A Simulation Approach to Studying the Relationship Between Landscape Features an Social System on the Genetic Structure of a Tamarin Primate Population PDF Download
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Author: Lina Maria Valencia Rodriguez
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 96
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Landscape genetics is an emerging field that seeks to understand how specific landscape features and microevolutionary processes such as gene flow, genetic drift, and selection interact to shape the amount and spatial distribution of genetic variation. This study explores, through agent based simulations, how the specific mating and social system of tamarin primates (genus Saguinus) influences population genetic structure and patterns of relatedness within and among groups of this primate species, which might affect the ability of landscape genetic studies to detect the effects of fragmentation on gene flow. I use a spatially-explicit agent-based population genetics simulation model (GENESYS) configured to reflect the particular social system of tamarin monkeys (i.e. small group size, limited numbers of breeders per group, frequent twin births, and short dispersal distances) to assess whether the isolation by distance model of genetic differentiation expected in an unfragmented landscape can be distinguished from the isolation by barrier model expected in a fragmented landscape. GENESYS allows a user to explore the effects of social structure and landscape features on the population genetic structure of social animals, such as primates. I simulated two different landscapes containing an otherwise equivalent population of tamarins. In the first setup I simulated a homogeneous landscape unconstrained by any barriers to gene flow, while for the second setup, a barrier to gene flow restricted dispersal from one half of the landscape to the other. I found that the particular mating system of tamarin results in the rapid genetic differentiation of its social groups and consequently its populations. Social groups in the continuous landscape indeed revealed an isolation by distance pattern, while social groups on the fragmented landscape yielded instead an isolation by barrier model, where the barrier rather than geographic distance per se influenced the spatial genetic structure of the population. The results from this study suggest that features of the tamarin social system influence population genetic structure, which could affect the ability of landscape genetic studies to detect the effects of fragmentation on gene flow. To more fully address that issue, future studies should focus on a range of different primate social systems.
Author: Lina Maria Valencia Rodriguez
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 96
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Book Description
Landscape genetics is an emerging field that seeks to understand how specific landscape features and microevolutionary processes such as gene flow, genetic drift, and selection interact to shape the amount and spatial distribution of genetic variation. This study explores, through agent based simulations, how the specific mating and social system of tamarin primates (genus Saguinus) influences population genetic structure and patterns of relatedness within and among groups of this primate species, which might affect the ability of landscape genetic studies to detect the effects of fragmentation on gene flow. I use a spatially-explicit agent-based population genetics simulation model (GENESYS) configured to reflect the particular social system of tamarin monkeys (i.e. small group size, limited numbers of breeders per group, frequent twin births, and short dispersal distances) to assess whether the isolation by distance model of genetic differentiation expected in an unfragmented landscape can be distinguished from the isolation by barrier model expected in a fragmented landscape. GENESYS allows a user to explore the effects of social structure and landscape features on the population genetic structure of social animals, such as primates. I simulated two different landscapes containing an otherwise equivalent population of tamarins. In the first setup I simulated a homogeneous landscape unconstrained by any barriers to gene flow, while for the second setup, a barrier to gene flow restricted dispersal from one half of the landscape to the other. I found that the particular mating system of tamarin results in the rapid genetic differentiation of its social groups and consequently its populations. Social groups in the continuous landscape indeed revealed an isolation by distance pattern, while social groups on the fragmented landscape yielded instead an isolation by barrier model, where the barrier rather than geographic distance per se influenced the spatial genetic structure of the population. The results from this study suggest that features of the tamarin social system influence population genetic structure, which could affect the ability of landscape genetic studies to detect the effects of fragmentation on gene flow. To more fully address that issue, future studies should focus on a range of different primate social systems.
Author: Francine L. Dolins
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108848257
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 461
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Book Description
From foraging patterns in a single tree to social interactions across a home range, how primates use space is a key question in the field of primate behavioral ecology. Drawing on the latest advances in spatial analysis tools, this book offers practical guidance on applying geographic information systems (GIS) to central questions in primatology. An initial methodological section discusses niche modelling, home range analysis and agent-based modelling, with a focus on remote data collection. Research-based chapters demonstrate how ecologists apply this technology to a suite of topics including: calculating the intensity of use of both range and travel routes, assessing the impacts of logging, mining and hunting, and informing conservation strategies.
