Evolutionary Anthropology 18:44 45 (2009)

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Post-Golden Age Primatology in Edinburgh

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early a decade ago, Charlie Janson predicted in the pages of this journal that as the Golden Age of primate socioecology came to an end, a new age characterized by an increased focus on both primate conservation and experimental approaches to understanding primate behavior would be ushered in.1 Given the number of talks at the 22nd Congress of the International Primatological Society, held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from August 3rd–8th, 2008, which focused on one of these two aspects of field primatology, this prediction seems to have found considerable support in the intervening years. Here we will highlight just a few of the podium presentations that had an experimental or conservation focus.

EXPERIMENTAL PRIMATOLOGY Field studies that used experimental approaches demonstrated how such methods can be used to study aspects as diverse as communication, olfaction, biological markets, foraging, and tool use. An entire symposium devoted to experimental methods in field primatology exemplified how researchers can use, among other techniques, vocalization playbacks, controlled provisioning, and predator decoys to address a range of questions. These talks highlighted not only the benefits, but also the headaches that stem from studying wild primates experimentally: transporting unwieldy and fragile equipment through treacherous terrain; study subjects that don’t cooperate with the setup; capuchins busting in and messing up your experiment with squirrel monkeys; and so on. Despite these potential pitfalls, experiments provide insights into primate behavior that would be exceedingly difficult to examine otherwise.

Price (St. Andrews) and colleagues used playback experiments to examine the alarm call system of puttynosed monkeys. By playing recordings of vocalizations of aerial and terrestrial predators from various distances, they were able to show that the type of call given in response varied with the urgency of the threat rather than the type of predator. This trend differs from that seen in other closely related cercopithecines, such as vervets and Diana monkeys, which give distinct calls in response to aerial and terrestrial predators. Wheeler (Stony Brook) looked at another aspect of alarm calling: the production of false alarms during feeding by tufted capuchin monkeys. Because callers could potentially usurp food from distracted individuals, production of these calls may represent an example of tactical deception. If this is the case, then it is expected that subordinates will be more likely to call than dominants, and they should do so when dominants can most easily monopolize the food. To test these predictions, Wheeler provisioned the monkeys with banana pieces spread across one to six feeding platforms. Results indicated that subordinates gave the calls much more often than dominants did. Also, they did so most often when the food could best be monopolized, supporting the resource usurpation hypothesis. In another study using controlled provisioning, Fruteau (Tilburg) and colleagues tested hypotheses related to biological market theory in vervets. By training low-ranking females (‘‘providers’’) to open a box holding enough pieces of fruit for the entire group, they artificially modified the ‘‘grooming market’’ by altering their value as partners. The experiment was divided into two phases: a first part with a single box and a single

provider and a second part with two boxes and two providers. They measured the quantity of grooming exchanged in each phase, finding that the provider received much more grooming during the first phase, but a smaller increase during the second. Such findings show that vervets have the ability to modify the time spent grooming based on the current value of their partners. Gursky (Texas A&M) examined the antipredator behavior of tarsiers by presenting them with civet decoys, either alone or together with civet urine, to test the degree that they rely on olfaction to avoid predators. She found that the tarsiers were much more likely to react with antipredator behavior if the model was accompanied by the predator’s urine than if the model alone was presented. What’s more, the tarsiers frequently alarm called when presented with urine alone (without a model predator), indicating that tarsiers are adapted to detect predators olfactorily, not just visually. Addessi (ISTC, Rome) and colleagues tested which of several physical features of hammer stones that nut-cracking capuchin monkeys in Brazil take into account when selecting a tool. By providing the monkeys with artificial stones that varied in both size and density, they found that the monkeys selected stones that are small but heavy over those that are large but light. Thus, capuchins take weight, and not just size, into account before selecting the appropriate tool to transport to the nutcracking anvils.

