Food distribution and predation pressure are considered to be the main ecological factors that influence the use of forest strata （basically arboreality vs. terrestriality） in non-human primates. Here, we investigat...Food distribution and predation pressure are considered to be the main ecological factors that influence the use of forest strata （basically arboreality vs. terrestriality） in non-human primates. Here, we investigate ground use of wild, unprovisioned black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys Rhinopithecus bieti by means of the scan sampling method. The results show that the monkeys spent 15.0% of the day time on the ground; 16.6%, 12.7%, and 15.6% for adult males, adult females and juveniles, respectively. Adult males and juveniles of both sexes showed significantly higher rates of terrestrial time than adult females. Females without clinging infants spent significantly more time on the ground than expected, while females with clinging infants spent significantly less time on the ground than expected. These results suggest that the higher degree of terrestrial behavior for males and juveniles may be due to their higher agility in comparison with females. Our study showed that the monkeys fed more on lichens relative to other food items when in the trees, but more on buds/leaves, flowers, fruits/nuts, resin/bark, and herbs when on the ground. According to our investigation, the ecological significance of the species＇ terrestriality lies mainly in the utilization of terrestrial food resources [ Current Zoology 55 （3） ： 180 - 187, 2009].展开更多
Vocal individuality is widespread in social animals. Individual variation in vocalizations is a prereq- uisite for discriminating among conspecifics and may have facilitated the evolution of large complex societies. R...Vocal individuality is widespread in social animals. Individual variation in vocalizations is a prereq- uisite for discriminating among conspecifics and may have facilitated the evolution of large complex societies. Ring-tailed lemurs Lemur catta live in relatively large social groups, have con- spicuous vocal repertoires, and their species-specific utterances can be interpreted in light of source-filter theory of vocal production. Indeed, their utterances allow individual discrimination and even recognition thanks to the resonance frequencies of the vocal tract. The purpose of this study is to determine which distinctive vocal features can be derived from the morphology of the upper vocal tract. To accomplish this, we built computational models derived from anatomical measurements collected on lemur cadavers and compared the results with the spectrographic out- put of vocalizations recorded from ex situ live individuals. Our results demonstrate that the mor- phological variation of the ring-tailed lemur vocal tract explains individual distinctiveness of their species-specific utterances. We also provide further evidence that vocal tract modeling is a power- ful tool for studying the vocal output of non-human primates.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(30630016,30870375)Chinese Academy of Sciences(KSCX2-1-03)Central South Universityof Forestry & Technology
文摘Food distribution and predation pressure are considered to be the main ecological factors that influence the use of forest strata （basically arboreality vs. terrestriality） in non-human primates. Here, we investigate ground use of wild, unprovisioned black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys Rhinopithecus bieti by means of the scan sampling method. The results show that the monkeys spent 15.0% of the day time on the ground; 16.6%, 12.7%, and 15.6% for adult males, adult females and juveniles, respectively. Adult males and juveniles of both sexes showed significantly higher rates of terrestrial time than adult females. Females without clinging infants spent significantly more time on the ground than expected, while females with clinging infants spent significantly less time on the ground than expected. These results suggest that the higher degree of terrestrial behavior for males and juveniles may be due to their higher agility in comparison with females. Our study showed that the monkeys fed more on lichens relative to other food items when in the trees, but more on buds/leaves, flowers, fruits/nuts, resin/bark, and herbs when on the ground. According to our investigation, the ecological significance of the species＇ terrestriality lies mainly in the utilization of terrestrial food resources [ Current Zoology 55 （3） ： 180 - 187, 2009].
文摘Vocal individuality is widespread in social animals. Individual variation in vocalizations is a prereq- uisite for discriminating among conspecifics and may have facilitated the evolution of large complex societies. Ring-tailed lemurs Lemur catta live in relatively large social groups, have con- spicuous vocal repertoires, and their species-specific utterances can be interpreted in light of source-filter theory of vocal production. Indeed, their utterances allow individual discrimination and even recognition thanks to the resonance frequencies of the vocal tract. The purpose of this study is to determine which distinctive vocal features can be derived from the morphology of the upper vocal tract. To accomplish this, we built computational models derived from anatomical measurements collected on lemur cadavers and compared the results with the spectrographic out- put of vocalizations recorded from ex situ live individuals. Our results demonstrate that the mor- phological variation of the ring-tailed lemur vocal tract explains individual distinctiveness of their species-specific utterances. We also provide further evidence that vocal tract modeling is a power- ful tool for studying the vocal output of non-human primates.
