THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF NOCTURNALITY FOR AOTUS TRIVIRGATUS (THE NIGHT MONKEY) (ECOLOGY, BEHAVIOR, PREDATION PRESSURE, MONOGAMY, COMPETITION).
Item
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Title
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THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF NOCTURNALITY FOR AOTUS TRIVIRGATUS (THE NIGHT MONKEY) (ECOLOGY, BEHAVIOR, PREDATION PRESSURE, MONOGAMY, COMPETITION).
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Identifier
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AAI8601707
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identifier
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8601707
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Creator
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WRIGHT, PATRICIA CHAPPLE.
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Contributor
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Warren G. Kinzey
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Date
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1985
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Anthropology, Physical
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Abstract
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The purpose of this research was to document the behavior and ecology of the only nocturnal monkey in two different natural habitats to understand better the cost and benefits of nocturnality for Aotus.;First, Aotus trivirgatus and Callicebus moloch (a diurnal monkey with similar body weight, group size, and monogamous social system as Aotus) were compared and contrasted in the same undisturbed tropical rain forest in Manu National Park, Peru, for 15 months. Differences were found in (1) diet (in the dry season Aotus frequented large-crowned fruit trees and nectar sources, while Callicebus increased leaf-eating); (2) choice of sleeping sites (Aotus used only five habitual obscure sleeping sites over an annual cycle, while Callicebus used 30 relatively open sleeping sites annually); (3) timing of exit from and entrance into sleeping sites (Aotus exit and entrance times were consistently correlated with sunset and sunrise, while Callicebus entrance and exit times varied); (4) loud calling behavior (Aotus called once a month when the moon was near full, while Callicebus called frequently each month); and (5) attacks by predators (Aotus was never attacked but Callicebus was attacked five times). These data suggest that the behaviors could have been influenced by nocturnal and diurnal differences in interference competition and predators.;To confirm these two benefits of nocturnality, I studied Aotus five months in Paraguay in a habitat where diurnal eagles were rare, large nocturnal great horned owls were common, and potential competitors (capuchin and spider monkeys) were absent. During this study, many aspects of Aotus behavior were similar to the behaviors of Callicebus in the rain forest. Aotus in the Paraguayan Chaco habitat was highly folivorous in the months of scarce resources. Aotus in Paraguay also used a variety of sleeping sites (42 different trees in 5 months), varied the timing of entrance into and exit from sleeping trees, traveled and fed from one to three hours in daylight, and avoided the great horned owls. In this very specialized habitat where diurnal predation pressure and interference competition from large monkeys does not occur, the night monkey was active during daylight as well as at night.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Anthropology
