Dissertation Research: The Social Organization and Behavior of Black-Mantle Tamarins, Saguinus nigricollis, in Eastern Ecuador

该项目旨在调查厄瓜多尔东部低地热带雨林中黑地幔金丝雀(Saguinus Nigricollis)交配模式和种群间关系的社会和生态相关性。这些新世界的小猴子似乎比其他物种更倾向于一夫一妻制，因此，它们提供了一个很好的机会来检验这样一个假设，即交配模式的可变性与幼猴饲养成本和罗望子猴合作繁殖的重要性有关。这项研究将使用对几个种群的详细行为观察来检查黑嘴罗望子一夫一妻制的生态、生殖和社会相关性。除了其不寻常的交配模式，这个物种的区别还在于它的群间关系是非侵略性的，相邻的群会形成多群丛。因此，这个物种提供了一个机会来检验这样的假设，即群体之间的食物竞争决定了群体间的关系，以及关于群体间容忍的直接原因、适应性好处和社会后果的假设。这项研究将有助于我们理解合作繁殖和交配模式在新大陆猴和其他合作繁殖物种中的进化和密切关系。

This project is designed to investigate the social and ecological correlates of mating patterns and intergroup relationships in black-mantle tamarins, Saguinus nigricollis, in the lowland rainforest of eastern Ecuador. These small New World monkeys appear to be more monogamous than other tamarin species and, therefore, offer an excellent opportunity to test the hypothesis that variability in mating patterns is related to the costs of infant-rearing and the importance of cooperative breeding in tamarins. The study will use detailed behavioral observation of several populations to examine the ecological, reproductive, and social correlates of monogamy in black-mantled tamarins. In addition to its unusual mating patterns, this species is also distinguished by the fact that intergroup relationships are non-aggressive and neighboring groups may form polygroup associations. As a result, this species offers an opportunity to test the hypothesis that food competition between groups determines intergroup relationships, as well as hypotheses about the proximate causes, adaptive benefits, and social consequences of intergroup tolerance. This study will contribute to our understanding of the evolutionary and proximate relationships between cooperative breeding and mating patterns in New World monkeys and other cooperative breeding species.