Use of sleeping sites by a titi group (Callicebus coimbrai) in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Abstract

Predation pressure affects most aspects of primate behaviour, and is especially pronounced in the context of the use of sleeping sites, given the vulnerability of the animal at this time. Most small-bodied platyrrhines have highly systematic patterns of sleeping site choice and use. This study analyses the use of sleeping sites by a free-ranging group of titis (Callicebus coimbrai) monitored at a site in Sergipe, Brazil, between July, 2009 and June, 2010. When the subjects approached a sleeping tree their behaviour was typically cautious, including slow and silent movement, early retirement (20-162 min before sunset on 52 dry afternoons), and sleeping in a tight huddle with their tails entwined. Despite this behaviour, which has an obvious anti-predator function, the group slept in only three different trees during the course of the study, and returned to the same tree used on the previous night on a quarter of evenings (n = 56). This was despite the availability within the group's home range of a large number of trees with similar structural characteristics (i.e. tall, open crown in the upper canopy). Surprisingly, the three trees were all members of the same species, Licania littoralis (Chrysobalanaceae). The choice of this species, which was not an important source of dietary resources, and the repeated use of a small number of sites, did not seem to be related to factors such as ranging or foraging patterns, but may have a been a response to the specific threat from capuchins, Cebus xanthosternos.

Sleeping site selection by golden-backed uacaris, Cacajao melanocephalus ouakary (Pitheciidae), in Amazonian flooded forests

“…Mammals (including other primates), birds and snakes all predate Neotropical primates (Ferrari 2009;Sousa-Alves et al 2011). Five primate-eating felids occur at Jaú (jaguar Panthera onca, jaguarondi Puma yagouaroundi, margay Felis weidii, ocelot Leopardus pardalis, puma P. concolor: Calleia et al 2008), as do tayra (Eira barbara: Mustelidae), and large snakes such as Boa constrictor (both known primate predators: Bezerra et al 2009;Ferrari et al 2004).…”

Characterization of the Tree Holes Used by Lepilemur ruficaudatus in the Dry, Deciduous Forest of Kirindy Mitea National Park

“…Preference for particular tree species as sleeping sites is common in primates (e.g., Papio cynocephalus [Hamilton, 1982;Markham et al, 2016]; Sapajus apella [Zhang, 1995]; Tarsier spectrum [Gursky, 1998]; Microcebus griseorufus [Génin, 2010]; Callicebus coimbrai [Souza-Alves et al, 2011]; L. sahamalazensis [Seiler et al, 2013a]; Macaca fascicularis [Brotcorne et al, 2014]). Because the likelihood to produce suitable sleeping tree holes varies by tree species, nocturnal lemur species distribution and abundance may be associated with tree hole availability [Ganzhorn and Schmid, 1998;Radespiel et al, 1998;Rasoloharijaona et al, 2003;Seiler et al, 2014].…”

“…For example, greater protection from mosquitos and predation is offered by intact sleeping trees [Anderson, 1998;Day and Elwood, 1999;Di Bitetti et al, 2000;Nunn and Heymann, 2005]. Additional factors that influence primate choice of sleeping trees include food accessibility [Hamilton, 1982;Chapman, 1989;Heymann, 1995;von Hippel, 1998;Wahungu, 2001;Teichroeb et al, 2012;Markham et al, 2016], tree girth [Gursky, 1998;Aguirre et al, 2003;Hankerson et al, 2007;Holmes et al, 2011], percentage of canopy cover [Garcia and Braza, 1993;Bernard et al, 2011;Souza-Alves et al, 2011;Cheyne et al, 2012], tree height [Gursky, 1998;Zhang, 1995;Day and Elwood, 1999;Wahungu, 2001;Peh and Sodhi, 2002;Brotcorne et al, 2014], height of the first branch [Day and Elwood, 1999], status of the tree as alive or dead [Schmid, 1998;Hankerson et al, 2007;Seiler et al, 2013a], and tree species [SouzaAlves et al, 2011;Markham et al, 2016;Salmona et al, 2015].…”

Registro ocasional da predação da pomba-de-bando (<i>Zenaida auriculata</i> Des Murs, 1847) pelo sagüi-do-cerrado (<i>Callithrix penicillata</i> É. Geoffroy, 1812) no interior de São Paulo, SP

“…are regarded as primarily frugivorous primates that complement their diets with invertebrate prey and other plant parts, such as leaves, seeds and flowers (Bicca-Marques and Heymann, 2013;DeLuycker, 2012;Heymann and Nadjafzadeh, 2013). These primates tolerate disturbed habitat (Heiduck, 2002;Jerusalinsky et al, 2006;Souza-Alves et al 2011a) and it has been suggested already that titi monkeys might show some dietary plasticity. For example, Santos et al (2012) report that C. nigrifrons can take advantage of temporarily available items, such as synchronous production of seed bamboo (=masting bamboos).…”