Primate Anti-predator Behavior Toward Snakes

Primate Anti-predator Behavior Toward Snakes PDF Author: Stephanie Fay Etting
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781267023421
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
In this dissertation, I investigate primate anti-predator behavior toward snakes. In particular, I examine: 1) how differences in evolutionary history with venomous snakes in lemuriforms, platyrrhines, and catarrhines are reflected in differential ability to detect snakes at a distance; 2) whether mobbing and monitoring snakes interfere with daily activities, or can be undertaken without affecting daily activities, and; 3) if rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) use the postural cues of snakes to assess their potential threat. The Snake Detection theory proposes that predation by snakes has influenced the neural organization of primate visual systems on different continents over evolutionary time. I tested the ability to detect snakes at a distance in species from Madagascar, South America, and Asia, and found that, consistent with the prediction, rhesus macaques detected snake models at the farthest distance, squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) only responded when snake models were close, and black-and-white ruffed lemurs (Varecia variegata) never responded to the models. Predator monitoring is generally thought to interfere with normal daily activities, but I found that rhesus macaques did not significantly decrease baseline activities while monitoring a model snake. These findings suggest that snakes may be the only primate predator that can be monitored with little cost, and I argue that it results from the unique hunting style of snakes. Primates are known to vary in their responses toward different types of snakes or snakes in different contexts. One possible explanation is that primates are responding to the threat level presented by the snake. One way to interpret the intentions of a snake is through its posture. Using models of snakes in different postures, I found that rhesus macaques respond more strongly to snakes in striking pose relative to a coiled posture, and more to coiled posture than to traveling snakes, consistent with what is known of snake behavior. In addition, I found that a partially covered snake evoked a response comparable to that of the striking snake. My research contributes to the study of anti-predator behavior by investigating primate behavior in relation to predators at a finer level than had previously been conducted. By recognizing the unique hunting style of snakes and their biogeographical history, this dissertation highlights the subtle effects of snakes on primate anti-predator behavior on both ecological and evolutionary time scales.

Primate Anti-predator Behavior Toward Snakes

Primate Anti-predator Behavior Toward Snakes PDF Author: Stephanie Fay Etting
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781267023421
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this dissertation, I investigate primate anti-predator behavior toward snakes. In particular, I examine: 1) how differences in evolutionary history with venomous snakes in lemuriforms, platyrrhines, and catarrhines are reflected in differential ability to detect snakes at a distance; 2) whether mobbing and monitoring snakes interfere with daily activities, or can be undertaken without affecting daily activities, and; 3) if rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) use the postural cues of snakes to assess their potential threat. The Snake Detection theory proposes that predation by snakes has influenced the neural organization of primate visual systems on different continents over evolutionary time. I tested the ability to detect snakes at a distance in species from Madagascar, South America, and Asia, and found that, consistent with the prediction, rhesus macaques detected snake models at the farthest distance, squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) only responded when snake models were close, and black-and-white ruffed lemurs (Varecia variegata) never responded to the models. Predator monitoring is generally thought to interfere with normal daily activities, but I found that rhesus macaques did not significantly decrease baseline activities while monitoring a model snake. These findings suggest that snakes may be the only primate predator that can be monitored with little cost, and I argue that it results from the unique hunting style of snakes. Primates are known to vary in their responses toward different types of snakes or snakes in different contexts. One possible explanation is that primates are responding to the threat level presented by the snake. One way to interpret the intentions of a snake is through its posture. Using models of snakes in different postures, I found that rhesus macaques respond more strongly to snakes in striking pose relative to a coiled posture, and more to coiled posture than to traveling snakes, consistent with what is known of snake behavior. In addition, I found that a partially covered snake evoked a response comparable to that of the striking snake. My research contributes to the study of anti-predator behavior by investigating primate behavior in relation to predators at a finer level than had previously been conducted. By recognizing the unique hunting style of snakes and their biogeographical history, this dissertation highlights the subtle effects of snakes on primate anti-predator behavior on both ecological and evolutionary time scales.

Primate Anti-Predator Strategies

Primate Anti-Predator Strategies PDF Author: Sharon Gursky-Doyen
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387348107
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 409

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Book Description
This volume details the different ways that nocturnal primates avoid predators. It is a first of its kind within primatology, and is therefore the only work giving a broad overview of predation – nocturnal primate predation theory in particular – in the field Additionally, the book incorporates several chapters on the theoretical advances that researchers studying nocturnal primates need to make.

