Reproductive biology of female titi monkeys (Callicebus moloch) in captivity

Abstract

Titi monkeys (Callicebus spp., Cebidae) are monogamous neotropical primates that live in family‐like groups typically consisting of an adult monogamous pair and one or two young. Knowledge about the reproductive biology of this genus is scanty. This study investigated the reproductive biology of female dusky titi monkeys (Callicebus moloch). An initial analysis characterized reproductive parameters of 32 females from a captive colony maintained for 23 years at the California Regional Primate Research Center (CRPRC). The colony records provided data on reproductive parameters such as interbirth intervals, seasonality, age at first pregnancy, and reproductive rate in captivity. Changes in urinary levels of estrone conjugates (E1C) and pregnanediol‐3alpha‐glucuronide (PdG) were used to characterize major reproductive events. Urine samples from eleven females were collected during 17 months. The endocrine data were used to examine changes associated with cycling, conception, and the post‐partum period as well as to determine the duration of the ovarian cycle and gestation length. The analysis of colony records indicated that females whose infant survived through weaning gave birth at intervals remarkably close to one year, while those who lost their offspring showed a significantly shorter interval. As long as they lived within the family group, mature female offspring did not breed. The analysis of the endocrine profiles indicated that after giving birth to a viable offspring, females undergo a relatively prolonged period of anovulation (approx. 6.5 months), followed by 1‐3 non‐conceptive cycles (approx. 1 month), after which they conceive and gestate (4.3 months). Am. J. Primatol. 47:183–195, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Urinary progesterone in free-ranging red howler monkeys (Alouatta seniculus): Preliminary observations of the estrous cycle and gestation

“…Although steroid and/or gonadotropin levels have been published for only nine [Wolf et al, 1977;Bonney et al, 1980;Hodges et al, 1981;Ghosh et al, 1982;Nagle & Denari, 1983;Shideler et al, 1994;Strier & Ziegler, 1997;Hernández-López et al, 1998;Valeggia et al, 1999] of the 58 recognized species in the family Cebidae [Groves, 1993], there is a consistent pattern of low concentrations of progesterone during the follicular phase of the estrous cycle and elevated concentrations in the luteal phase and gestation. Thus, the goal of this study was to develop and validate a radioimmunoassay (RIA) for measurement of unconjugated progesterone (P) concentrations in the urine of red howler monkeys, and to use P profiles to characterize the reproductive cycle of this species.…”

Twinning in titis (<i>Callicebus coimbrai</i>): stretching the limits of biparental infant caregiving?

“…In captivity, Valeggia et al (1999) recorded two twin births in a total of 148 events involving 32 females in a colony of Callicebus moloch, which is roughly equivalent to the typical twinning rate in anthropoids. In all these cases, however, one of the titi infants died or disappeared within six months of the birth.…”

“…In all three cases, the remaining twin survived at least until weaning. In captivity, the two twin births observed in C. moloch each resulted in the loss of one of the infants shortly after birth (Valeggia et al, 1999). There is, however, one unusual case of an adoption in a Callicebus nigritus group (Cäsar and Young, 2008), where the breeding pair cared for, and raised two infants simultaneously, although rearing success may have been mediated by factors such as the different ages of the infants and the fact that only one of them was reared throughout the whole weaning period.…”

The alarm call system of wild black-fronted titi monkeys, Callicebus nigrifrons

“…Callicebus monkeys live in socially monogamous family groups, consisting of a pair of reproductive adults and up to four generations of offspring (Mendoza and Mason 1986;Kinzey and Becker 1983;Valeggia et al 1999). Individuals are considered to be adults around 30 months of age when they become sexually reproductive (Valeggia et al 1999).…”

“…Individuals are considered to be adults around 30 months of age when they become sexually reproductive (Valeggia et al 1999). For this study, we considered adults as any fully-grown individual (>30 months), sub-adults as slightly smaller individuals than adults (18-30 months), juveniles as individuals about half the size of adults (6-18 months), and infants as smaller than juveniles (0-6 months) (adapted from Moynihan 1966;de Luna et al 2010).…”