弄岗熊猴的活动节律和活动时间分配

2005年9月至2006年9月,采用瞬时扫描取样法,在弄岗国家级自然保护区对野生熊猴(Macaca assamensis)进行了连续跟踪观察,收集相关的活动节律和活动时间分配的数据,通过分析其与气候及食物组成的关系,从中探讨影响熊猴活动节律及活动时间分配的因素。研究结果发现:在熊猴的日活动节律中,觅食活动表现为逐渐增强的趋势,最高峰值出现在下午15:00,休息活动在中午出现一个小的高峰;其日活动节律表现出明显的季节性差异,主要表现为旱季大部分时间段的觅食强度均高于雨季,且早上7:00-10:00出现一段长时间的休息,而雨季里长时间的休息则发生在中午12:00-14:00;在活动时间分配上,熊猴平均花费39.6%时间用于休息,33.2%用于移动,18.3%用于摄食,5.1%用于理毛,2.4%用于玩耍,1.4%用于其他行为,其活动时间分配也表现出明显的季节性差异;与雨季相比,在旱季熊猴明显增加用于觅食的时间,而相应地减少用于休息的时间,活动时间分配的季节性变化明显与食物组成的变化有关;在不同年龄组个体间,青少年猴花费更多的时间用于玩耍,而用于休息和理毛的时间明显少于成年猴。     

环境和社会因素对喀斯特石山猕猴日活动节律和活动时间分配的影响

2007年9月至2008年8月,以广西弄岗国家级自然保护区内的一大群野生猕猴为研究对象进行连续的跟踪观察,采用瞬时扫描取样法收集其食物组成、活动节律和活动时间分配的数据,旨在探讨影响石山猕猴活动节律及活动时间分配的环境和社会因素。结果表明：研究猴群的日活动节律表现为上午和下午的觅食高峰以及中午的休息高峰,这与白天温度和日照强度的变化有关。日活动时间分配中,休息42.1%,移动34.5%,觅食15.1%,玩耍2.0%,理毛5.2%,其他行为1.3%。猴群依据食物的变化调整活动时间分配,其中用于移动的时间与食物中果实的比例成显著的正相关性。不同性别年龄组个体的活动时间分配表现出显著差异,主要表现为成年雄性花费更多的时间休息,而成年雌性花费更多的时间觅食和社会性理毛,未成年个体则花费更多的时间玩耍。与同域分布的小群猕猴相比,本研究群花费更多的时间休息,较少的时间觅食。这些差异可能与盗食农作物有关。     

成年雌性太行山猕猴活动时间分配的季节性变化:食物和温度的影响

活动时间分配是指动物根据环境和自身需求从事各种基本行为和活动的过程,受季节性变化的食物和温度等生态因素的影响。2013年3月至2014年2月,在太行山猕猴国家级自然保护区天坛山管护区,采用目标动物取样法,观察并记录了一个野生太行山猕猴群(WW-1群)内成年雌性个体的活动特征及其季节性变化,旨在了解成年雌性猕猴的日活动时间分配及其影响因素。结果表明:(1)成年雌性猕猴的活动时间分配表现出明显的季节性变化。春季,雌性猕猴花费52.9%时间于休息、19.5%时间于取食、11.8%时间于移动;夏季,用于休息、取食、移动的时间比例分别为53.4%、18.0%和11.3%;秋季,猕猴花费35.9%时间于取食、30.0%时间于休息,15.9%时间于移动;冬季,用于取食、休息和移动的时间比例分别为35.4%、39.7%和8.0%;(2)春季,成年雌性太行山猕猴主要取食种子(35.4%)和树叶(34.3%);夏季,树叶(73.5%)主导其每日食物组成;秋季,主要取食种子(98.1%);冬季,树皮(82.1%)则成为猕猴的主要食物;(3)当每日食物组成以草和树叶为主时,猕猴用于取食的时间增加,移动时间减少;当每日食物组成以种子为主时,则取食时间减少,移动时间增加;(4)随着气温降低,猕猴取食时间增加,而移动时间减少。总之,成年雌性太行山猕猴的日活动时间分配主要受季节性变化的食物资源和气温的影响,它们可通过日活动时间的调整以适应食物和环境温度的季节性变化。     

