Sex Differences in Reconciliation and Post-Conflict Anxiety in Bonnet Macaques

Rates of reconciliation vary widely between different types of opponents, and post‐conflict anxiety has been proposed to mediate individual variation in reconciliation rates. We investigated the form and function of reconciliation in a wild, provisioned group of bonnet macaques (Macaca radiata) with the prediction that sex differences in post‐conflict anxiety would be associated with sex differences in conciliatory tendency. Individuals in the study group had a conciliatory tendency of 29.3%. Victims avoided their former opponents at a higher rate following aggression than during matched‐control samples, and reconciliation decreased the rate of avoidance. Although victims showed a higher rate of anxiety‐related behavior than did aggressors, anxiety‐related behavior was elevated after aggression and reduced following reconciliation in both victims and aggressors. Female–female opponents showed higher rates of anxiety‐related behavior before reconciliation than they did following unreconciled aggression. In contrast, male–male and female–male opponents showed increased anxiety‐related behavior following aggression regardless of the occurrence of reconciliation. Moreover, female–female opponents had a higher conciliatory tendency than did female–male opponents. The elevated post‐conflict anxiety shown by female–female opponents before reconciliation, along with their high conciliatory tendency, suggests that post‐conflict anxiety promotes reconciliation. In sum, the sex differences in post‐conflict behavior found in this study support the hypothesis that variation in post‐conflict anxiety mediates differential rates of reconciliation.     

Pre-Historic and Recent Vicariance Events Shape Genetic Structure and Diversity in Endangered Lion-Tailed Macaque in the Western Ghats: Implications for Conservation

Genetic isolation of populations is a potent force that helps shape the course of evolution. However, small populations in isolation, especially in fragmented landscapes, are known to lose genetic variability, suffer from inbreeding depression and become genetically differentiated among themselves. In this study, we assessed the genetic diversity of lion-tailed macaques (Macaca silenus) inhabiting the fragmented landscape of Anamalai hills and examined the genetic structure of the species across its distributional range in the Western Ghats. We sequenced around 900 bases of DNA covering two mitochondrial regions–hypervariable region-I and partial mitochondrial cytochrome b–from individuals sampled both from wild and captivity, constructed and dated phylogenetic trees. We found that the lion-tailed macaque troops in the isolated forest patches in Anamalai hills have depleted mitochondrial DNA diversity compared to troops in larger and continuous forests. Our results also revealed an ancient divergence in the lion-tailed macaque into two distinct populations across the Palghat gap, dating to 2.11 million years ago. In light of our findings, we make a few suggestions on the management of wild and captive populations.     

Hierarchy,kinship and social interaction among Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata)

The study reports the relationship between hierarchy, genetic relatedness and social interaction in captive Japanese macaques. Grooming and proximity were found to be positively related to both dominance rank and degrees of relatedness. Ranks also positively correlated with threats while no relationship was observed between genetic relationships and agonistic interactions. The removal of a-male tightened the male hierarchy while the female hierarchy became relatively loose. Affiliative behaviour became more correlated with ranks than degrees of genetic relatedness. In the absence of α-male, the next dominant male avoided involvement in either agonistic or afliliative interactions with reintroduced animals and group females.     

Flexibility in Food Extraction Techniques in Urban Free-Ranging Bonnet Macaques,Macaca radiata

Non-human primate populations, other than responding appropriately to naturally occurring challenges, also need to cope with anthropogenic factors such as environmental pollution, resource depletion, and habitat destruction. Populations and individuals are likely to show considerable variations in food extraction abilities, with some populations and individuals more efficient than others at exploiting a set of resources. In this study, we examined among urban free-ranging bonnet macaques, Macaca radiata (a) local differences in food extraction abilities, (b) between-individual variation and within-individual consistency in problem-solving success and the underlying problem-solving characteristics, and (c) behavioral patterns associated with higher efficiency in food extraction. When presented with novel food extraction tasks, the urban macaques having more frequent exposure to novel physical objects in their surroundings, extracted food material from PET bottles and also solved another food extraction task (i.e., extracting an orange from a wire mesh box), more often than those living under more natural conditions. Adults solved the tasks more frequently than juveniles, and females more frequently than males. Both solution-technique and problem-solving characteristics varied across individuals but remained consistent within each individual across the successive presentations of PET bottles. The macaques that solved the tasks showed lesser within-individual variation in their food extraction behavior as compared to those that failed to solve the tasks. A few macaques appropriately modified their problem-solving behavior in accordance with the task requirements and solved the modified versions of the tasks without trial-and-error learning. These observations are ecologically relevant – they demonstrate considerable local differences in food extraction abilities, between-individual variation and within-individual consistency in food extraction techniques among free-ranging bonnet macaques, possibly affecting the species’ local adaptability and resilience to environmental changes.     

