Fishing in Macaca fascicularis: A Rarely Observed Innovative Behavior

Observations of fishing behavior in nonhuman primates are rare and isolated, and there is no prior published observation on the behavior in long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis). We observed fishing behavior in 3 groups of long-tailed macaques from 2 separate study sites in North Sumatra and East Kalimantan, Indonesia. We propose that the behavior is rare and fulfills the requirements for classification as innovation. Further, all of the fishing individuals were watched by other members of their group, with their actions inciting attempts at fishing by them. We consider the possibility that the behavior has the potential to become cultural within the populations.     

Home-Range Use and Activity Patterns of the Red Langur (Presbytis rubicunda) in Sabangau Tropical Peat-Swamp Forest, Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo

Knowledge of a species’ ranging patterns is vital for understanding its behavioral ecology and vulnerability to extinction. Given the abundance and even distribution of leaves in forested habitats, folivorous primates generally spend less time feeding; more time resting; have shorter day ranges; and require smaller home ranges than frugivorous primates. To test the influence of frugivory on ranging behavior, we established the activity budget and home-range size and use in a highly frugivorous population of the Borneo-endemic colobine, Presbytis rubicunda, within Sabangau tropical peat-swamp forest, Central Kalimantan, and examined relationships between fruit availability and ranging patterns. We collected 6848 GPS locations and 10,702 instantaneous focal behavioral scans on a single group between January and December 2011. The group had the largest home-range size recorded in genus Presbytis (kernel density estimates: mean = 108.3 ± SD 3.8 ha, N = 4 bandwidths). The annual activity budget comprised 48 ± SD 4.0% resting; 29.3 ± SD 3.9% feeding, 14.2 ± SD 2.5% traveling, and 0.4 ± SD 0.4% social behaviors. Mean monthly day-range length was the highest recorded for any folivorous primate (1645 ± SD 220.5 m/d). No significant relationships existed between ranging variables and fruit availability, and ranging behaviors did not vary significantly across seasons, potentially owing to low fluctuations in fruit availability. Our results suggest that colobine monkeys maintain larger than average ranges when high-quality food resources are available. Their extensive range requirements imply that protecting large, contiguous tracts of habitat is crucial in future conservation planning for Presbytis rubicunda.     

The effects of land-use policies on the conservation of Borneo’s endemic Presbytis monkeys

Despite supporting the highest biodiversity on Earth, tropical rainforests are undergoing intensive economic development. In particular, the island of Borneo has lost over 56 % of original lowland forest to resource extraction, fires, and illegal logging. Its rainforests contain 16 primate species, which serve as excellent ‘umbrella’ taxa for conservation initiatives. The genus Presbytis (Colobinae) is well represented across Borneo by four endemic species (P. chrysomelas; P. frontata; P. hosei, and P. rubicunda), but remains relatively understudied. Using ecological niche modelling, I calculated the distributions of the 12 Bornean Presbytis subspecies; evaluated habitat loss between 2000 and 2010, and examined the current land-use policies across remnant distributions. Subspecies experienced a mean 12.7 % (N = 12 sp.) habitat reduction over the 10 year period. 12.5 % of all habitats were allocated for conversion to oil palm and industrial tree plantations, while logging concessions accounted for a mean 26.3 % across distributions. While the current protected area networks encompassed an average 33.4 % of distributions, most PAs are underfunded, degraded and threatened by logging and mining operations. I therefore recommend priority gazetting of unallocated lands to new PAs within the distribution of Presbytis chrysomelas and Presbytis hosei sabana, which have experienced the highest forest loss in the last 10 years (22–50 %) and are critically endangered. Logging concessions appear to be at least as effective in maintaining forest cover as PAs and have the economic advantage for effective management, but may have detrimental effects to monkey populations. I recommend an urgent assessment of the effects of selective logging practices on species’ persistence, and further recommend population surveys to quantify the populations of critically endangered and data deficient subspecies.     

Hunting Primates and Managing Forests: The Case of Iban Forest Farmers in Indonesian Borneo

Hunting by Iban forest farmers in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, is an important part of their subsistence economy, and as such became a focus of study as part of a conservation project in the Danau Sentarum Wildlife Reserve. In this paper, we examine Iban hunting of nonhuman primates with comparison to other large mammals. We analyze rates of encounter and capture, comparing encounters, hunting trips, and animal numbers. Information on habitats hunted shows the importance of secondary and old growth forest. Also examined are Iban attitudes, game preferences, and taboos. The significance of these findings is discussed with regard to the threats to wildlife from increases in the use of shotguns, human population, and habitat destruction, showing that conservation may be aided by promoting or enhancing certain aspects of the traditional Iban agroforestry system.     