Author: Lina María Valencia Rodríguez
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 540
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Habitat fragmentation can restrict the dispersal of individuals from one population to another, which often results in the loss of genetic diversity due to reduced gene flow, inbreeding, and genetic drift. The stability and long-term survival of animal populations in fragmented landscapes largely depends on their ability to disperse among patches. The main goal of this dissertation is to evaluate how human-modified heterogeneous landscapes impact population structure, dispersal, and gene flow of the silvery brown tamarin (Saguinus leucopus), an endangered and endemic primate of Colombia. In this study I use a multidisciplinary approach and combine genomic data with spatial analysis and ecological modeling to determine how anthropogenic and natural landscape features shape tamarin genetic variation. I describe a cost-effective reduced representation method called ddRAD-seq developed to identify and genotype large numbers of genome-wide SNP loci for taxa from across the New World monkeys. I test the utility of this approach to resolve platyrrhine evolutionary relationships at different time scales and discuss the protocol's promise in molecular primatology. Using this method, I investigate population structure across the S. leucopus distribution. Using traditional and novel population genetic approaches, I detect population structure between geographic regions at different hierarchical levels and find population structure to be associated with geographic distance. In addition, using individual-based landscape genetic analyses in combination with spatial and ecological modeling, I also found that anthropogenic and natural landscape features - beyond simple Euclidean distance - have an effect on the genetic relationships and population structure of the silvery brown tamarin. Remnants of secondary forest in an agricultural matrix and water bodies represent moderate barriers to tamarin gene flow and have a significant effect on genetic relationships and population structure of the silvery brown tamarin. Lastly, I assess structural and functional connectivity throughout the silvery brown tamarin's distribution using least-cost paths and circuit theory. I identify potential patches of tamarin habitat and prioritize patches and corridors important in maintaining landscape connectivity. I discuss the conservation implications of these results and offer recommendations and management guidelines for conservation authorities regarding the conservation and management of S. leucopus populations in a human-dominated landscape
Author: Hans Kummer
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351496654
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 185
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In this book, Hans Kummer, one of the world's leading primate ethologists, examines the patterns of social interaction among primates. He examines this social behavior from the fundamentally biological viewpoint of evolutionary adaptation as part of the survival mechanisms for the species. Recognizing that all activity is constituted in part of genetic programming and in part of adaptive behavior, he explores the borderline area between the genetic and the "cultural." By use of astute observation and clever experimentation he shows that many aspects of social behavior are inherited, and differentially inherited among various primate groups. These data also show, however, that the individuals and troops learn much in primate social life and that these forms are responsive to particular ecological situations. Drawing heavily on knowledge gleaned from his own well-known studies of the Hamadryas baboon, Dr. Kummer introduces the reader to the daily life of a particular primate society. From this sample case, he proceeds to a more general characterization of primate societies, using as examples the great apes and monkeys of Africa, Asia, and South America and particularly the widely studied terrestrial monkey species. The particularities of primate communication, social structure, and economy are described and special attention is devoted to the primate counterparts of kinship and age groups-behavioral differences based on age and sex, and mating and grouping systems. This is followed by a chapter dealing with the ecological functions of the major parameters of primate social life, such as group size and the coordination of activities within it-dominance, leadership systems, and spatial arrangements. The second part of the book is concerned with the origins of behavioral traits of primates, discussed from phylogenetic, ecological, and cultural points of view, again using data-based examples. Dr. Kummer explains why some traits have not evolved that would have been ada
Author: Juan Pablo Riveros Montoya
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
