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Yang Y, Youlatos D, Behie AM, Belbeisi RA, Huang Z, Tian Y, Wang B, Zhou L, Xiao W. Positional behavior and canopy use of black snub-nosed monkeys Rhinopithecus strykeri in the Gaoligong Mountains, Yunnan, China. Curr Zool 2021; 68:401-409. [PMID: 36090144 PMCID: PMC9450169 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoab071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies on positional behavior and canopy use are essential for understanding how arboreal animals adapt their morphological characteristics and behaviors to the challenges of their environment. This study explores canopy and substrate use along with positional behavior in adult black snub-nosed monkeys Rhinopithecus strykeri, an endemic, critically endangered primate species in Gaoligong Mountains, southwest China. Using continuous focal animal sampling, we collected data over a 52-month period and found that R. strykeri is highly arboreal primarily using the high layers of the forest canopy (15–30 m), along with the terminal zone of tree crowns (52.9%), medium substrates (41.5%), and oblique substrates (56.8%). We also found sex differences in canopy and substrate use. Females use the terminal zones (56.7% versus 40.4%), small/medium (77.7% versus 60.1%), and oblique (59.9% versus 46.5%) substrates significantly more than males. On the other hand, males spend more time on large/very large (39.9% versus 22.3%) and horizontal (49.7% versus 35.2%) substrates. Whereas both sexes mainly sit (84.7%), and stand quadrupedally (9.1%), males stand quadrupedally (11.5% versus 8.3%), and bipedally (2.9% versus 0.8%) more often than females. Clamber, quadrupedalism, and leap/drop are the main locomotor modes for both sexes. Rhinopithecus strykeri populations never enter canopies of degenerated secondary forest and mainly use terminal branches in the middle and upper layers of canopies in intact mid-montane moist evergreen broadleaf forest and hemlock coniferous broadleaf mixed forests across their habitat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yin Yang
- Institute of Eastern Himalaya Biodiversity Research, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan 671003, China
- School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
- International Centre of Biodiversity and Primate Conservation, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan 671003, China
| | - Dionisios Youlatos
- Department of Zoology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GR-54124, Greece
| | - Alison M Behie
- School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
| | - Roula Al Belbeisi
- Department of Zoology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GR-54124, Greece
| | - Zhipang Huang
- Institute of Eastern Himalaya Biodiversity Research, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan 671003, China
- International Centre of Biodiversity and Primate Conservation, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan 671003, China
| | - Yinping Tian
- Lushui Bureau of Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve, Liuku, Yunnan 673229, China
| | - Bin Wang
- Lushui Bureau of Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve, Liuku, Yunnan 673229, China
| | - Linchun Zhou
- Lushui Bureau of Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve, Liuku, Yunnan 673229, China
| | - Wen Xiao
- Institute of Eastern Himalaya Biodiversity Research, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan 671003, China
- International Centre of Biodiversity and Primate Conservation, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan 671003, China
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Youlatos D, Granatosky MC, Al Belbeisi R, He G, Guo S, Li B. Sex differences in habitat use, positional behavior, and gaits of Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) in the Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi, China. Primates 2021; 62:507-519. [PMID: 33694095 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-021-00900-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2020] [Accepted: 02/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Studies of positional behavior, gait, and habitat use are important for understanding how animals adapt to the challenges of their environment. In turn, this information is useful for advancing research on primate morphology, life history, and ecology. Data on eco-mechanical variables can be used to develop concrete conservation and management plans for understudied and threatened primate groups. The present study explores the positional behavior, gaits, and habitat use of male and female adult golden snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana), an endemic, endangered, and highly dimorphic species of central China. Using focal animal sampling and opportunistic videorecording in the Guanyinshan National Nature Reserve on the southern slopes of the Qinling Mountains, it was determined that gait parameters were largely the same between sexes. By contrast, habitat use and, to a lesser extent, positional behavior varied significantly between males and females. In general, males were more terrestrial than females. When they moved arboreally, males also used a greater proportion of horizontal and large substrates compared to females. Furthermore, males used more standing postures, forelimb suspensory positional behaviors, and quadrupedal walking. These data suggest that, when faced with the mechanical challenges of large body size, primates such as R. roxellana are more likely to respond by altering habitat use rather than positional behaviors or intrinsic kinematics and timing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dionisios Youlatos
- Department of Zoology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece.
| | | | - Roula Al Belbeisi
- Department of Zoology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Gang He
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation and College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, 710069, Shaanxi, China
| | - Songtao Guo
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation and College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, 710069, Shaanxi, China
| | - Baoguo Li
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation and College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, 710069, Shaanxi, China.
- Institute of Zoology, Shaanxi Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, 710032, Shaanxi, China.
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