Behavioral Biology of Owl Monkeys

ALBA GARCIA DE LA CHICA; EDUARDO FERNANDEZ-DUQUE; LAWRENCE WILLIAMS

Behavioral Biology of Laboratory Animals

CRC Press

Año: 2022; p. 409 - 421

Owl monkeys (genus Aotus) consist of 11 species that range from Panama in Central America to the northern portions of Argentina. Our understanding of this Neotropical genus? behavior, ecology, and evolution has increased substantially in the last two decades, even though much remains to be learned. Although a picture is emerging about the social organization, behavior, and ecology of this, mostly nocturnal, genus, many aspects of these primates need to be examined before any broad generalizations can be made. Owl monkeys are the only anthropoids with nocturnal habits, and the study of their remarkable activity patterns has benefited enormously from an integrated approach that combined field research with research in seminatural conditions and the laboratory. In fact, given their nocturnality, small size, and arboreality, we will never fully understand owl monkey biology unless we complement field research with detailed observations and measurements ofindividuals housed in laboratory or captive settings. Until a few decades ago, our understanding of pair-l iving and sexual monogamy, and the involvement of the male in infant care (Fernandez-Duque et al. 2020, Huck and Fernandez-Duque 2017), two defining characteristics of the genus, had been primarily informed by studies of captive individuals (Cicmanec and Campbell 1977, Dixson and Fleming 1981, Jantschke et al. 1995, Meritt and Dennis 1980). In some cases, this may be problematic if captive animals are housed in ways that do not reflect the size and composition of wild groups (Fernandez-Duque et al. 2020). Although owl monkeys are pair-living and sexually monogamous in the wild, the fast rate of adult replacement in an A. a. azarae population in Argentina suggests that serial monogamy may be the norm (Huck and Fernandez-Duque 2013). Thus, the long-held assumption of stable, lasting pair bonds in pair-living, sexually monogamous primates continues to be challenged and may need further revision (Fernandez-Duque et al. 2020, Huck and Fernandez-Duque 2017). Consequently, it may also become necessary to reevaluate many of our assumptions about the evolutionary forces leading to pair-living, sexual monogamy,and paternal care. Advancing our understanding of the evolutionary forces favoring pair-living and monogamy in owl monkeys will require a comparative approach that considers some of the other more tropical, strictly nocturnal owl monkey species, as well as some of the other strictly pair-living, sexually monogamous taxa. Owl monkeys have the potential to be an excellent model to accomplish a thorough integration of zoo, laboratory, and field research (Erkert 2008, Fernandez-Duque 2012). In the future, a truly integrated zoo-laboratory?field approach that focuseson certain areas that cannot be examined in only one or the other setting (e.g., reproductive biology, communication, energetics) will offer unique opportunities for synergistic interactions that will have both basic science and applied benefits.