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Author: Balasubramaniam Krishna-Natarajan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 194
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Understanding the evolution of sociality and social systems has been a major endeavor among evolutionary anthropologists and animal behaviorists. During the last two decades in particular, behavioral ecologists have found it a major challenge to explain broad inter- and intraspecific variation in primate social systems and in particular, variation in aspects of social structure related to dominance relationships, conflict management, and cooperative exchanges. One reason has been the lack of general consensus regarding the reliability of one or more operational behavioral measures related to dominance asymmetry and social power, despite these traits being central or core aspects of social structure. Although operational measures of both dominance asymmetry (Directional Consistency Indices, or DCI, and levels of counter-aggression) and social power (hierarchical steepness) are currently available, it is unclear whether one or more measures are (1) consistent with each other, and/or (2) are more suitable for groups with certain sets of characteristics. Another reason has been the proposal of apparently conflicting models to explain this variation in social structure. For instance, models based on phylogenetic constraints posit that several aspects of social structure are highly integrated, inherent species-specific characteristics that co-vary with each other and with species' evolutionary relationships. In contrast, models based on current socioecological factors (the Ecological Model of Female Social Relationships, or the EMFSR) posit that social structure varies widely between species with current ecological conditions, and possibly across and within groups of the same species of varying sizes. My dissertation research addresses both the methodological issue and the two models described above, focusing on the primate genus Macaca. All macaques show broadly similar patterns of social organization (e. g. female philopatry, male dispersal, and linear dominance hierarchies) and yet, broad inter- and intraspecific variation in several aspects of social structure, particularly in the extent to which dominance relationships are re-enforced. They are therefore uniquely appropriate for pursuing the overall aim of my thesis, i.e. to examine variation in dominance asymmetry and social power in macaques as a means to gain a greater insight into the roles of internal (phylogenetic) constraints and/or external (socioecological) factors in shaping variation in primate social structure. First, using six natural and 90 artificially generated datasets that varied broadly in group-characteristics, I confirm that dominance ranking methods used to compute both hierarchical steepness (David's score) and DCI (the I&SI method) yield rank orders consistent with each other and more crucially, with parametric Bayesian most-probable rank orders (Chapter 2). I also confirm, using multiple regression analyses, that the magnitude of the correlation coefficients of dominance ranks are unaffected by two out of three group characteristics (group size and interaction frequencies). That said, they are strongly and positively related to the extent to which groups show asymmetries in agonistic interactions, suggesting that correlations of rank orders using different methods are somewhat weaker in groups showing tolerant social styles. Finally, a series of t-tests for different subsets of artificial datasets confirm that two popularly used dyadic dominance indices (Dij-and Pij-scores) used to compute David's scores are equally consistent in yielding reliable rank orders, independently of group characteristics. Crucially, these findings justify my use in later chapters (3-5) of Dij-, Pij-based hierarchical steepness, and/or DCI as reliable indicators of dominance relationships in comparative analyses of natural macaque groups with a wide range of characteristics. Second, in Chapters 2 & 3, I test key predictions related to the phylogenetic constraints model. In particular, using a comparative dataset of dyadic dominance interactions for a range of macaques - 14 groups representing nine species - I ask whether measures of hierarchical steepness measures and counter-aggression vary more broadly between species than within species, and show strong phylogenetic signals. The dataset was assembled both from the literature and, in one case (a Celebes crested macaque group) collected by myself at the Buffalo Zoo. ANCOVA and multiple mixed-model regression analyses show that behavioral measures varied broadly between species but relatively less so within species. Further, randomization tests and test statistics show they were more similar among more closely related species, i.e. they displayed strong phylogenetic