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Reproductive Energetics of Female Mantled Howlers (Alouatta palliata)

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Abstract

The energetic costs of reproduction have an important influence on the life histories of female primates. At present, however, the interplay of female reproductive state, food availability, and strategies aimed at maintaining energy balance has been described for only a few species, limiting our ability to understand intra- and interspecific variation in female life histories. We assessed how female mantled howlers (Alouatta palliata) are affected by reproductive seasonality, and whether they alter their behavior to cope with the energetic demands of reproduction. From August 2013 to July 2015 we measured the reproductive state, behavior (1100 h of focal animal observations), and energetic condition (312 urine samples collected for C-peptide analysis) of 7 adult females, and assessed food availability (weekly phenological sampling of 397 food trees). Female behavior did not vary with reproductive state or reproductive seasonality. There were, however, differences in how females responded to variation in food availability according to reproductive state. Cycling and gestating females spent more time feeding than lactating females, and cycling females less time resting than females in other reproductive states, when food was more available. C-peptide concentrations were unaffected by either individual or overall variation in reproductive state, except for cycling females, whose concentrations increased during periods of high food availability. The energetic condition of female mantled howlers is broadly maintained over different stages of reproduction, but is sensitive to variation in food availability.

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Acknowledgments

We thank A. Gómez-Martínez, P. Cruz Miros, and several volunteers for their invaluable help during fieldwork. La Flor de Catemaco granted permission to work at this site, and Ing. J. L. Ponce-Puente facilitated our work in a variety of ways. This study was supported by Universidad Veracruzana (Dirección General del Área Biológico-Agropecuaria, Instituto de Neuroetología, and Posgrado en Neuroetología) and Conacyt (beca doctoral 301538; proyecto ciencia básica 254217). A. Rangel Negrín and P. A. D. Dias were supported by a grant to CA-UV-25 from the Dirección General de Desarrollo Académico e Innovación Educativa, Universidad Veracruzana (México) while preparing this manuscript. We thank C. M. Schaffner, F. Aureli, and G. A. Coria-Ávila for providing very helpful feedback on the study and J. Higham, J. Setchell, and two anonymous referees for their highly constructive comments and suggestions on earlier versions of this manuscript. A. Rangel-Negrín and P. A. D. Dias thank Mariana and Fernando for constant support and inspiration to study primate behavior.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Primate Behavioral Ecology Laboratory, Instituto de Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, 91190, Xalapa, Mexico

    Beatriz Cano-Huertes, Ariadna Rangel-Negrín, Alejandro Coyohua-Fuentes, Domingo Canales-Espinosa & Pedro Américo D. Dias

  2. Departamento de Biología de la Reproducción, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, 14080, Ciudad de México, Mexico

    David Roberto Chavira-Ramírez

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  1. Beatriz Cano-Huertes
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  2. Ariadna Rangel-Negrín
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  3. Alejandro Coyohua-Fuentes
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  4. David Roberto Chavira-Ramírez
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  5. Domingo Canales-Espinosa
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  6. Pedro Américo D. Dias
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Correspondence to Pedro Américo D. Dias.

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Cano-Huertes, B., Rangel-Negrín, A., Coyohua-Fuentes, A. et al. Reproductive Energetics of Female Mantled Howlers (Alouatta palliata). Int J Primatol 38, 942–961 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-017-9990-9

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