猕猴不同性别年龄组个体时间分配和姿态行为的差异分析

2005 年11 月至2006 年10 月,对生活在广西桂林七星公园内的一群半野生猕猴进行观察,采用瞬时扫描取样法收集不同性别-年龄组个体的活动时间分配、活动高度和姿态行为的数据。研究结果表明:七星公园猕猴属半地栖性灵长类动物,花费较多的时间休息(41.5% );坐是猕猴最主要的休息姿态
(85. 5% )和觅食姿态(85. 4% ),四足行走是最主要的移动模式(64.5% )。成年个体的活动时间分配表现出明显的性别差异,主要表现为成年雌猴花费更多的时间相互理毛。不同年龄组个体的活动时间分配也表现出显著差异。休息时间随年龄的增长而增加,而玩耍时间则表现出相反的趋势。猕猴的活动高度和移动模式也表现出明显的年龄差异。成年个体花费更多的时间在地面活动。在移动过程中,成年个体采用四足行走的频率明显高于其它年龄组个体;亚成年个体跳跃最多;少年个体采用攀爬和架桥的频率明显高于成年个体。这些差异可能与个体在不同发育阶段的体型和活动水平差异以及林冠的不连续性有关。本研究结果将有助于了解猕猴不同性别年龄组个体对其栖息的社会和自然环境的行为适应机制。     

弄岗黑叶猴的日活动类型和活动时间分配

2005年10月-2006年9月,用瞬时扫描法对广西弄岗自然保护区内的一群黑叶猴(Trachypithecusfran oisi)的日活动节律和活动时间分配进行研究。结果表明:黑叶猴日活动中出现2个觅食高峰和1个休息高峰。觅食高峰分别出现在7:00-9:00和16:00-18:00;休息高峰出现在10:00-14:00。黑叶猴日活动节律表现出明显的季节性变化,表现为旱季上午的觅食高峰被推迟了1h,且觅食时间长于雨季;旱季下午的觅食活动提前1h结束。猴群在雨季较早进入休息高峰,而且中午休息时很少有移动或零星觅食。研究期间,猴群用于休息的时间平均占日活动时间分配的51.99%,移动占20.25%,觅食占18.61%,理毛占7.61%,玩耍占1.20%,其它行为(包括打斗、交配等)仅占0.14%。活动时间分配有明显的季节性差异,主要表现为:与雨季相比,黑叶猴在旱季花费更多的时间用于觅食和移动,而相应地减少用于休息的时间。活动时间分配在不同年龄和性别的个体之间也存在显著差异,表现为成年个体花费更多的时间用于休息和觅食,未成年个体则花费更多的时间用于移动和玩耍;雌性个体比雄性个体花费更多的时间用于理毛。     

同域分布黑叶猴和熊猴的活动时间分配比较

2005年9月至2006年8月,在广西弄岗国家级自然保护区选择一群黑叶猴和两群熊猴作为观察对象,采用瞬时扫描取样法收集相关的行为数据.通过比较两种灵长类活动时间分配的数据来探讨食物资源在时间和空间分布上的差异对两种灵长类动物活动时间分配的影响.结果表明:休息在黑叶猴的活动时间分配中所占比例明显高于熊猴; 熊猴用于移动的时间比例明显高于黑叶猴.两种灵长类采取不同的策略以应对喜食食物的季节性短缺.当旱季嫩叶和果实的可获得性降低时,黑叶猴明显增加用于移动和觅食的时间比例,相应减少用于休息的时间.与此相反,熊猴明显减少用于移动的时间比例,相应地增加用于社会性理毛的时间比例.分析表明,食物的可获得性以及食物组成的差异可能是影响同域黑叶猴和熊猴活动时间分配差异的重要因素.     