The Fruit, the Tree, and the Serpent

The Fruit, the Tree, and the Serpent PDF Author: Lynne A. Isbell
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674033019
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Book Description
The global prominence of snakes in religion, myth, and folklore underscores our deep connection to them—but why, when few of us have firsthand experience? The answer, Isbell suggests, lies in snakes’ singular impact on primate evolution; predation pressure from snakes is ultimately responsible for the superior vision and large brains of primates.

Handbook of Primate Behavioral Management

Handbook of Primate Behavioral Management PDF Author: Steven J. Schapiro
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1351646982
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 1028

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Book Description
Key features: Offers chapters by renowned experts which are comprised of three subunits: a theoretical discussion of the content area, a description of the methods employed to address the content area, and finally, and most importantly, a discussion of the ways that relevant aspects of the content area can be easily employed/adapted to enhance the behavioral management of NHPs Provides case studies that highlight the areas of expertise of the authors and emphasize ‘success stories’ that can be used to develop behavioral management strategies and build behavioral management programs Presents ‘Genera-specific’ chapters which focus on behavioral management strategies that, typically, are successfully employed with particular taxa of NHPs Includes a novel, pioneering ‘Product/services’ section that provides the producers of important technologies, equipment, and services with an opportunity to highlight the ways in which their products enhance the ability of their clients to manage the behavior of NHPs Illustrated with full color images and drawings throughout. The Handbook of Primate Behavioral Management (HPBM) fills a void in the scientific literature, providing those who work with nonhuman primates (NHPs) with a centralized reference for many issues related to the care and behavioral management of captive nonhuman primates. While there are numerous publications scattered throughout the literature that deal with the behavioral management of NHPs, this comprehensive handbook is the first single-source reference to summarize and synthesize this information. The HPBM is organized into six complementary parts starting with an introductory section. The book then provides in-depth coverage of content issues, applications and implementation, genera-specific chapters, technology-related questions involved in the behavioral management of NHPs, and a concluding section. Primate behavioral management is a topic that has recently generated a considerable number of primary publications in the scientific literature, mostly with an applied focus. Similarly, there are many primary publications currently available that address more basic issues related to the understanding of primate behavior. One of the principal goals of the HPBM is to highlight and synthesize basic science advances that can be adapted and applied to enhance the behavioral management of captive NHPs.

The Fruit, the Tree, and the Serpent

The Fruit, the Tree, and the Serpent PDF Author: Lynne A. Isbell
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781667419008
Category : Eye
Languages : en
Pages : 207

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Book Description
The worldwide prominence of snakes in religion, myth, and folklore underscores our deep connection to the serpent -- but why, when so few of us have firsthand experience? The surprising answer, this book suggests, may lie in the singular impact of snakes on primate evolution. Predation pressure from snakes, Lynne Isbell tells us, is ultimately responsible for the superior vision and large brains of primates -- and for a critical aspect of human evolution. Drawing on extensive research, Isbell further speculates how snakes could have influenced the development of a distinctively human behavior: our ability to point for the purpose of directing attention. A social activity (no one points when alone) dependent on fast and accurate localization, pointing would have reduced deadly snake bites among our hominin ancestors. It might have also figured in later human behavior: snakes, this book eloquently argues, may well have given bipedal hominins, already equipped with a non-human primate communication system, the evolutionary nudge to point to communicate for social good, a critical step toward the evolution of language, and all that followed. --publisher description.

Risk Perception, Alarm Call Usage, and Anti-predator Strategies in an Amazonian Primate, Pithecia Rylandsi