Phylogenetic relationships of leaf monkeys (Presbytis; Colobinae) based on cytochrome b and 12S rRNA genes

Little is known about the classification and phylogenetic relationships of the leaf monkeys (Presbytis). We analyzed mitochondrial DNA sequences of cytochrome b (Cyt b) and 12S rRNA to determine the phylogenetic relationships of the genus Presbytis. Gene fragments of 388 and 371 bp of Cyt b and 12S rRNA, respectively, were sequenced from samples of Presbytis melalophos (subspecies femoralis, siamensis, robinsoni, and chrysomelas), P. rubicunda and P. hosei. The genus Trachypithecus (Cercopithecidae) was used as an outgroup. The Cyt b NJ and MP phylogeny trees showed P. m. chrysomelas to be the most primitive, followed by P. hosei, whereas 12S rRNA tree topology only indicated that these two species have close relationships with the other members of the genus. In our analysis, chrysomelas, previously classified as a subspecies of P. melalophos, was not included in either the P. m. femoralis clade or the P. m. siamensis clade. Whether or not there should be a separation at the species level remains to be clarified. The tree topologies also showed that P. m. siamensis is paraphyletic with P. m. robinsoni, and P. m. femoralis with P. rubicunda, in two different clades. Cyt b and 12S rRNA are good gene candidates for the study of phylogenetic relationships at the species level. However, the systematic relationships of some subspecies in this genus remain unclear.     

Geographic expansion of the cabbage butterfly (Pieris rapae) and the evolution of highly UV‐reflecting females

Abstract Reflection of ultraviolet (UV) light by the wings of the female Eurasian cabbage butterfly, Pieris rapae, shows a large geographic variation. The wings of the female of the European subspecies, P. rapae rapae, reflect little UV light, while butterflies of the Asian subspecies, P. rapae crucivora, may reflect it strongly or at only intermediate levels. The geographic region where P. rapae originated remains to be determined. Moreover, it is not clear if females with wings that reflect little UV light are ancestral to females with wings that reflect UV strongly or vice versa. In the present study, we aimed to determine the geographic origin and ancestral UV pattern of cabbage butterflies through mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence analysis and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis. The results of these investigations suggest that P. rapae is of European origin and that it has expanded its distribution eastward to Asia. It follows that the ancestral subspecies is the type with UV‐absorbing wings. Lower nucleotide diversities and haplotype network patterns of mtDNA derived from East Asian populations suggest that population expansion from Europe to East Asia probably occurred fairly recently and at a rapid rate.     

A preliminary investigation of home range use in the Gir Forest langur

Two troops of grey langur monkeys (Presbytis entellus entellus) were observed in the Gir Forest, western India for approximately 220 hours in two of three seasons at very high crude densities ranging from 115–128 langurs per km². Daily activity patterns and home range use are described and a scan-sampling technique of activity distribution employed. Food and predator avoidance are estimated to be major determinants of population density and home range size, structure, and composition.     

Effects of fires on butterfly assemblages in lowland dipterocarp forest in East Kalimantan

The post‐fire butterfly fauna in lowland dipterocarp forest of the Bukit Soeharto Education Forest (BSEF), East Kalimantan, Indonesia, was assessed during the period November 1998–April 2000 by means of consecutive Malaise trap samples, with supplementary field observations for March–April 1999. A total of 514 butterflies belonging to 61 species and representing six families were caught in the traps. Melanitis leda (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae), Charaxes bernardus (Nymphalidae: Charaxinae), and Danaus genutia (Nymphalidae: Danainae) were the species most frequently caught (60, 52 and 47 individuals, respectively), representing 31% of the total. These three species are generalists and “disturbance indicators” for tropical rainforest, being characteristic of disturbed or secondary forests, being distributed widely, and having larvae that feed on a wide range of host plants. In contrast, other species, such as Trogonoptera brookiana and Troides amphrysus, were recorded before the fires but were not recorded again afterwards. The pre‐ and post‐fire butterfly fauna of East Kalimantan were compared on the basis of butterfly specimens deposited in the Tropical Rain Forest Research Center that were collected in and around the Bukit Soeharto Education Forest before the fires (1988–1995). On the basis of the post‐fire survey, based on Malaise trap samples and field observations, only 43% of the butterfly species (not including Lycaenidae and Hesperiidae) were confirmed to have persisted. The data suggest that refugia that are not affected by fire are necessary for the conservation of specialist butterflies, as well as many other forms of wildlife.     

Effect of forest removal on the abundance of the endangered American burying beetle, Nicrophorus americanus (Coleoptera: Silphidae)

We test the hypothesis that the decline of the endangered American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) from over 90% of its original range is the result of habitat loss and fragmentation of eastern North America. Forest removal at a site in southeastern Oklahoma known to have a significant population of N. americanus gave us a unique opportunity to test this hypothesis. At the local scale of this experiment, N. americanus declined significantly after forest removal while beetle numbers at adjacent forested plots did not change. Our results indicate that local disturbances such as forest removal, if occurring across relatively broad spatial scales, can cause wholesale geographic range collapse in this species.     

