bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reproductive Synchrony
Authors: Barrett Louise , Parker Jessica , Henzi Peter
Published: April 2017

Reproductive synchrony refers to the clustering of matings, conceptions, and births in a restricted time window. It has been explained by reference to both ecological and social factors. From an ecological perspective, matings and births cluster in order to ensure that reproduction is timed to coincide with periods of highest food abundance. From a social perspective, females have been argued to synchronize their ovarian cycles in order to reduce paternity skew by males. Empirical evidence for this latter hypothesis is sparse, and the consensus is that females cannot synchronize their ovulation in this way.
Bushmeat
Authors: Robinson Carolyn A. Jost
Published: April 2017

The term bushmeat refers to any wild meat or game meat derived from wildlife species. While the term is meant to include nonhuman primates, other mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians, large‐bodied, terrestrial, and/or arboreal mammal species are most typically referenced. The representation of bushmeat and “the bushmeat crisis” as a primate‐centered issue stems primarily from the fragility of targeted slow‐reproducing ape species, specifically the African apes. Globally, bushmeat represents a major source of food and income for both rural and urban human populations. The cultural significance of bushmeat to local diets results in greater challenges for sustainable development programs which must integrate complex sets of information across ecologies, economies, and cultures. The trade in bushmeat is highly criminalized due to the increasingly prevalent use of illegal hunting methods (e.g., guns, wire cable snares), unsustainable off‐takes, and the hunting of protected species.
Orgasm
Authors: Troisi Alfonso , Carosi Monica
Published: April 2017

The evolutionary study of orgasm in primates investigates the origin of human orgasm by cross‐species comparison and mainly focuses on female orgasm, a controversial topic in human sexual behavior. The female orgasm was once believed to be exclusive to human females and a vestigial by‐product of the male orgasm. Based on genital homology, the capacity for copulatory orgasm‐like responses in nonhuman primate (NHP) females is now supported with evidence from both laboratory testing and observation on captive and wild social groups. There is still disagreement among evolutionary researchers upon the biological meaning of the female orgasm, and the nonadaptive, by‐product hypothesis is still favored by some over adaptive hypotheses such as: promoting fertilization, promoting copulation, promoting pursuit with multiple partners, promoting pair‐bonding, and selection for mate/sire. Though not conclusive, data from both NHP and human females show how a female's perception of her mate's quality contributes to alter orgasm frequency, thus supporting the mate selection hypothesis.
Crop Raiding
Authors: Hill Catherine M.
Published: April 2017

“Crop raiding” refers to wild animals damaging plant crops cultivated by humans, by either feeding on or trampling them, but it would be better labeled as “crop foraging.” Many species forage on crops, but the extent of damage caused is highly variable. Relatively little is known about the nutritional value of crops to primates and how they incorporate this within their foraging strategies. Extensive crop damage by primates can impact negatively on farmer livelihoods, and compromise household food security. Consequently, understanding the behavioral ecology of the species concerned is important, because it will facilitate the development of effective technical solutions to reduce losses from primates foraging on crops.
Primate Brain Evolution
Authors: Preuss Todd M.
Published: April 2017

Modern neuroscientific research has begun to reveal the evolutionary specializations of primate brains. The evolution of ancestral primate brain organization, as reconstructed from comparative data, involved not only brain enlargement but also profound changes in internal brain organization, including the addition of new cortical areas, modifications of old areas, and the evolution of new cortical systems. These structures and systems were modified further in anthropoid evolution. Evolutionary specializations of primates and primate subgroups have been identified at every level of brain structure and involve virtually every functional domain, including sensory, motor, limbic, and higher‐order regions. Some of the most prominent changes involve the visual system and changes in higher‐order transcortical networks involving the prefrontal, parietal, and temporal association regions. These modern findings challenge traditional ideas about the continuity of neural and mental organization across species.
Social Taboos
Authors: Sicotte Pascale
Published: April 2017

Taboos are collective ritual prohibitions or avoidances that are put in place to regulate human action. Taboos are maintained by a fear of supernatural retributions, but can also be upheld by community disapproval. Taboos are by definition social, and can be reshaped and modified by communities. Some ritual prohibitions have positive biodiversity management implications, and can be seen as a manifestation of traditional conservation practices. These ritual prohibitions can potentially create an area of shared meaning between local populations and members of the national and international biodiversity conservation agencies. In this area of shared meaning, a dialogue can potentially happen. The impact of these social taboos in terms of biodiversity maintenance or management needs to be assessed more systematically.
Tool Use
Authors: Ottoni Eduardo B.
Published: April 2017