笼养川金丝猴不同年龄阶段的发育特征

198 9～ 1998年间 ,对 46只不同年龄阶段的笼养川金丝猴 (Rhinopithecusroxellana)的外形、生理、行为等特征进行了比较。根据不同年龄阶段个体的综合特征 ,川金丝猴的发育期可划分为 5个年龄段 :婴幼阶段 ,少年阶段 ,青年阶段 ,亚成年阶段和成年阶段。观察发现 ,从出生到青年阶段 ,雌雄在体形大小和体重方面增长速度很接近。然而 ,从青年阶段开始 ,雄性的增长速度超过雌性。到了成年阶段 ,成年雄性的体重、坐高、尾长、头围、犬齿齿冠及被毛长度明显大于雌性 ,成年雌性的体重仅为成年雄性的 5 4% ,表现出显著的性二型性。雌性 3 6± 0 5 (n =5 )岁出现月经 ,其开始成功繁殖的年龄为 4～ 6岁 ;雄性 6 5 (n =4)岁出现射精行为 ,其开始成功繁殖年龄为 7～ 8岁。此外 ,对川金丝猴所特有的嘴角瘤的观察发现 ,雄性进入性发育年龄阶段后开始长出嘴角瘤 ;嘴角瘤大小随年龄增长而逐渐增大 ,直到性成熟。而雌性川金丝猴多无此结构或只有一个约绿豆大的痕迹。因此 ,嘴角瘤可以作为雄性川金丝猴性成熟的标志 ,是成年雄性川金丝猴的副性征。     

川金丝猴尿液类固醇激素的保存时效性

尿液类固醇激素检测已经广泛运用于野生动物的生理机能、健康状况和繁殖状态的研究,由于分析条件以及样品采集时间限制,一般尿液样品需保存一段时间后才能在实验室分析,不同物种尿液类固醇在不同保存条件的保存时效有差异。本研究利用2只成年雄性和4只成年雌性的尿液样品共21份,确定川金丝猴尿液类固醇的保存时效和保存方法。结果表明:4℃时,雄性川金丝猴尿液睾酮、雌性尿液睾酮、孕酮的保存时效为7 d左右;雌性尿液雌二醇的保存时效在3 d以内。-20℃时,雄性川金丝猴尿液中睾酮的含量在60 d内保持稳定;雌性尿液中睾酮、孕酮和雌二醇的含量在60 d、45 d、60 d内保持稳定。-20℃保存川金丝猴尿液样品是一种有效、可靠的方法。     

雄性川金丝猴对雌性的受孕认知与等级识别

社会认知是群居动物适应复杂环境和社会生活能力的体现,致力于理解自身、他人与社会。认知有利于促进利益分配的优化,而行为认知策略则是关注的热点问题。但迄今为止,川金丝猴如何进行社会地位与受孕状态等基础认知尚不清楚。本研究通过投食招引,在个体识别和等级判定的基础上,以栖息于秦岭观音山自然保护区熊猫谷景区的一个半野生川金丝猴群为对象,采用瞬时扫描和焦点动物取样法,观察并收集了猴群中6个一雄多雌单元成年雌雄个体的空间位置、邀配、交配及产仔行为数据,结合食物密度梯度"同心圆"和受孕周期,推测雌性成功受孕的交配时间段,运用配对t-检验统计证实受孕前后雌性的交配实现率差异显著(t=4.527,P=0.001),表现为受孕前雌性邀配行为获取的雄性响应率明显高于受孕后;通过Spearman相关性检验发现,雌性受孕前的交配实现率(R=0.527,P=0.006)及受孕时间(R=0.556,P=0.049)与自身等级均显著正相关,即高等级雌性邀配行为的雄性响应率及与雄性生殖性交配的时间明显高于或早于低等级雌性。结果表明,雄性川金丝猴拥有认知单元内成年雌性受孕状况和等级地位的能力,这种认知能力影响着雄性的性行为方式。     

秦岭川金丝猴1至2岁个体的社会玩耍行为

2009年3月至2010年5月在秦岭北坡的陕西周至国家级自然保护区玉皇庙,采用焦点动物取样法(Focal animal sampling)和瞬时记录法(Instantaneous sampling)对2008年出生的5只秦岭川金丝猴幼体(3 ♂、2♀)的社会玩耍行为进行了研究.结果表明:1-2岁的川金丝猴对其不同年龄-性别组的玩耍伙伴具有很高的选择性,喜欢与单元内的青少年个体玩耍;其次喜欢与新生个体玩耍,与母亲、单元内主雄和其它成年雌性个体玩耍的机会不多.另外,该年龄段的个体在玩耍中常采用追逐和摔跤的方式,采用接近、撕咬和其它行为的方式均不高.雄性个体比雌性个体更常采用摔跤的行为方式,而雌性个体相比雄性个体更常采用接近等方式.在整个观察期,社会交往性的玩耍行为频次未发现个体差异和性别差异.此外,这些个体玩耍频次的发育与年龄阶段之间不存在线性相关.个体在这种行为的发育过程中不仅可锻炼身体、实践打斗技巧,建立社会关系,并且能获得一定的认知能力.     

