade. In addition, we examined the pelage patterns of the museum specimens and photographs taken of free-ranging individuals and divided them into pelage types based on coloration of the underbelly. RESULTS We identified two divergent clades, and two distinct groups with clear geographic boundaries within one of those clades. Two measurements of the zygomatic bone perfectly predicted a given individual's mtDNA clade. We found four distinct pelage patterns in our samples, but these patterns are variable within clades and among individuals within the same population. CONCLUSION These analyses indicate that the two recognized subspecies of pygmy marmoset should be elevated to the species level (C. pygmaea and C. niveiventris) based on molecular and cranial differences but not on pelage patterns. We provide evidence on the geographic limits of the two clades and identify regions where additional sampling is required to better define the geographic distribution of the two clades.
The goals of this first chapter to our volume “Howler Monkeys: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservatio... more The goals of this first chapter to our volume “Howler Monkeys: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation” are to highlight the importance of long-term studies for understanding howler behavioral ecology, evaluate the concept of howlers as a colonizing species, and to identify those aspects of howler behavior that are well studied from those that require further study. Although there have been numerous studies of individual species of howler monkeys, and several reviews of the genus Alouatta, there was only one volume dedicated to Alouatta. This was a special issue of the International Journal of Primatology (issue 3) published in 1998. This issue, edited by M. Clarke, was the result of a symposium entitled “Howlers: Past and Present,” organized by K. Glander at the 1988 Congress of the International Primatological Society held at Brasilia, Brazil. In this seminal volume there are 11 contributions, four of them were reviews (two on the conservation status on howlers, one on parasites, and one on population characteristics), four were on A. palliata, and two on A. arctoidea. This issue was an important contribution to the study of howler monkeys, but also revealed our limited knowledge of the vast majority of howler species. Given significant advances in the tools available to primate researchers coupled with a dramatic increase in the number of howler species and groups studied, we have put together a single comprehensive volume that integrates our current knowledge of the behavioral, ecological, social, and evolutionary processes that have shaped the life history of this taxon. Our volume includes 15 chapters divided into four sections (1) introduction, (2) behavioral ecology, (3) conservation and management, and (4) conclusion.
The microbiome is critical to host health and disease, but much remains unknown about the determi... more The microbiome is critical to host health and disease, but much remains unknown about the determinants, levels, and evolution of host-microbial diversity. The relationship between hosts and their associated microbes is complex.
OBJECTIVES We investigated the diversity of the pygmy marmoset, Cebuella pygmaea, by comparing ge... more OBJECTIVES We investigated the diversity of the pygmy marmoset, Cebuella pygmaea, by comparing genetic, morphological and pelage traits of animals from Peru and Ecuador. MATERIALS AND METHODS We extracted DNA from museum specimen osteocrusts and from fecal samples collected from free-ranging individuals. We sequenced the mtDNA cytochrome b gene and the control region from samples collected at 13 different sites and used Bayesian inference and Maximum Likelihood to identify distinct clades. We took measurements of the crania of a subset of these specimens (n = 26) and ran a logistic regression to determine if any of the cranial measurements (n = 22) could predict a specimen's clade. In addition, we examined the pelage patterns of the museum specimens and photographs taken of free-ranging individuals and divided them into pelage types based on coloration of the underbelly. RESULTS We identified two divergent clades, and two distinct groups with clear geographic boundaries within one of those clades. Two measurements of the zygomatic bone perfectly predicted a given individual's mtDNA clade. We found four distinct pelage patterns in our samples, but these patterns are variable within clades and among individuals within the same population. CONCLUSION These analyses indicate that the two recognized subspecies of pygmy marmoset should be elevated to the species level (C. pygmaea and C. niveiventris) based on molecular and cranial differences but not on pelage patterns. We provide evidence on the geographic limits of the two clades and identify regions where additional sampling is required to better define the geographic distribution of the two clades.
Uploads