Tool use involves the employment of an environmental object to alter more efficiently the form, position, or condition of another object, another organism, or the user itself, when this user holds and manipulates the tool and is responsible for its proper and effective orientation. It was once seen as an exclusively human trait, but is actually widespread throughout the animal kingdom. The use of tools can result from stereotyped, species‐specific behaviors or from individual innovation and diffusion by socially biased learning, as seems to be the case of the complex and variable toolkits of a few primate species in the wild, or the creative tool‐aided problem‐solving strategies exhibited by captive apes and monkeys. Although many primate species may exhibit sophisticated object manipulation in captivity, the spontaneous and customary use of tools by wild populations is apparently restricted to chimpanzees, some species of capuchin monkeys, orangutans, and long‐tailed macaques.
Ecological Communities
Authors: Lambert Joanna E.
Published: April 2017

An ecological community is an assemblage of sympatric species. Primates are found in communities in North America (Mexico), Central America, South America, Asia, Africa, and Madagascar. Differences in community structure are the result of a broad range of biotic and abiotic factors, including total forested area, biogeography, rates of speciation, extinction and colonization, biotic productivity of the region, altitude, and latitude. The interactions between primates and other species in a community can have either negative, positive, or neutral effects on each of the two interacting species, depending upon whether the interaction is competitive, parasitic, predatory, mutualistic, or an ammensalism/commensalism.
Deforestation
Authors: Boyle Sarah A.
Published: April 2017

Deforestation is a global issue and is prevalent throughout the geographic range of many primate species. Although deforestation has occurred for tens of thousands of years, deforestation in the twentieth and twenty‐first centuries was primarily driven by agricultural crop expansion, cattle farming, fire, logging, mining for gas, oil, or minerals, transportation, and urban development. Many primate species range in areas that have been heavily deforested or areas that are under current deforestation threat. As a result, some primate populations have experienced severe population declines, and some forests are now primarily empty of nonhuman primates and other wildlife. In Uganda, Madagascar, and the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, deforestation has been ongoing for several decades, and as a result the remaining forest is often patchily distributed in small forest fragments. However, very recent deforestation in Brazil, Paraguay, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Indonesia may critically impact primate conservation in the near future.
Playback Experiments
Authors: Fischer Julia
Published: April 2017

Field playback experiments are a powerful way to tap into nonhuman primates' communication and cognition in their natural environment. From the animals' responses, researchers can infer how animals categorize and respond to different sounds, while controlling for other available information. Moreover, such experiments provide insights into what the animals know about the social relationships among their group members. After a brief historical introduction, this entry provides an overview of the key research questions that are being addressed, with special regard to different experimental designs. Careful field experimentation, supported by corresponding behavioral observations, constitute one of the most potent ways to probe animals' minds under evolutionary and ecologically valid conditions.
Climate Change and Primate Evolution
Authors: Frost Stephen R.
Published: April 2017

Climatic change has played an important role in primate evolution for at least the last 66 million years. It has been an important driver in biogeography and the expanding and contracting ranges of different primate radiations, as well as in the abundance and diversity of primates in different ecosystems. It has been important in driving speciation and extinction events, and the turnover of species. Climatic change may also be the driving force behind some of the specific adaptations of individual primate lineages.
Mating Interference
Authors: Qi Xiao‐Guang
Published: April 2017

Mating interference is defined as any disturbance directed to a mating pair by other individuals, who are hypothesized to improve their mating success by increasing their access to reproductive partners as well as by reducing the mating success of rivals. Interference behavior can take several forms, including highly aggressive acts (sexual interruption) as well as milder forms of interference (sexual harassment) that result in a reduced likelihood of mating to ejaculation. Most reported cases of mating interference behavior in primates occur in species where males actively mate guard, or attempt to ensure female fidelity through direct forms of sexual coercion. However, sexual harassment has also been found in female and immature primates for different behavior strategies.
Bonobo (Pan Paniscus)
Authors: Hohmann Gottfried
Published: April 2017

Bonobos (Pan paniscus) are hominoid primates and, together with chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), are the closest living relatives of humans. Molecular data suggest that the split between bonobos and chimpanzees happened in the Middle Pleistocene (1–2 million years ago) and the divergent evolution of the two sister species is often related to their geographic separation. Ever since its late discovery by Harold Coolidge, information from the two sister species has inspired researchers in such diverse fields as anatomy, functional morphology, social behavior, evolutionary psychology, and cognition. Because of the close phylogenetic relationship betweenPanand humans, data from bonobos and chimpanzees are often used when modeling human evolution.
Ethnozoology
Authors: Alves Rômulo Romeu Nóbrega
Published: April 2017

Animals have played a wide range of roles in human life from the earliest days of recorded history, and the human species has had many kinds of interactions with others. These interactions (both past and present) is the subject matter of Ethnozoology. In a broader context, ethnozoology and its companion discipline, ethnobotany, form part of the larger body of science of ethnobiology. Ethnozoology seeks to understand how people around the world have perceived and interacted with faunal resources throughout history. It is a hybrid discipline structured with combinations of elements from both the natural and social sciences.
Provisioning
Authors: Hill David A.
Published: April 2017