Risk Perception, Alarm Call Usage, and Anti-predator Strategies in an Amazonian Primate, Pithecia Rylandsi PDF Author: Dara B. Adams
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Pithecia
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Primates are confronted with threats of predation on a regular basis, but much is unknown regarding how they perceive and respond to these threats. Even less is known about how predators respond to primate anti-predator behaviors. Thus, key questions remain: How do primates cope with the possibility of being eaten and do these coping strategies thwart hunting by predators? This dissertation investigates these questions using a newly identified primate species, Rylands’ bald-faced saki monkeys (Pithecia rylandsi), one of their main felid predators, ocelots (Leopardus pardalis), and audio and visual simulations of other predators. Specifically, I conducted experiments on wild saki monkeys in the Peruvian Amazon using audio playbacks of predator vocalizations and life-size decoys of their main aerial and terrestrial predators. I also carried out playback experiments on the predators themselves using audio broadcasts of monkey alarm calls. This experimental design allowed me to test the ability of sakis to recognize predators based on acoustic and visual cues, determine how they respond based on predator class, location, and context, as well as to examine what information might be conveyed in their alarm calls and how these calls cause changes to predator behavior. Results from playbacks show that sakis are able to identify predator types (aerial vs. terrestrial) based solely on vocalizations, but they do not exhibit predator-specific escape responses to terrestrial predators based on acoustic cues alone. While sakis respond to harpy eagle shrieks appropriately by descending the canopy, they exhibit no clear movement patterns upon hearing jaguar growls. In contrast, visual jaguar models consistently elicit fast approaches, mobbing-style responses, and long alarm calling bouts. Visual harpy eagle stimuli elicit predator-specific whistle calls that are brief and quiet in nature, characteristics that make them difficult to locate in the forest matrix. Additionally, whistle calls are most often accompanied by escape behaviors. Thus, these calls are likely used to alert conspecifics to raptor presence while simultaneously avoiding advertisement of the caller’s location. Sakis respond to ocelot models with long bouts of chipper calls that are interspersed by periodic chucks and growls. These calls are noisy and chaotic, with call features that make them easily locatable. Playbacks conducted on radio-collared ocelots show that chipper calls function as deterrent signals by causing ocelots to leave the area. Lastly, visual experiments show that sakis are able to discriminate dangerous from non-dangerous snakes and appear to adjust the intensity of their responses according threat level. This dissertation contributes the first systematic and experimental data on risk perception, anti-predator behaviors, and alarm call usage in Pithecia rylandsi, a little-known pitheciine species. Furthermore, this is the first experimental evidence using playbacks to show that wild ambush predators in naturalistic conditions are deterred by prey alarm calls. By incorporating data on both primate responses to predator stimuli and predator response to primate alarm calls, this research takes a rarely applied dual approach to the investigation of alarm call function. My findings also elucidate the need to more carefully consider the effects of sensory mode on primate anti-predator responses.

Antipredator Defenses in Birds and Mammals

Antipredator Defenses in Birds and Mammals PDF Author: Timothy M. Caro
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226094367
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 609

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Book Description
Tim Caro explores the many & varied ways in which prey species have evolved defensive characteristics and behaviour to confuse, outperform or outwit their predators, from the camoflaged coat of the giraffe to the extraordinary way in which South American sealions ward off the attacks of killer whales.

Man the Hunted

Man the Hunted PDF Author: Donna Hart
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429978715
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
Man the Hunted argues that primates, including the earliest members of the human family, have evolved as the prey of any number of predators, including wild cats and dogs, hyenas, snakes, crocodiles, and even birds. The authors' studies of predators on monkeys and apes are supplemented here with the observations of naturalists in the field and revealing interpretations of the fossil record. Eyewitness accounts of the 'man the hunted' drama being played out even now give vivid evidence of its prehistoric significance. This provocative view of human evolution suggests that countless adaptations that have allowed our species to survive (from larger brains to speech), stem from a considerably more vulnerable position on the food chain than we might like to imagine. The myth of early humans as fearless hunters dominating the earth obscures our origins as just one of many species that had to be cautious, depend on other group members, communicate danger, and come to terms with being merely one cog in the complex cycle of life.

The Evolution of Primate Societies

The Evolution of Primate Societies PDF Author: John C. Mitani
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226531732
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 745

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Book Description
In 1987, the University of Chicago Press published Primate Societies, the standard reference in the field of primate behavior for an entire generation of students and scientists. But in the twenty-five years since its publication, new theories and research techniques for studying the Primate order have been developed, debated, and tested, forcing scientists to revise their understanding of our closest living relatives. Intended as a sequel to Primate Societies, The Evolution of Primate Societies compiles thirty-one chapters that review the current state of knowledge regarding the behavior of nonhuman primates. Chapters are written by the leading authorities in the field and organized around four major adaptive problems primates face as they strive to grow, maintain themselves, and reproduce in the wild. The inclusion of chapters on the behavior of humans at the end of each major section represents one particularly novel aspect of the book, and it will remind readers what we can learn about ourselves through research on nonhuman primates. The final section highlights some of the innovative and cutting-edge research designed to reveal the similarities and differences between nonhuman and human primate cognition. The Evolution of Primate Societies will be every bit the landmark publication its predecessor has been.

Individual Variation in the Antipredator Behavior of Captive Rhesus Monkeys (Macaca Mulatta)

Individual Variation in the Antipredator Behavior of Captive Rhesus Monkeys (Macaca Mulatta) PDF Author: Lisa Anne Hollis-Brown
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description