The socioecology of adult female patas monkeys and vervets in Kenya

Abstract

CH. 1: The Research Question Study species - Vervets and patas monkeys Questions and hypotheses Socioecological theory - Food resources and primate behavior Scramble and contest competition Social dominance Models of female social relationships Testing the models on Segera: A natural ecological experiment Holding habitat constant Other factors affecting female social behavior Project goals revisited Study groups Study subjects CH. 2. primate behavior and ecology Measuring ecology food availability Commonly used methods Primates' perceptions of the foods available to them Clumped resources and contest competition CH. 3: Foods available to vervet and patas monkeys Hypotheses and predictions Defining a food patch food availability Large-scale food availability Methods Results Small-scale food availability Methods Results Swollen thorn foods Foods in the riverine habitat Herbaceous level food availability Food availability on Segera CH. 4: Feeding behavior of vervets and patas monkeys Studying the feeding behavior of sympatric species Vervets and patas monkeys: Expected differences and similarities Whistling-thorn Acacia: Why focus on one food species? Feeding behavior Continuous sampling Bout sampling Rank-related differences in feeding behavior Patch depletion Monkeys, Acacia, and ants Species differences Within-species differences according to rank CH. 5: Contest competition and dominance in vervets The concept of dominance Testing hypotheses Results: Contest competition and dominance in vervets Dominance patterns and feeding competition in vervets The significance of dominance to vervets Dominance style in Segera vervets Typical cercopithecines? Why a stable, linear dominance hierarchy on Segera? CH. 6: Comparing vervet and patas monkeys in the same habitat. Questions and Predictions Agonistic and dominance behavior Food contestability in vervets and patas monkeys Dominance in adult females Feeding competition and whistling-thorn foods Significance of feeding competition to vervet and patas monkeys CH. 7: Food availability, feeding competition and dominance in vervet and patas monkeys. Female contest competition and dominance in vervets and patas monkeys on Segera How do the models rate? Summary and implications for future research