Primates have been provisioned in two main contexts: in artificial colonies and in the natural habitat. Major advantages of provisioning are that it facilitates habituation of the animals to the presence of researchers and can greatly improve observability. Studies of provisioned groups have generated a huge body of data and have led to many significant advances in our understanding of primate social behavior. However, provisioning also increases fecundity and survival rates, resulting in larger groups with more extensive kin networks than occur naturally. It can also have a profound influence on ranging behavior and activity budgets, is frequently associated with increased levels of aggression, and can ultimately influence the quality of social relationships. These effects must be taken into account when interpreting results from studies of provisioned primates.
Ischial Callosities
Authors: McGraw W. Scott
Published: April 2017

Ischial callosities, commonly referred to as sitting pads, are thickened layers of tissue overlaying expansions of the hip bones (ischial tuberosities) that are found in all Old World monkeys (cercopithecoids) and gibbons. The main explanations for their evolution are that they (1) facilitate seated sleeping postures on slender branches and (2) facilitate seated feeding in tree crowns. Fossils assigned to the primitive catarrhine
Victoriapithecus
and dated to the middle Miocene (ca. 15 million years ago) constitute the earliest evidence for ischial callosities.
Primates in Mythology
Authors: Alves Rômulo Romeu Nóbrega , Barboza Raynner Rilke Duarte , Souto Wedson Medeiros Silva
Published: April 2017

People and nonhuman primates have shared different habitats since the beginning of human history. From early times, nonhuman primates have attracted people's attention and have inspired a number of myths in different parts of the world. This is not surprising considering the biological, phylogenetic, and behavioral similarities of nonhuman primates and humans. The prominent role of nonhuman primates in mythology is well evidenced in religious traditions, astronomy and astrology, and other diverse aspects of human life. As a result, depending on human culture, some people adopt a quasi‐scientific view by considering nonhuman primates our close relatives, as respected and sacred beings, and mediators between deities and humans, while others consider them as evil creatures. These different views on nonhuman primates influence the way humans utilize primate by‐products and interact with these animals, clearly demonstrating that understanding the mythology surrounding primates and their influence in the cultural and religious aspects of human populations is an important issue for primate conservation.
Home Range Estimation
Authors: Gregory Tremaine
Published: April 2017

Understanding the extent of the area in which an animal or group of animals lives, or the home range, is important to understanding ecology. There are many methods available for estimating the extent of a home range. The following, which are frequently used in primatology, are described in this entry: the grid cell approach, minimum convex polygon (MCP), kernel density estimators (KDE), and low convex hull (LoCoH). In recent decades, GIS technology has allowed researchers to estimate home ranges very easily. However, there is no standard method for making estimations, and when estimating and reporting home ranges, it is important to use multiple methods and to describe the data in detail to avoid misinterpretation.
Fecal–Oral Transmission
Authors: Whittier Christopher A.
Published: April 2017

Fecal–oral transmission occurs when an infectious agent in the fecal material from an infected individual is ingested by a second individual. Fecal–oral transmission is commonly associated with fecal contamination of food or water, though in wild animals including primates it can also occur from bodily contact such as grooming, as well as from coprophagy (deliberate eating of fecal material).
Group Fission
Authors: Ménard Nelly
Published: April 2017

Social group fission is a discrete and rare event in the life of groups of matrilineal primate societies. Permanent group fission leads to the separation of group members into independent new groups. The decrease in group cohesion occurs above an optimal group size, linked to an increase in intragroup competition, changes in social statuses, and/or variation in environmental pressures. It is an important dynamic process within populations that contributes to increased male dispersal, and mostly occurs between matrilines, being the main way by which females disperse in female philopatric species. Kinship has a major influence on group fission patterns, which leads to nonrandom gene redistribution through populations. Group fission often raises the average degree of maternal relatedness within the new groups, which explains intergroup genetic differentiation.
Pitheciinae
Authors: Shaffer Christopher A.
Published: April 2017

The pitheciines are a subfamily of platyrrhines characterized by their craniodental adaptations for seed predation. The subfamily includes three genera,
Pithecia
,
Chiropotes
, and
Cacajao
. The pitheciines range in body size from 1.5 to 5 kilograms.
Pithecia
has a broad geographic range throughout the Amazon basin, while
Chiropotes
and
Cacajao
have more restricted ranges. Although all pitheciines exhibit a highly specialized dental anatomy for opening hard fruits and consume a heavily seed‐based diet, they show considerable variation in social structure.
Pithecia
lives in small groups of 2 to 12 individuals, while
Chiropotes
and
Cacajao
have some of the largest groups of any Neotropical primates. Although the conservation outlook for many pitheciine populations is relatively good, several species are imperiled with hunting and anthropogenic habitat disturbance.
Simian Foamy Virus (
SFV
)
Authors: Craig Karen L. , Pinto‐Santini Delia M. , Linial Maxine L.
Published: April 2017