Distribution and Conservation of Slender Lorises (Loris tardigradus lydekkerianus) in Southern Andhra Pradesh,South India

Slender lorises live in forests of southern India and Sri Lanka. Little is known about their distribution patterns and relative densities. We report the results of a survey conducted in 6 forest divisions in the southern parts of the state of Andhra Pradesh, South India. Relatively high densities of lorises occurred in mixed deciduous forests and in adjoining farm lands interspersed with trees. Three distinct populations inhabit the study area. We recommend conservation measures for Loris tardigradus.     

Reproductive biology of the slender loris (Loris lydekkerianus lydekkerianus)

The slender loris (Loris lydekkerianus lydekkerianus), a nocturnal prosimian, was studied for 21 months in its natural habitat of scrub jungle in Dindigul, south India. Here we report on its reproductive biology. Identified and unidentified lorises were observed for a total of 2,656 h. Reproductive seasonality was seen, with births and oestrus observed to be highest in April-June and October-December. The mating system was promiscuous with 1 female mating successively with 3-4 males. A gestation period of 5.5 months and an inter-birth interval of 7 months were recorded. Adult females had a reproductive potential of 4 infants per year. The findings presented in this paper constitute the first information on the life history parameters of wild slender lorises.     

Distribution,Demography, and Conservation of Lion-tailed Macaques (Macaca silenus) in the Anamalai Hills Landscape,Western Ghats,India

The status of the endemic and endangered lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) has not been properly assessed in several regions of the Western Ghats of southern India. We conducted a study in Parambikulam Forest Reserve in the state of Kerala to determine the distribution, demography, and status of lion-tailed macaques. We laid 5km² grid cells on the map of the study area (644km²) and made four replicated walks in each grid cell using GPS. We gathered data on lion-tailed macaque group locations, demography, and site covariates including trail length, duration of walk, proportion of evergreen forest, height of tallest trees, and human disturbance index. We also performed occupancy modeling using PRESENCE ver. 3.0. We estimated a minimum of 17 groups of macaques in these hills. Low detection and occupancy probabilities indicated a low density of lion-tailed macaques in the study area. Height of the tallest trees correlated positively whereas human disturbance and proportion of evergreen forest correlated negatively with occupancy in grid cells. We also used data from earlier studies carried out in the surrounding Anamalai Tiger Reserve and Nelliyampathy Hills to discuss the conservation status in the large Anamalai Hills Landscape. This landscape harbors an estimated population of 1108 individuals of lion-tailed macaques, which is about one third of the entire estimated wild population of this species. A conservation plan for this landscape could be used as a model for conservation in other regions of the Western Ghats.     

Agrobacterium mediated transformation of Petunia hybrida with yeast Δ-9 fatty acid desaturase

Petunia var. Ultra Blue was transformed with a delta-9 fatty acid desaturase gene from Saccharomyces Cerevisiae using Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Transformed plants were verified at the genomic level. Gas chromatographic analysis revealed an increase in the level of monounsaturated 16:1 and 18:1 fatty acids in transformed leaves. These fatty acids were found at very low levels (less than 2%) in control plants. Despite the changes in lipid composition, phenotypic difference were not apparent.Abbreviations ACP = acyl carrier protein - LB = luria bertania medium - CaMV = cauliflower mosaic virus     

Population Dynamics and Conservation of Commensal Bonnet Macaques

Whereas much attention is paid to the conservation and management of threatened species of primates, little work is reported on the species that are at lower risk. We report data on demography and population dynamics in commensal bonnet macaques (Macaca radiata radiata) sharing human habitats in Intensive Cultivation, Dry Cultivation and Scrub Forest zones around the city of Mysore, south India. We also compare the data with the previous data collected in 1989 and 1998 on the same groups by our research team. The population has suffered an overall decline of 21.3% (at an intrinsic rate (r) of –0.017) with Dry Cultivation habitat alone recording over 41% decline (r=–0.038) in 14 years. The Dry Cultivation habitat has also shown increased population fragmentation due to increased distance among groups, and decreased numbers of individuals per subpopulation. In Dry Cultivation areas, the number of small groups has been increasing, whereas the number of medium and large groups has been decreasing. We discuss such trends in the context of human-monkey conflict for shared resources. We propose that effective conservation strategies for lower risk species, especially if they are by-and-large commensal, must be planned now before they become threatened. We further propose that Scrub Forests with places of worship, and with the least human-monkey conflict but otherwise close to intensively used human habitats, are the most suitable and stable habitats for conservation of bonnet macaques.