TY - JOUR
T1 - Methods for Studying the Ecological Physiology of Feeding in Free-Ranging Howlers (Alouatta palliata) at La Pacifica, Costa Rica
AU - Vinyard, Christopher J.
AU - Glander, Kenneth E.
AU - Teaford, Mark F.
AU - Thompson, Cynthia L.
AU - Deffenbaugh, Max
AU - Williams, Susan H.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments Animal procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees of NEOMED, Ohio University, and Duke University. We thank Erin Vogel and Janine Chalk for the invitation to participate in this special issue of the International Journal of Primatology. We appreciate the comments from E. Vogel, J. Chalk, J. Setchell, and 3 anonymous reviewers that improved the manuscript. The authors thank G. Alvarado, M. Clarke, L. Corewyn, Ad. Doherty, Al. Doherty, A. Horner, M. Lattanzio, S. Mirhaidari, E. Peiffer, N. Robl, C. Rose, J. Sidote, and K. Stover for assistance in field data collection. We also thank Dr. W. Horne, DVM for technical advice related to animal welfare and the Hagnaue family for advice pertaining to La Pacifica. We thank Stephan Schmidheiny, Don Fernando Estrada, and the Board of Directors of Hacienda La Pacifica for their permission to work on Hacienda La Pacifica and for their continued support and help. We thank the Organization for Tropical Studies and Francisco Campos for help in obtaining the research permits and the Ministerio del Ambiente y Energia (MINAE) of Costa Rica for granting the research permits. The National Science Foundation (BCS-0720028/0720025, BCS-0507074), the NSF-REU program, and the Ohio University Research Committee supported this research.
PY - 2012/6
Y1 - 2012/6
N2 - We lack a general understanding of how primates perform physiologically during feeding to cope with the challenges of their natural environments. We here discuss several methods for studying the ecological physiology of feeding in mantled howlers (Alouatta palliata) at La Pacifica, Costa Rica. Our initial physiological effort focuses on recording electromyographic activity (EMG) from the jaw muscles in free-ranging howlers while they feed in their natural forest habitat. We integrate these EMG data with measurements of food material properties, dental wear rates, as well as spatial analyses of resource use and food distribution. Future work will focus on incorporating physiological measures of bone deformation, i. e., bone strain; temperatures; food nutritional data; and hormonal analyses. Collectively, these efforts will help us to better understand the challenges that howlers face in their environment and the physiological mechanisms they employ during feeding. Our initial efforts provide a proof of concept demonstrating the methodological feasibility of studying the physiology of feeding in free-ranging primates. Although howlers offer certain advantages to in vivo field research, many of the approaches described here can be applied to other primates in natural habitats. By collecting physiological data simultaneously with ecological and behavioral data, we will promote a more synthetic understanding of primate feeding and its evolutionary history.
AB - We lack a general understanding of how primates perform physiologically during feeding to cope with the challenges of their natural environments. We here discuss several methods for studying the ecological physiology of feeding in mantled howlers (Alouatta palliata) at La Pacifica, Costa Rica. Our initial physiological effort focuses on recording electromyographic activity (EMG) from the jaw muscles in free-ranging howlers while they feed in their natural forest habitat. We integrate these EMG data with measurements of food material properties, dental wear rates, as well as spatial analyses of resource use and food distribution. Future work will focus on incorporating physiological measures of bone deformation, i. e., bone strain; temperatures; food nutritional data; and hormonal analyses. Collectively, these efforts will help us to better understand the challenges that howlers face in their environment and the physiological mechanisms they employ during feeding. Our initial efforts provide a proof of concept demonstrating the methodological feasibility of studying the physiology of feeding in free-ranging primates. Although howlers offer certain advantages to in vivo field research, many of the approaches described here can be applied to other primates in natural habitats. By collecting physiological data simultaneously with ecological and behavioral data, we will promote a more synthetic understanding of primate feeding and its evolutionary history.
KW - Feeding ecology
KW - Jaw-muscle physiology
KW - Mastication
KW - Research methods
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U2 - 10.1007/s10764-012-9579-2
DO - 10.1007/s10764-012-9579-2
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84863393064
SN - 0164-0291
VL - 33
SP - 611
EP - 631
JO - International Journal of Primatology
JF - International Journal of Primatology
IS - 3
ER -