Simian foamy viruses (SFV) are complex retroviruses which are ubiquitous in adult nonhuman primates (NHP). SFV replicate in the superficial epithelial cells of the oral mucosa and are transmitted via saliva. Zoonotic infection of humans with SFV is common among persons who interact with NHP. To date, no pathologies have been associated with SFV infection in either their natural hosts or humans, although the virus may exacerbate the pathology of other infectious agents in natural hosts.
S
chultz,
A
dolph
Authors: Morbeck Mary Ellen
Published: April 2017

Adolph Hans Schultz (1891–1976) used comparative anatomy and ontogeny to understand variation among primates. He viewed primatology, embedded in physical anthropology, through the lens of biology. Systematic cadaver dissections and standardized, comparable measurements of wild‐living and captive‐raised nonhuman primates generated a substantial dataset and large, diverse skeletal collections that allowed study of multispecies and within‐species variation.
The Life of Primates
(1969) was the most comprehensive, readable book about primatology when published and, like Schultz's scientific papers, included original half‐tone and pen and ink drawings.
Baculum (
Os Penis
)
Authors: Carosi Monica , Scalici Massimiliano
Published: April 2017

The baculum (
os penis
, penile bone) is the penile heterotopic bone found in seven eutherian orders, including the Primates. It is the most varied bone as far as size and shape. The baculum is widely distributed in all families of primates, with the exception of the monogeneric infraorder Tarsiiformes. It is also lacking in five New World monkey genera and in
Homo
. Its interspecific variability in length can be related to body size, phylogenetic constraints, duration of intromission during copulation, and mating system. Penile complexity, as well as baculum length, increases in species with dispersed or polygynandrous mating systems, in which the female mates with multiple partners during the same fertile periods. It is likely that there are multiple functions of the baculum, such as providing support during prolonged intromissions, female genital stimulation, and/or sperm transport facilitation and delivery.
Pierolapithecus
Authors: Moyà‐Solà Salvador
Published: April 2017

Pierolapithecus
is a Miocene hominoid genus, represented by a single species,
Pierolapithecus catalaunicus
, dated to 12 million years ago, which provides the oldest comprehensive evidence of the origin of the distinctive orthograde body plan of extant great apes. Morphological features of the trunk, hand, and hindlimb are functionally related to the use of erect trunk postures during climbing and clambering, basic adaptations of extant hominoids. However, in contrast to them, some features, in particular the short hands, suggest that
Pierolapithecus
lacks below‐branch suspensory adaptations.
Pierolapithecus
thus displays a locomotor pattern with no modern analog, retaining morphologically primitive features related to above‐branch, powerful palmigrady, associated with crown hominoid climbing adaptations. The very thick enamel and the analysis of the dental wear marks suggest a diet based on hard foods, similar to that of extant orangutans.
Suspensory Posture
Authors: Youlatos Dionisios
Published: April 2017

Suspensory postures are below‐branch hanging postures that enable acquisition and manipulation of food sources and occur in a few strepsirhines, some platyrrhines, some cercopithecids, and all hominoids. Suspensory postures are expressed in variable ways across primates. Primates with prehensile tails employ their tail, alone or with any combination of fore‐ and hindlimbs. Hindlimb suspensory postures are more common in primates and involve the support by one or two hindlimbs, keeping the body either orthograde or pronograde. Forelimb suspensory postures are less frequent and involve the support of one or two forelimbs, maintaining the body mainly orthograde. Primates may also suspend by any combination involving both fore‐ and hindlimbs, placing the body at variable angles. Suspensory postures are adaptively important for arboreal primates, as they increase their feeding sphere, and this is reflected in certain morphological specializations that characterize some primate radiations.
Bridging
Authors: Youlatos Dionisios
Published: April 2017

Bridging is a locomotor mode that enables safe, cautious crossings across trees in the arboreal habitat. It involves the active deformation of the initial and terminal branches in order to form a passage by keeping at least three limbs in contact. Bridging can be performed in different ways, involving the action of a prehensile tail (if available), the hindlimbs (during initiation), and the forelimbs (at the termination). Bridging may be directed downwards, horizontally, or, less commonly, upwards. The body may be placed in a pronograde, or orthograde and supinograde position. Initiation of a bridge may involve some locomotor mode or may be static. In a similar manner, when primates reach the target branches they may either wait or continue to move. Bridging, although not very common overall, is significant for shortening pathways and requires morphological adaptations related to increased joint mobility in both fore‐ and hindlimbs.
S
challer,
G
eorge
Authors: Reagan Natalia
Published: April 2017