signals. To test some versions of phylogenetic models, I also examine (Chapter 3) whether these behavioral variations were consistent with the hypothesized placement of macaques into one of four `social style' categories. As predicted, steepness measures correlate negatively, and counter-aggression positively with scale. However, independent contrasts analyses show that these co-variations disappear after controlling for phylogenetic distances, suggesting that phylogeny largely explains observed co-variation in traits. Results of all phylogenetic tests and comparative analyses were highly consistent across nine phylogenetic trees, five extracted from the literature (the 10ktrees website) and four that I reconstruct from assembling available genetic datasets. Moreover, they were independent of variation in group size and current living condition. Overall, these findings strongly support the phylogenetic model. As such, they point to the need to expand similar analyses to include more macaque (and other primate) species, other aspects of social structure, and to control for within-species differences using intraspecific phylogenies. Finally, in Chapter 5, I test the predictions of intraspecific versions of the EMFSR, i.e. that when resources are clumped, larger groups face higher levels of within-group contest competition (WGC) and hence, show higher levels of despotism in social structure relative to smaller groups, that face higher levels of Between-group competition (BGC). To do so, I analyze data collected by myself and three co-investigators during a six-month field-study of three groups of free-ranging rhesus macaques of varying sizes at Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico, controlling for the effects of several other potentially confounding socioecological variables, either because they were uniform (e. g. resource monopolizability) or absent (e. g. predation pressure). Using Kruskal-Wallis ANOVAs, Mann Whitney-U tests, and non-parametric MANOVAs, I establish that larger groups indeed show greater degrees of exposure to contexts of within-group contest competition (WGC) relative to smaller groups, at each of two independent sets of potentially monopolizable, clumped resources (feeders and drinking stations). Likewise, smaller groups are exposed more to contexts of between-group competition, or BGC. Further, the largest group shows the greatest behavioral indicators of exposure to WGC (highest propensities for dominant individuals to monopolize resources), and the least behavioral reactions (lowest proportions of snatching food, highest proportions of time spent feeding and drinking at resources) to exposure to BGC. This said, four aspects of social structure (DCI, counter-aggression, aggression intensity, and post-conflict affiliation between nonkin) did not vary across groups in predicted directions.^In particular, the largest group showed similar levels of despotism (characterized by higher DCI, more intense aggression, and low levels of counter-aggression and/or post-conflict affiliation) compared to the medium-sized or the smallest group. In summary, these findings establish strong links between group size and competitive regime in directions predicted by the EMFSR, but none in turn between these factors and aspects of social structure. As such, they are consistent with findings from the majority of empirical assessments of the model that have led to its recent scrutiny/ criticism. Finally, they establish the clear effects of group size on resource competition in a free-ranging primate population that resembles the conditions under which wild commensal rhesus macaques live on the Indian subcontinent. My dissertation research thus uniquely uses genetic and behavioral datasets to assess the evolution of macaque social structure, particularly aspects of social power and dominance asymmetry. In the Discussion, I speculate that, in addition to hierarchical steepness and DCI, Bayesian posterior probability may offer an additional measure to quantify dominance asymmetry and/or social power. Future research assessing the phylogenetic model should test for phylogenetic signals in additional aspects of social structure, and consider using phylogeographic approaches to examine whether transitions in aspects of social structure or style correspond to major, historic dispersal patterns into novel habitats, both in macaques and across a broad range of primate taxa. Finally, I suggest that future studies testing the EMFSR on both the Cayo Santiago macaques and other primate populations control for genetic/ phylogenetic constraints, individual health, and seasonal variation in datasets. I end by suggesting that a non-dichotomous, highly integrated approach be undertaken that uses a framework that encompasses `behavioral syndromes' or `social reaction norms' and combines both internal constraints and external factors to explain variation in primate social structure.