The effect of urban and rural habitats and resource type on activity budgets of commensal rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) in Bangladesh

Macaques are characterized by their wide distribution and ability to adapt to a variety of habitats. Activity budgets are affected by habitat type, season, and food availability in relation to differing age–sex class and individual requirements. We conducted a comparative study on two commensal rhesus groups, one living in a rural village and the other in the center of urban Dhaka, Bangladesh. The study was conducted in three different seasons between 2007 and 2009 in order to evaluate how habitat type and season affects their behavioral activities. Differences in food type and its availability between these two habitats were mainly responsible for the variations in activity budgets between groups. Feeding time in the rural group was significantly longer than that in the urban group. In contrast, grooming and object manipulation/play were significantly greater in the urban than the rural group. Seasonal variations in all major behaviors were significantly affected by group, with more time spent feeding in summer than in winter/dry season, and more time spent grooming and moving in winter/dry season than summer in the rural group. In contrast, time spent resting was greater in the monsoon and summer seasons than the winter/dry season in the urban group. Grooming time was greater in the winter/dry season than the monsoon and summer seasons. In both groups, immature of both sexes spent significantly more time on feeding and object manipulation/playing and less time resting than adults. Adult females spent more time grooming than males and immatures, of both sexes, in both groups. Moreover, the rural group spent most of their time feeding on garden/crop produce and wild plant food resources, while the urban group spent more time feeding on provisioned foods. These results showed that differences in the activity budgets of rural and urban dwelling macaques were due largely to the differences in available food resources. Commensal rhesus macaques show a high degree of behavioral flexibility in response to habitat and resource variability, and knowledge of these differences is important for the conservation and management of highly commensal primates.     

Evaluating Dominance Styles in Assamese and Rhesus Macaques

Researchers have suggested that several types of agonistic and affiliative behavior covary as a set of species-specific traits, and have used the term dominance style to describe the covariation. We compared measures of dominance style between a group of Assamese macaques (Macaca assamensis) and a group of rhesus macaques (M. mulatta), though kinship information was unknown. Assamese and rhesus female-female dyads each showed a low proportion of counter aggression and a low conciliatory tendency, suggesting that they have despotic social relationships. They also showed a despotic pattern on several other types of agonistic and affiliative behavior, such as approach outcomes and grooming distributions, which is consistent with the covariation of dominance style traits. Assamese male-male dyads showed relatively high levels of reconciliation and counter aggression versus other macaque males portrayed in the literature, suggesting that Assamese males have a tolerant dominance style. Insofar as macaque dominance style depends on the behavior of females, we suggest that Assamese macaques, like rhesus macaques, have despotic social relationships, which contrasts with evidence of a strong correlation between phylogeny and dominance style in macaques. Further, our results indicate that strong male bonding and tolerant dominance relationships among males are independent of female dominance style. Lastly, some measures of agonistic behavior, such as rate of aggression or proportion of bites, are likely altered in competitive environments and thus are not useful indicators of dominance style.     

Niche separation of sympatric macaques, Macaca assamensis and M. mulatta, in limestone habitats of Nonggang, China

Comparative studies of sympatric species are essential in understanding those species’ behavioral and ecological adaptations as well as the mechanisms that can reduce resource competition enough to allow coexistence. We collected data on diet, activity budget and habitat use from two sympatric macaque species, the Assamese macaque (Macaca assamensis) and the rhesus macaque (M. mulatta), in a limestone seasonal rainforest of Nonggang Nature Reserve, southwestern Guangxi, China. Our results show that the two sympatric macaques differ in diet, activity budget, and habitat use: (1) out of the 131 plant species that were used by both macaque species as food over the year, only 15 plant species (11 %) were shared. Rhesus macaques used more plant species as major foods, and had higher dietary diversity and evenness indexes than Assamese macaques. (2) Assamese macaques fed predominantly on leaves, whereas rhesus macaques fed more selectively on fruits. The rhesus macaques’ diet varied according to season, and was significantly correlated to season fluctuation in fruit availability. (3) Assamese macaques devoted more time to resting, and less time to feeding than rhesus macaques (4) Assamese macaques were present mostly on the cliff, and tended to stay on the ground, whereas rhesus macaques were present mostly on the hillside, and showed preference to lower and middle canopy. The observed differences in diet and habitat use between the two macaque species represent behavioral patterns enabling their coexistence.     