George Schaller is widely considered the father of wildlife conservation and is one of the world's top field biologists. Schaller has worked in multiple continents but spent the majority of his years studying endangered animals in Asia, South America, and Africa. His work has resulted in the creation of several protected parks throughout the world. Schaller has written extensively about his work with many charismatic endangered species such as mountain gorillas (
Gorilla beringei beringei
), lions (
Pantera leo
), snow leopards (
Uncia uncia
), and giant pandas (
Ailuropoda melanoleuca
).
Form/Function Framework
Authors: Larson Susan G.
Published: April 2017

The form/function framework refers to methods and approaches used to investigate how animal morphology is related to habits and lifestyle. It entails not only identifying the current utility of a feature, but also assessing how it may have contributed to the evolutionary success of the species. Establishing a form/function connection begins with observations of a correlation between the presence of a feature and performance of a behavior. Such correlations become a basis for a hypothesis regarding a functional relationship that makes predictions for further testing. Methods for testing these predictions include additional morphological or behavior observations, collection of laboratory‐based empirical data linking form to function with living subjects, and application of computational biomechanics to use computer modeling to investigate the complex interplay between animal morphology and the performance of a behavior.
Biosynergy
Authors: Rose Anthony L.
Published: April 2017

Biosynergy is an omnipresent global phenomenon observed in research laboratories, zoos, sanctuaries, and natural habitat, as well as in human social and organizational settings. Biosynergy theory and its psychosocial impacts on human and nonhuman primates has been reported extensively since its presentation at the 1994 Primatology Congress in Bali, Indonesia. This entry defines
biosynergy
; contrasts it with
biorivalry
and
biophilia
; and explains its vital importance to the success of
in situ
primate conservation in the face of professional and social conflict,
speciesism
, and global human
biodomination
. The case is made for changing conservation strategy from crisis‐focused biodiversity management to the holistic proactive mission of
biosynergy facilitation
. Carrying out this collaborative approach to conservation involves primatologists joining forces with innovators in multidisciplinary fields, from applied anthrozoology to international peacemaking, and developing conjoint capacity to design and implement interventions that will synergize the sustained mutual welfare of all living beings.
Sperm Competition
Authors: Higham James P.
Published: April 2017

Sperm competition refers to postcopulatory competition between the sperm of different males for fertilization of the same egg. Sperm competition is proposed to have a number of effects on both male and female physiology, anatomy, and behavior. In males, these include effects on sperm, on the penis, and on behaviors such as mate guarding. In females, these include potential effects on reproductive tract morphology, and effects on sexually selected traits such as copulation calls. The induction of sperm competition may be a powerful mechanism by which females can exert cryptic postcopulatory mate choice. Difficulties associated with the collection and analysis of sperm hinder direct observations of the process and its mechanisms in most populations of free‐ranging and wild primate species.
G
lander,
K
enneth
Authors: Clarke Margaret
Published: April 2017

Ken Glander's long and illustrious career is filled with many achievements, activities, and awards, but his most long‐lasting influence has been his efforts to facilitate the research endeavors of others. Ken was born and raised in Wisconsin, but left for Texas to serve in the US Air Force and earn his undergraduate degree at UT‐Austin. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1975 under Russell Tuttle. Ken has held an academic position at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, ever since. His most well‐known accomplishment was the development of a safe capture technique for arboreal primates. His dissertation research at Hacienda La Pacifica, Costa Rica, turned into a lifelong project of capturing individual howlers in the free‐ranging population, and he was the first to document the chemical nature of foods that wild primates actually selected from their habitat. He also applied advances in technological miniaturization allowing for data collection on wild, rather than captive, primates.
Atelinae
Authors: Fiore Anthony Di
Published: April 2017

The subfamily Atelinae is a monophyletic group of large‐bodied, prehensile‐tailed New World primates that includes howler monkeys, spider monkeys, woolly monkeys, and muriquis. This set of taxa displays an impressive range of variation in ecological strategies, grouping patterns, and reproductive behavior.
Biomechanics of Primate Locomotion
Authors: Shapiro Liza J. , Young Jesse W.
Published: April 2017

Biomechanics is the application of the principles of mechanics to the study of biological structure and function. Biomechanical studies of primate locomotion focus on both kinematics (spatiotemporal analysis of body movements) and kinetics (analysis of forces associated with movements). We discuss how biomechanical studies of three fundamental nonhuman primate locomotor modes (quadrupedalism, leaping, and brachiation) have furthered our understanding of primate locomotor capacity, adaptation, and evolution. Additionally, we show how studies of primate locomotor ontogeny can serve as a “natural laboratory” to investigate functional models of animal performance, offering some advantages over the interspecific comparisons of adult animals. Overall, interest in primate locomotor mechanics continues to be strong, particularly given the ever‐increasing sophistication of technology available for quantifying animal movement in both the laboratory and field.
Primate Conservation, Inc.
Authors: Rowe Noel
Published: April 2017