Gastro-intestinal helminths in a natural population ofMacaca sinica andPresbytis spp. at Polonnaruwa,Sri Lanka

Helminth parasites were identified in a natural population of primates at Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka. Five fatally wounded or recently deceased toque macaques (Macaca sinica) and three langurs (Presbytis senex andP. entellus) were autopsied. The following nematodes were found:Oesophagostomum aculeatum (Chabertiidae),Streptopharagus pigmentata (Spirocercidae),Physaloptera sp. (Spiruridae),Enterobius vermicularis (Oxyuridae), andTrichuris trichiura (Trichuridae). One cestode,Hymenolepis was also recovered fromP. entellus. Among fresh faecal samples of 210M. sinica, worm eggs ofOesophagostomum andStrongyloides were most abundant, followed byTrichostrongylus. Trichuris andStreptopharagus eggs were found occasionally.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Spizaetus</Emphasis> hawk-eagles as predators of arboreal colobines

The predation pressure put on primates by diurnal birds of prey differs greatly between continents. Africa and South America have specialist raptors (e.g. crowned hawk-eagle Stephanoaetus coronatus and harpy eagle Harpia harpyja) whereas in Asia the only such specialist’s (Philippine eagle Pithecophaga jefferyi) distribution is largely allopatric with primates. The almost universal absence of polyspecific groups in Asia (common in Africa and South America) may indicate reduced predation pressure. As such there is almost no information on predation pressures on primates in Asia by raptors. Here we report successful predation of a juvenile banded langur Presbytis femoralis (~2 kg) by a changeable hawk-eagle Spizaetus cirrhatus. The troop that was attacked displayed no signs of being alarmed, and no calls were made before the event. We argue that in insular Southeast Asia, especially, large Spizaetus hawk-eagles (~2 kg) are significant predators of arboreal colobines. Using data on the relative size of sympatric Spizaetus hawk-eagles and colobines we make predictions on where geographically we can expect the highest predation pressure (Thai–Malay Peninsula) and which colobines are least (Nasalis larvatus, Trachypithecus auratus, P. thomasi) and most (P. femoralis, T. cristatus) affected.     

Ultrasonographic aspects of the Leontopithecus gestation (Lesson, 1840—Callitrichidae,Primates)

Background

There is a concern about conservation of endangered species today. Among this species, the Leontopithecus (Lesson, 1840) is outstanding. Its population has been whirling reduced. So far the reproductive physiology of Leontopithecus has few studies, it is fundamental requisite to preserve this species. Obstetric sonography has become an essential method in reproductive management of primates.

Method

This method is very helpful to detect early pregnancy and evaluate some deficiency of fetal growth. In this study, 14 pregnancies were monitored using real‐time abdominal sonography. During each evaluation, the number of fetus was recorded, gestational sac and heart beats were observed, and biparietal diameter was measured.

Results

The results showed that abdominal sonography is a reliable method for observation of gross morphological changes during pre‐natal development and to estimate gestational age. No statistically differences were observed between twins and singletons. This study is the first investigation of pre‐natal growth in Leontopithecus.     

Two new species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Calathea</Emphasis> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Marantaceae</Emphasis>) from South-eastern Brazil

Summary   Calathea dryadica and Calathea reginae are described, circumscribed and illustrated. These new species are probably endemic to the Atlantic Forest of Rio de Janeiro State in Southeast Brazil and are considered critically endangered because of the restricted geographic area of occurrence, sometimes enclosed by densely urbanised areas.     

Periparturitional behavior of a bonobo (Pan paniscus)

Knowledge of periparturitional behaviors in captive primates may contribute to infant survival and is particularly important for endangered species, such as the bonobo, or pygmy chimpanzee (Pan paniscus). Given that the bonobo is considered to be closely related to humans, such knowledge also may offer insights about the evolutionary development of complex maternal patterns. To date, however, only one observation of a P. paniscus birth has been reported. The periparturitional behaviors of a mature bonobo (P. paniscus) female during the pregnancy and birth of two infants are described in detail. Information not previously reported for the species is included. Periparturitional behaviors were similar for both births.     