Author: Mrinalini Watsa
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electronic dissertations
Languages : en
Pages : 316
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The Callitrichidae are family of small New World primates with a suite of distinctive morphological and behavioral adaptations that set them apart from other primates. Of primary interest is their reproductive system that includes compulsive twinning (≥80% of births) and cooperative care of offspring by individuals other than biological parents (termed alloparenting). Further, hematopoietic tissues in callitrichids display signals of both self and sibling DNA, due to an exchange of stem cells early in gestation that renders twin callitrichids as cellular mosaics of each other. This phenomenon is known as genetic chimerism, which increases genetic relatedness between individuals and is likely maintained by cooperative breeding systems. The Callitrichidae are thought to be phyletic dwarfs that exhibit habitual twinning as a derived feature, and accompanied by their tolerance for genetic chimerism, are an important clade to study the evolution of primate reproductive system that has adapted to increased reproductive outputs. They are suspected to be highly polyandrous, where additional male mates assist in the care of a dominant female's reproduction, and subdominant females are reproductively suppressed so that all efforts at alloparenting are directed towards offsetting the high energetic costs of raising a single set of infants of the dominant female. To better understand the evolutionary advantages of this system of reproduction, it is important to document group structure and membership, as well as individual dispersal, reproductive success, and the development of offspring across callitrichid species. The goal of the present study was to examine group structure, reproductive success and individual growth and development to assess two sympatric Saguinus spp. These data are evaluated in light of the reproductive system proposed for these callitrichids - strict polyandry, cooperative breeding, reproductive suppression, and single reproducing females - in the context of future genetic studies. As such, I attempted to achieve three specific goals - first, an examination of morphological variation between two sympatric callitrichid species; second, an evaluation of age and reproductive status per individual; and third, a comparison of group compositions, mating systems and dispersal patterns of both species to the expected callitrichid reproductive pattern. I monitored two sympatric species of callitrichids in southeastern Perú at a field site named CICRA over the course of three years - 57 animals in 7 groups of saddleback tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis), and 36 animals in 6 groups of emperor tamarins (S. imperator). I used an annual capture and release protocol to individually identify all animals, and recorded 19 measures of morphology and dental condition for all subjects. Behavioral data on mating, dispersal, and monthly group-compositions were also obtained, with an emphasis on one focal group per species. I used dental morphology to estimate age for animals ≤ 1 y old (via dental eruption timings) and assigned age-categories for animals ≥ 1 y old via molar occlusal wear. I assessed changes in morphology with age and sex for both species, comparing these measures using Mann-Whitney U tests ([alpha] = 0.05), and used reproductive morphology to assign breeding status to adults, identifying primary, secondary, and non-breeders for both sexes. I then identified the predominant mating systems based on the number and sex of breeding adults in a group for both species. I present here a modified trapping protocol for capturing callitrichids with a dual-step anesthetization protocol that increases animal safety and preserves habituation, resulting in 100% recapture rates. Age-structures predicted by dental wear did not differ significantly between species, or between the sexes for each species. Further sampling of younger adults in the study population is required to conduct population viability analyses. Adult Saguinus imperator (533 ± SD 79 g females vs. 495 ± SD 45 g males) are significantly heavier than adult S. fuscicollis (395 ± SD 30 g females vs. 385 ± SD 35 g males), with and without pooled sexes. Among S. imperator, significantly thicker limbs and not an overall increase in body size account for this increased weight. No sexual dimorphism was recorded for either species, save in upper arm lengths among S. fuscicollis (slightly longer in females) and waist circumferences in S. imperator (slightly larger in females, but unrelated to pregnancy). There are no significant differences between the species in the size of their genitalia or scent glands, despite differing markedly in their physical appearance (i.e shape and pigmentation). No significant effect of month was found on testicular volume, vulvar indices or suprapubic gland areas (Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test, p ≥ 0.05). Suprapubic scent gland areas are significantly higher among females than males for both species (e.g. in S. fuscicollis, gland area =267.5 ± 143 mm for females and 117.1 ± 72.4 mm for males). Vulvar indices explain ca. 70% of variation in suprapubic gland area for females of both S. fuscicollis (R2 = 0.70, P ≤ 0.001) and S. imperator (R2 = 0.76, P ≤ 0.001), while testicular volumes explain suprapubic gland areas only among male S. fuscicollis (R2 = 0.63, P ≤ 0.001). Male S. imperator have undifferentiated glands in general, unrelated to age or breeding status. While vulvar indices initially appear to grow faster than testicular volumes in both species, by 1.5 years of age, males have fully developed genitalia while females still appear underdeveloped. Morphological scores assigned to genitalia and glands encompass their range of variation, and can be used to distinguish infants from adults, but not other age classes (scores are too variable among adults). This highlights the singular importance of evaluating age based on dentition and not reproductive measures for either