Abstract
ABSTRACT The black-headed night monkey, Aotus nigriceps, has one of the largest distribution ranges of the 11 night monkey species found across Central and South America. Yet, only three studies have focused on their ecology, describing considerable variation in habitat, group composition, and population density. Therefore, we analyzed habitat use, group composition, population density, and diet of 14 groups at two field sites in southeastern Peru. All sampled groups were found in secondary tropical rainforest, often dominated by native bamboo species. Half of the observed sleeping sites were in bamboo stands, though groups also emerged from cane thickets and lianas. This contrasts with other Aotus studies which have found groups living in tree cavities and lianas. Population density estimates for both sites were 19 and 50 individuals per km2, outside the range previously reported for A. nigriceps (31−34 individuals per km2). We recovered seeds of 12 species from fecal samples over the course of two field seasons, belonging mainly to Cecropiaceae, Piperaceae and Moraceae. Our results suggest that the black-headed night monkey in Peru can survive and even thrive in secondary forest, feeding extensively on pioneer species, occupying a range of forest types, all while living near human settlements.
Highlights
There are currently 11 recognized species of night monkey, Aotus Illiger 1811 (Defler and Bueno 2007; Rylands and Mittermeier 2009), though taxonomy of the genus is still disputed (Ruiz-Garcia et al 2011). These wide-ranging nocturnal primates are found in various tropical and subtropical habitat types ranging from Panama to Argentina
Two groups at Manú Learning Centre (MLC) were found in areas with bamboo, while the others were found in secondary forests devoid of bamboo
All black-headed night monkey groups in our study were found in secondary forest, though there is considerable evidence to suggest that they are found in primary habitat based on camera trap data provided by MLC and from previous Aotus studies (Wright 1978; Aquino and Encarnacion 1994; Cornejo et al 2008; Aquino et al 2013; Shanee et al 2013)
Summary
There are currently 11 recognized species of night monkey, Aotus Illiger 1811 (Defler and Bueno 2007; Rylands and Mittermeier 2009), though taxonomy of the genus is still disputed (Ruiz-Garcia et al 2011) These wide-ranging nocturnal primates are found in various tropical and subtropical habitat types ranging from Panama to Argentina (previously outlined in Aquino and Encarnacion 1998). Aotus habitat varies considerably, encompassing a broad altitudinal gradient ranging from lowland rainforest to cloud forest, primary and secondary forest as described by Chokkalingam and De Jong (2001), and fragmented or selectively logged habitat They use lower and upper canopy, and are tolerant of seasonal rainfall and temperature variation, along with various levels of habitat disturbance, including bamboo thickets, mangroves, palm trees, and gallery forest (e.g., Wright 1994; Aquino and Encarnación 1994; Fernandez-Duque et al 2008). Evidence of diurnal behavior does exist in Aotus azarae (Fernandez-Duque 2003), though activity in Aotus nigriceps Dollman 1909 is reported to be minimal (Khimji and Donati 2014)
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