Primate Conservation, Inc. is an all‐volunteer, nonprofit 501(c)(3) private‐operating foundation that gives grants to study and protect the least‐known and most endangered primates in their natural habitat. Since 1993, it has supported more than 680 projects in 28 habitat countries.
Demonic Male Theory
Authors: Wilson Michael L.
Published: April 2017

Demonic male theory (DMT) seeks to explain the evolution of violent behavior in humans and other great apes, in which males generally behave more violently than females. Rooted in behavioral ecology, DMT views violent temperament as an adaptation that can evolve when favored by ecological and social factors.
Brachyteles
(Muriqui)
Authors: Strier Karen B.
Published: April 2017

The muriqui (
Brachyteles
), a member of the Atelidae, is the largest New World monkey and one of the most critically endangered primates in the world. It is endemic to the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil, and two species, the northern muriqui (
B. hypoxanthus
) and the southern muriqui (
B. arachnoides
), are now recognized. Both species are diurnal, arboreal, social primates with eclectic vegetarian diets consisting primarily of leaves and fruits to varying degrees. They are also characterized by male philopatry with female dispersal, and highly promiscuous mating. Northern muriquis are also exceptionally peaceful. Conservation efforts to protect and manage remaining populations of both species have long been underway.
Climate Change, Forests, and Primate Conservation
Authors: Meyer Andreas Luiz Schwarz
Published: April 2017

Climate change is likely to pose serious consequences for biodiversity in the coming decades. Impacts on nonhuman primates are of particular concern given that several species exhibit attributes associated with high vulnerability, such as small population size, narrow distribution range, and limited dispersal capacity. Moreover, most species inhabit forests degraded by human activities, exposing them to additional danger due to synergistic effects between climate change and habitat fragmentation. Using information from both general and primatological studies, the potential effects of climate change on primates are addressed in this entry. In general, evidence suggests that many species are likely to experience increased extinction risk if emissions of greenhouse gases continue unabated. Conservation efforts will be crucial, but they may not succeed without effective policies to curb climate change itself.
Masturbation
Authors: Thomsen Ruth , Sommer Volker
Published: April 2017

Male and female primates from all extant radiations engage in autosexual behaviors, implying that masturbation is a facet of the sexual repertoire of our hominid ancestors. At a proximate level, masturbation results in relaxation and reduced aggressiveness. At an ultimate level, male masturbation might be beneficial because old and low‐quality sperm are discarded, while fresh sperm production is stimulated. Convincing functional explanations for female masturbation are still lacking.
H
rdy,
S
arah
B
laffer
Authors: Isbell Lynne A.
Published: April 2017

Sarah Blaffer Hrdy (b. 1946) pioneered our changing views of female behavior in human and nonhuman primates. She cast infanticide in a Darwinian light by arguing that males benefit reproductively from killing unrelated, unweaned infants. She explored female behavior from a neo‐Darwinian perspective, arguing that females are not passive but manipulate male reproductive strategies and compete and cooperate with other females in domains relevant to them. Hrdy extended the neo‐Darwinian focus to mothers by arguing that the human pattern of reproducing again before current offspring are nutritionally independent could only evolve in cooperative breeders. Provisioning of children by others would have also favored the evolution of enhanced abilities in children to monitor, assess, and engage with helpers, leading to the uniquely human ability to take interest in the thoughts and intentions of others. Her intellectual contributions have led to elections to the California and National Academies of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, among others.
Rabies
Authors: Gautret Philippe
Published: April 2017

New World and Old World nonhuman primates (NHP) are experimentally susceptible to rabies infection, as expected for every mammal. The number of rabies cases reported in free‐ranging NHP is small compared with humans. Marmosets have been demonstrated to act as a reservoir for maintaining a rabies virus (RABV) variant in Brazil, but NHP are not known to be a reservoir for maintaining a RABV variant in the wild in other regions. Documented cases and subsequent transmission to humans have been reported from various sources in South America, Africa, and Asia. Further, international travelers often report NHP‐related injuries and NHP can be close to humans. Little is currently known of the pathobiology of RABV shedding in primates, which implies that rabies postexposure prophylaxis and administration of rabies immunoglobulin should be considered in patients with a possible exposure. Large‐scale studies aimed at surveying rabies circulation in NHP populations are needed.
Hooton,Earnest
Authors: Melear Kerry Brian
Published: April 2017