Seasonal Variation in the Activity Patterns and Time Budgets of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Trachypithecus francoisi</Emphasis> in the Nonggang Nature Reserve,China

Activity patterns and time budgets are 2 important aspects of animal behavior that researchers use to investigate ecological influences on individual behavior. We collected data on activity patterns and time budgets in 1 group of François’ langurs (Trachypithecus francoisi) from August 2003 to July 2004 in the Nonggang Nature Reserve, Guangxi Province, China, via instantaneous scan sampling method with 15-min intervals. The diurnal activity pattern of François’ langurs showed morning and afternoon feeding peaks, with a midday resting peak. Seasonal change was apparent in the activity pattern: 2 significant feeding peaks occurred in the dry season and only 1 significant feeding peak in the rainy season. The group spent an average of 51.5% of the daytime resting. Feeding and moving accounted on average for 23.1% and 17.3% of the activity budget, respectively. Subjects spent little time on social activities, averaging 2% for grooming and 5.5% for playing. Their time budgets showed significant seasonal variation: they spent a greater proportion of time on feeding and less time on resting and grooming in the dry season than in the rainy season. They also differed among different sex-age classes: immatures spent more time playing, whereas adults devoted more time to resting, feeding, and grooming. Correlations between time budgets and food items or food availability clearly indicated that François’ langurs might adopt an energy-maximizing strategy when preferred foods were scarce in the dry season.     

喀斯特生境中猕猴的活动节律和时间分配

2006年9月至2007年8月,在广西弄岗国家级自然保护区选择一群猕猴(Macaca mulatta)作为观察对象,采用瞬时扫描取样法收集相关的行为数据,以日活动节律和活动时间分配为切人点,探讨猕猴对喀斯特石山生境的行为适应策略.结果表明,猕猴的日活动节律表现为上午和下午的觅食高峰,中午进入长时间的休息期.这可能与白天...     

Enclosure environment affects the activity budgets of captive Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata)

Individuals adapt to changes in their environment, such as food availability and temperature, by adjusting the amount of time spent in different behavioral activities. These adjustments in behavior should vary across age-sex class according to specific physiological and social needs. We studied the activity budgets of three social Japanese macaque groups inhabiting either vegetated or nonvegetated enclosures in order to compare the effects of access with vegetation, as both food and substrate on resting, feeding, grooming and moving activities over a 12-month period. Daily access to natural foods for monkeys in the vegetated enclosure seems to be largely responsible for the differences in daily time budgets of these three groups. Resting time in all three groups was longer than the time devoted to other activities. Resting and moving time in the two nonvegetated enclosures was significantly longer than in the vegetated enclosure. In contrast, feeding and grooming time was significantly longer in the vegetated enclosure. Seasonal variation in time spent feeding, resting and grooming was significantly effected by enclosure type. In all three enclosures, immatures, particularly females, spent more time feeding and moving, whereas adults spent more time resting. Significant monthly variation in time spent by age-sex class was noted only for feeding and resting. Interestingly, in the vegetated enclosure, time spent feeding on natural vegetation was equal to the amount of time spent feeding on provisioned food. This suggests that factors other than energetic and nutritional needs may be important determinants of the activity budget of the species. These results have important implications for the enrichment of captive primates and our understanding of the maintenance of activity patterns by primates in the wild.     

Investigating Potential Effects of the Contraceptive Implanon on the Behavior of Free-Ranging Adult Female Barbary Macaques

In recent years, the use of hormonal contraception in captive, free-ranging, and wild mammal populations has increased, but the effects on these nonhuman animals' behavior and the associated welfare impacts remain poorly understood. This study of free-ranging adult female Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) at Trentham Monkey Forest compared females implanted with the progestin-only contraceptive Implanon to those not receiving contraception. Females with contraceptive implants had higher rates of self-scratching and spent more time self-grooming (2 behavioral indexes of anxiety) than those without implants. They also directed more aggression at others, spent more time receiving grooming and traveling, and spent less time giving grooming and resting. No significant differences between the 2 groups of females were seen for time spent foraging. These results suggest that Implanon had a number of effects on Barbary macaques, although these need to be considered in light of the significant benefits afforded by the use of this contraceptive. The findings of this study provide important information to those evaluating the relative welfare costs and benefits of alternative methods of population control in this and other species.