CONSERVATION As at each congress since 2000, the list of the 25 most endangered primates was reviewed. Six new species were added, including the cotton-top

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tamarin, the Niger Delta red colobus, Sclater’s lemur, the northern sportive lemur, the Javan slow loris, and the Cao-Vit crested gibbon. Madagascar and Vietnam, each with five species on the list, continued to be home to the greatest number of highly endangered species. In his presidential address, Wrangham (Harvard) set the stage for interpreting many of the talks that followed by emphasizing the importance of long-term research for conservation. He highlighted sites such as Ranomofana, Madagascar and Kibale, Uganda for their role in protecting habitat and study populations, involving local communities, strengthening local economies, and training a new generation of international scientists. In a subsequent symposium, the impacts of these and other projects were further examined. Strier (Wisconsin) reviewed the years of study of the critically endangered muriqui at Estac¸a˜o Biolo´gica de Caratinga, Brazil. During this time, the population has increased and habitat has been maintained through close collaboration with the local community. Despite the growing threats of climate change, habitat alteration, and uncontrolled hunting, the outlook was not totally bleak as a number of talks drew attention to new data on some of the rarest of primates. A symposium on the Cross River gorilla and Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee highlighted the importance of the Cross-Sanaga region for understanding the genetic and behavioral variability of these apes. Abwe (WCS) presented a study that expanded the range of observed nutcracking behavior to include the chimpanzees of the Ebo Forest, Cameroon. Sunderland-Groves (CIFOR) presented some of the only known ecological data on the Cross River gorilla, based on studies conducted at two sites at the eastern and westernmost regions of the subspecies’ range. Despite fragmentation and habitat variation, the gorillas were found to exhibit similar ranging and

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feeding behavior. In addition, presentations throughout the conference revealed positive results from longterm monitoring efforts. Rainey (WCS) presented data from a recent survey of western lowland gorillas in the northern Republic of Congo that estimated a population of over 125,000. Similarly, Clements (WCS) showed that the largest known populations of the Douc langur and the yellow-cheeked gibbon are increasing in the Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area, Cambodia. The efficacy and use of such monitoring techniques in conservation was a topic of discussion in a variety of presentations. New studies drew attention to the need to develop accurate and repeatable survey methods in order to use this data efficiently, particularly in cases where funding and manpower may be low and threats are urgent. In a symposium focused on apes, researchers reviewed on-the-ground techniques as well as collaborative analytical tools. Onononga (WCS) compared the standing crop and marked-nestcount methods used in great ape surveys in an area frequented by both gorillas and chimpanzees. He showed that the standing crop method was more accurate for estimating chimp densities, but that the marked-nestcount method better differentiated between the two ape species, a problem that plagues studies in which it is difficult to differentiate between chimpanzee and gorilla nests. Pintea (Jane Goodall Institute) gave an overview of the Great Apes Mapper, a collaborative effort among the Jane Goodall Institute, Environmental System Research Institute, the Great Apes Survival Project, and the IUCN SSP. The system incorporates geodatabase technology with an easy-touse website where researchers can upload survey data and display it using the highest resolution imagery available. This important tool will work in conjunction with the APES database introduced by Ku¨hl (Max Plank). The database is intended to serve as an extensive catalog of all

previous and current great ape survey data that can be searched using spatial and referential data. Both tools offer great potential in identifying areas that are lacking data and in standardizing methods among researchers. Campbell (Max Plank) showed a clear example of their utility by using the APES database to conduct a chimpanzee survey in Ivory Coast. Campbell repeated a 1989–1990 survey found in the database that has, until now, provided the main basis for population estimates for the region. Visiting the same transects, Campbell found a large decline in chimpanzee numbers at all but three of the eleven survey sites. Of these three sites, two already had very small population numbers; the third was Taı¨ National Park, a site of long-term study and conservation. Particularly alarming was the fact that the survey team found only one nest in Marahoue´ National Park, compared to 234 found in the previous study. While the authors concluded that this sharp decline may be related to increased population growth and civil unrest, it illustrates how efficient monitoring tools can inform conservation strategy. The next IPS congress will be held September 12-18, 2010 in Kyoto, Japan. More information can be found at http://www.ips2010.jp.

REFERENCE 1 Janson CH. 2000. Primate socio-ecology: the end of a Golden Age. Evol Anthropol. 9:73–86.

Brandon C. Wheeler Amy A. Pokempner Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences Stony Brook University E-mail: [email protected]

Barbara Tiddi Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology John Moores University C 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. V Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/evan.20204