Population Sizes and Distribution of Primates in the Lower Tana River Forests,Kenya

We studied the population size and distribution of diurnal primates in the lower Tana River forests, Kenya. They are the only remaining habitats for 2 threatened primates: the Tana River red colobus (Procolobus rufomitratus) and the Tana River crested mangabey (Cercocebus galeritus galeritus). We conducted censuses in 73 forest patches from January through March 2001. We estimate population size of the red colobus to be 788 individuals in 82 groups and that of the crested mangabeys to be 2,070 individuals in 59 groups. The data suggest that over a 7-year period (1994-2001), there was an 18% increase in the crested mangabey population and a 5% decline in red colobus numbers. Further, the red colobus range has expanded both north and south, whereas that of crested mangabeys has only expanded south. Fifty-six percent of crested mangabeys and 46% of red colobus groups were inside the Tana River Primate National Reserve (TRPNR). Other primates encountered included 170 groups of Sykes' monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis), 70 groups of yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus) and 4 groups of grivets [Chlorocebus (Cercopithecus) aethiops]. Mean group densities of the 2 endangered primates and of baboons were higher inside than outside the TRPNR, reinforcing the importance of TRPNR for their conservation. An intervention program is required to stem further decline in the red colobus population and to protect small isolated groups in forest patches outside TRPNR.     

Lack of hand preference in wild Hanuman langurs (Presbytis entellus)

Although there is a vast literature on laterality of hand-use in nonhuman primates, the Colobinae have been notably overlooked. Ten manual activities of differing complexity were studied in five male and five female adult Hanuman langurs (Presbytis entellus) from a well habituated, wild population at Ramnagar, in southern Nepal. The activities recorded were carry, eat, hit, hold, idle, manipulate, reach, retrieve, self-groom and social groom. This study aimed to examine handedness across tasks and across subjects in a natural population. The overall result was a lack of preference for subjects and patterns. Only in the eating activity did four individuals show significant hand preference, though they were not unidirectional. Eat seemed to be loosely associated with hold due to the requirements of the strata which the monkeys utilize. These results suggest that hand use is unlateralized in P. entellus. Those individuals exhibiting some hand preferences can be viewed as statistical exceptions or perhaps subject to experiential differences. The results are discussed in terms of their evolutionary significance and methodological implications. Am J Phys Anthropol 103:455–461, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

A preliminary population viability analysis of the critically endangered blue‐eyed black lemur (Eulemur flavifrons)

Population viability analysis is an important tool to assess the extinction risk in small populations of highly specialized primates. The blue‐eyed black lemur (Eulemur flavifrons) is critically endangered with a restricted range in the north‐western dry deciduous forest of Madagascar, where habitat fragmentation and loss of forest connectivity threaten its survival. We performed a population viability analysis (PVA) of this lemur in Ankarafa Forest in the Sahamalaza Peninsula National Park, north‐western Madagascar, to determine the demographic parameters most influential for population persistence and to assess extinction probabilities. We conducted PVA analyses using different demographic parameters which characterize the species including reproduction, lifespan and population size using the software VORTEX for six scenarios with 100 iterations and simulated over 100 years. The simulations suggested the first extinction within 13 years when the percentage of habitat destruction increased up to 12%. Severe habitat destruction such as fire and logging was the major cause which led to the risk of population extinction. Conservation strategies, in particular measures to reduce habitat destruction, are proposed to ensure the survival of this critically endangered lemur.     

Seed-eating by red leaf monkeys (Presbytis rubicunda) in dipterocarp forest of northern borneo

Data are presented on the feeding behavior ofPresbytis rubicunda at Sepilok, north Borneo. Emphasis is given to describing the fruit-eating behavior of this small colobine monkey, which specializes in eating seeds from large, dull-colored, and fleshless fruits. The seed predation is conspicuously different from the seed dispersal effected by sympatric monogastric primates and is characteristic of colobine frugivory at other forest sites. Most seed-eating occurred during the period of maximum fruit production and fewer small-seeded, animal-dispersed fruits were eaten at other times.     

Genetic structure of the endangered species <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinna nobilis</Emphasis> (Mollusca: Bivalvia) inferred from mtDNA sequences

This study examines the population genetic structure of the endangered bivalve Pinna nobilis (Mollusca: Bivalvia), based on novel mtDNA sequences (partial COI and 16S rDNA mtDNA genes). The analyzed nucleotide sequences of COI were 729 bp in size, coding for a 243 amino acid peptide, while the analyzed nucleotide sequences of 16S rDNA were 489 bp in size. These sequences of P. nobilis were the first DNA sequences of the species submitted to any Genetic Data Base. Population samples from four geographic regions from Greece, as well as a population sample of Atrina fragilis (as an outgroup) were used. High values of haplotypic diversity were found in the population samples of P. nobilis, based on the COI sequences. A single base in the analyzed 16S rDNA sequences was different in all analyzed individuals from a single population sample (Chios island) differentiating it from the other ones. These mtDNA sequences could be informative for further genetic analyses of the endangered species, contributing in conservation plans for its protection and/or aquaculture investigations.