With their large body size and “slow” life histories, atelin primates are thought to follow a risk‐averse breeding strategy, similar to capital breeders, in which they accumulate energy reserves in anticipation of future reproductive events such as gestation and lactation. However, given the paucity of longitudinal data from wild populations, few studies to date have been able to compare the timing of reproductive events (e.g., copulations, conceptions, and births) in relation to shifting resource availability over multiple years. We examined the reproductive patterns of two atelin species—white‐bellied spider monkeys (
Numerous animal species currently experience habitat loss and fragmentation. This might result in behavioral and dietary adjustments, especially because fruit availability is frequently reduced in fragments. Food scarcity can result in elevated physiological stress levels, and chronic stress often has detrimental effects on individuals. Some animal species exhibit a high degree of fission–fusion dynamics, and theory predicts that these species reduce intragroup feeding competition by modifying their subgroup size according to resource availability. Until now, however, there have been few studies on how species with such fission–fission dynamics adjust their grouping patterns and social behavior in small fragments or on how food availability influences their stress levels. We collected data on fruit availability, feeding behavior, stress hormone levels (measured through fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGCM)), subgroup size, and aggression for two groups of brown spider monkeys (
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10196632
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- American Journal of Primatology
- Volume:
- 76
- Issue:
- 11
- ISSN:
- 0275-2565
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 1049-1061
- Size(s):
- ["p. 1049-1061"]
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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