Earnest A. Hooton (1887–1954) was a noted anthropologist, perhaps best known for his support of a eugenics‐based biological theory of criminals, holding that physical characteristics could be measured as predictors of criminal activity. His 1927 study comparing various physical characteristics of criminals was criticized for its methodology and racial overtones.
History of Primatology—SouthAmerica
Authors: Urbani Bernardo
Published: April 2017

This entry provides a descriptive synopsis of the history of South American primatology. Christopher Columbus found monkeys on his very first arrival in continental America. During the sixteenth century, early protodescriptions of primates were provided by chroniclers. Then in the seventeenth century, New World monkeys as commodities were fully circulated in Europe. During the Enlightenment, Neotropical monkeys were scientifically classified, and explorers traveled to South America, finding new species. Alexander von Humboldt's descriptions of monkeys and this information reaching academic circles represented the first major breakthrough in South American primate studies. In the first half of the twentieth century, South America was the scenario of a major primatological hoax, the creation of theAmeranthropoides loysi. Primatological surveys and the foundation of field sites marked the second half of the twentieth century. Later, at the eve of the twenty‐first century, the second major breakthrough in South American primatology is the fact that, scientometrically, most of the studies of South American primates are conducted by local primatologists.
Origins of Primates—Debates and Controversies
Authors: Soligo Christophe
Published: April 2017

Most current scenarios of primate origins depict small nocturnal animals feeding on insects and/or fruit, flowers, and nectar in the complex small‐branch environments of tropical forests. Some of these elements, however, have been challenged, and still need to be comprehensively tested through formal comparative analyses or supported by fossil data. Key contextual elements of primate origins that require clarification include the phylogenetic relationships between primates, colugos, tree shrews, and plesiadapiforms, and the divergence times of associated clades. In addition, a consensus regarding patterns of phyletic size change in the primate stem lineage and the size of the last common ancestor of extant primates would help clarify both the likely physical environment that ancestral primates inhabited and their dietary behavior.
S
ugiyama,
Y
ukimaru
Authors: Nakagawa Naofumi
Published: April 2017

Yukimaru Sugiyama is the leading primatologist and ecologist who made the discovery of the epoch of infanticide in Hanuman langurs, and established the first long‐term study site on western chimpanzees in Bossou, Guinea, where he and his colleagues discovered a variety of tool‐use behaviors. In a provisioned Japanese macaque troop, he found large rank‐correlated differences in age at first birth, birth rate, and survival rate of infants.
Dominance in Females
Authors: Bergstrom Mackenzie L.
Published: April 2017

Female primates develop dominance relationships as a means of organizing status within a social group. Dominance interactions may occur in many contexts, including access to food resources, social interactions, and group position. The highest‐ranking “alpha female” often receives the greatest benefits, which may ultimately increase her reproductive success. Primatologists determine a rank order and qualitatively and quantitatively assess other aspects of dominance hierarchies including linearity, stability, and dominance style. Interspecific variation in social organization, social system, and social structure present challenges to the consistent measurement and comparison of dominance relationships across the Order Primates.
Primate Research Centers—
R
ussia
Authors: Lapin B. A. , Danilova I. G.
Published: April 2017

Primatological research in Russia was mainly concentrated on the monkey colony at the Sukhumi Primate Center. Later this was reorganized into the Research Institute of Experimental Pathology and Therapy of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and then, in Sochi (Adler), the Research Institute of Medical Primatology was organized. At the present time, its colony includes more than 4,500 monkeys. Its researchers and investigators from many other scientific institutions carry out studies in the fields of infectious pathology, stem cells, morbid anatomy, endocrinology, space biology, and medicine. The Institute stimulates the development of primatological research in Russia by providing the possibility to work with animals in Adler and to deliver monkeys to other organizations. The small monkey colony is located near Saint Petersburg. It is used to investigate higher nervous activities and complex behavior. In Moscow, at the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems (IMBP), a small colony of macaques was created to investigate issues concerning cosmic medicine.
Ecological Knowledge
Authors: Miard Priscillia
Published: April 2017

Ecological knowledge is a generic term used to describe a concept of knowledge from local communities about their relationship with their environment. It is separated into two different aspects: local ecological knowledge (LEK) and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). Both terms refer to the knowledge of the local population to comprehend animals and environmental changes in order to get a better understanding of cryptic or low‐density populations. It is mainly used in conservation and management projects to gain a picture of population dynamics and develop policies that will enhance the success of species reintroduction and protection.
Gestural Communication
Authors: Liebal Katja
Published: April 2017

The majority of what is currently known about primate gestural communication is based on studies with great apes, mostly in captive settings and obtained by observational methods. More recently, however, there has been an increasing number of studies on wild populations of both great apes and monkeys. Current research topics concern the mechanisms underlying the acquisition of primate gestures, whether they have specific meanings, and whether they are used to refer to specific objects or locations. In contrast to the traditionally almost exclusively unimodal approach of gesture research, an increasing number of studies investigates gestures and their combinations with facial expressions or vocalizations in a more integrated, multimodal way.
Foraging Strategies
Authors: Vogel Erin R. , Kivai Stanislaus , Alavi Shauhin
Published: April 2017