species, as reproductive suppression can be misleading and cause animals to appear younger than they actually are. Twinning and strong birth seasonality were observed in both species, with overlapping birth peaks influenced by the environment occurring during the wet season (ca. September to March). Primary breeding males had higher testicular volumes than secondary breeding males (44-287% higher in S. fuscicollis and 24-80% higher in S. imperator), indicating possible subtle reproductive suppression of males. Secondary breeding females had lower vulvar indices and suprapubic scent gland areas than primary breeding females, and required 2-3 y to acquire secondary breeding status compared to 1 y for males. This is evidence of reproductive suppression of females, but it was not as strict as expected, as evidenced by multiple instances of two primary breeding females reproducing in the same group. Groups of both species display group compositions that encompass multiple adults of both sexes. Their mating systems, however, tend to be polyandrous among S. imperator and polygynandrous among S. fuscicollis. Overall, no sex ratio biases were observed at the level of the population or group; although operational sex ratios indicate that male S. imperator have to share their mate with more males than do male S. fuscicollis. Immigration events are significantly less common than emigration events, with breeding females having extended tenures in both species. Cold fronts known as friajes create breeding vacancies among groups, which were filled by individuals from outside the group. Overall, Saguinus imperator appears to be more similar in terms infant survivorship and mean reproductive output to both the CICRA and Cocha Cashu populations of S. fuscicollis, than it is to S. mystax at other long-term study sites. However, S. fuscicollis has a slightly higher reproductive output likely achieved by its polygynandrous mating system, maintained by reduced reproductive suppression, in which multiple females breed successfully in a group. Therefore, it does not appear that groups of these two species conform to one, invariable mating system or group structure. It is likely that this variability may apply to other callitrichid species as well. There appear to be more ways than one to be a successful callitrichid. Further years of study, including an investigation of endocrine profiles, genetic population structure, feeding ecology, parasitism and genetic chimerism are also underway at this site, and will lend further insight into the range of variation among callitrichid reproductive systems in the wild.
Author: N.C. Stenseth
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401123381
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 359
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4.1.1 Demographic significance Confined populations grow more rapidly than populations from which dispersal is permitted (Lidicker, 1975; Krebs, 1979; Tamarin et at., 1984), and demography in island populations where dispersal is restricted differs greatly from nearby mainland populations (Lidicker, 1973; Tamarin, 1977, 1978; Gliwicz, 1980), clearly demonstrating the demographic signi ficance of dispersal. The prevalence of dispersal in rapidly expanding populations is held to be the best evidence for presaturation dispersal. Because dispersal reduces the growth rate of source populations, it is generally believed that emigration is not balanced by immigration, and that mortality of emigrants occurs as a result of movement into a 'sink' of unfavourable habitat. If such dispersal is age- or sex-biased, the demo graphy of the population is markedly affected, as a consequence of differ ences in mortality in the dispersive sex or age class. Habitat heterogeneity consequently underlies this interpretation of dispersal and its demographic consequences, although the spatial variability of environments is rarely assessed in dispersal studies.
Author: Nobuo Masataka
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521049573
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Outlining an approach to the development of communicative behavior from early infancy to the onset of single word utterances, Nobuo Masataka's research is rooted in ethology and dynamic action theory. He argues that expressive and communicative actions are organized as a complex and cooperative system with other elements of the infant's physiology, behavior and social environments. This book offers new insights into the precursors of speech and will be of interest to researchers and students of psychology, linguistics and animal behavior biology.
Author: Thomas R. Defler
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1493906976
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 300
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Book Description
Woolly monkeys are large, attractive and widespread primates found throughout many parts of the Amazon basin. It is only in the last twenty-five years or so that long-term studies of woollies in their forest habitat have been successful; they have not generally been successfully kept in captivity. But now, especially because of their size, these creatures are pressed on all sides by bush meat hunters and forest fragmentation. Their future is becoming critically precarious and the editors feel that it is time to showcase these animals with a full book. The editors draw together a number of recent woolly monkey studies from three Amazonian countries, including five taxa of woolly monkeys, four of which have recently been reclassified without using new biological criteria as species rather than subspecies (Groves, 2001, 2005; Rylands & Mittermeier, 2009). This volume provides a diversity of studies by well-known researchers and advanced students on a wide range of subjects using newly generated data, including a criticism of the recent taxonomic changes. The varied information contained within The Woolly Monkey: Behavior, Ecology, Systematics and Captive Research will help readers understand these handsome animals and will, we hope, energize them to contribute to their conservation.