The majority of the world's living primates inhabit lowland tropical rainforests, a diverse and often challenging habitat type to navigate. The large collection of field‐based research has demonstrated the incredible behavioral and dietary flexibility among primate species when coping with food resources that vary both temporally and spatially across seasons. Finding prey items, whether they are insects or plant parts, is challenging, and thus primates have evolved a variety of adaptations to obtain sufficient energy for survival. This entry discusses the cognitive and sensory mechanisms used by primates to find food, why they may include certain items in the diet while ignoring others, and social factors that may influence diet selection.
I
tani,
J
unichiro
Authors: Takahata Yukio
Published: April 2017

Junichiro Itani was one of the founders of Japanese primatology. He took the initiative in the long‐term study of African great apes, and nourished the interest of many Japanese primatologists and anthropologists.
Toothcomb
Authors: Yamashita Nayuta
Published: April 2017

The primate toothcomb is a diagnostic feature of modern strepsirhines. It is an elaboration of four or six of the anterior mandibular teeth into a single functional unit that resembles a protruding comb. The toothcomb is used for both grooming and feeding, and its origin has been related to one or both of these functions.
Primates in Literature
Authors: Copeland Marion W.
Published: April 2017

Human story like human art began with the study and depiction of the other animals that shared the habitats (umvelts) where humans evolved, hunted, and were hunted. As humans developed a sense of self, their stories focused more and more on those animals that most closely resembled them, particularly on other species of great apes: the gorilla, chimpanzee, bonobo, and orangutan. Often such nonhuman ape characters were used by storytellers as substitutes for humans, intended to teach humans how they were expected to behave or work out the challenges of human survival. Since curiosity as well as empathy are primate characteristics, even such anthropomorphic apes suggest the difference between as well as the similarities among the great apes. Consequently, stories that highlight great ape characters also afford deep glimpses into the biographies and concerns of the other ape species, and, after Darwin, stories focusing on our remarkable relatives as apes rather than as shadows of humans are becoming the norm.
Social Attention
Authors: Bourjade Marie
Published: April 2017

Social attention
refers to the orientation of individuals' activity towards social stimuli, and operates both as a selective perception of those stimuli and as a priming for action. The two main acceptances of the concept are, for individuals A and B: (1) A pays attention to any feature of B, and (2) A specifically attends to B's direction of attention. Nonhuman primates can detect the direction of others' attention based on different cues such as the line of gaze and the orientation of the head and the body. Once detected, the direction of another's attention induces a shift in the individual's own attention; A follows B's line of gaze.
Gaze following
occurs when A follows B's line of gaze in space, and
joint attention
when A focuses on the same external object as B. The extent to which social attention is under voluntary control is still under debate.
Vervets in the Caribbean
Authors: Dore Kerry M.
Published: April 2017

Free‐ranging vervet monkeys (
Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus
) currently reside on the Caribbean islands of St Kitts, Nevis, Barbados, St Martin/St Maarten, and Tortola. The St Kitts, Nevis, and Barbados populations exist as a result of humans translocating them from West Africa, and the St Martin/St Maarten and Tortola populations are the result of escaped or released pets brought in from St Kitts and Nevis. Little research has been done on the Nevis, St Martin/St Maarten, and Tortola populations, but the Kittitian and Nevisian populations have been subject to a significant number of biomedical and behavioral studies.
Olfactory Communication
Authors: Nevo Omer
Published: April 2017

Primates are highly social and communicative mammals. They are by now known to possess a well‐developed sense of smell. Accordingly, it has become increasingly clear that olfactory communication may mediate many aspects of the social lives of primates. Olfactory signals differ substantially from visual or vocal gestures. They allow transmission of complex and sometimes more reliable information that is more persistent, but less direct, in time and space than other forms of communication. Chemical information can be transmitted passively or actively through deposition of scent‐gland secretions, urine, feces and other odoriferous material such as saliva. Olfactory communication has been documented in species of all major lineages and can fulfill various functions: mate choice; intrasexual competition; kin, individual, and species recognition; and territorial or resource defense.
Importation
Authors: Strong Sharon E.
Published: April 2017

Importation of nonhuman primates (NHPs) refers to the transfer of live animals or animal parts and products across borders into an officially recognized jurisdiction, frequently that of a nation state. Areas of concern include whether importation is done in compliance with international treaties, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, and domestic regulations, such as those in the United States under the auspices of the Centers for Disease Control and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. When NHPs are considered as trade commodities in the context of importation, they can be seen as subject to market forces.