Social Monogamy in Free-ranging Owl Monkeys (Aotus azarai azarai) of Argentina

这个项目将研究猫头鹰猴子为什么以及如何生活在一夫一妻制的关系中。猫头鹰猴子成群结队地生活，只有一对成年猫头鹰在繁殖，而雄性猫头鹰猴子则大量参与婴儿的照料，大部分时间都带着婴儿。为什么雄性猫头鹰猴子会以一夫一妻制的关系交配，而不是其他的繁殖机会呢？为什么他们是这么好的父亲，在照顾他们可能甚至没有做过父亲的后代上投入了大量的资金？灵长类动物中一夫一妻制和父系照料的进化在很大程度上仍然是未知的，尽管它对理解人类行为有着深远的影响。这项研究将评估三种可能的解释：1--男性无法垄断一个以上的女性，因为女性分散在太远的地方；2--男性为女性提供的照顾和服务对于后代的生存是必要的；3--社会一夫一妻制的发生是因为男性和女性成功地保护了配偶。一个由美国和阿根廷的博士生和本科生组成的团队将收集阿根廷查科森林中22个猫头鹰猴群的数据。在其他方面，他们将收集关于食物资源丰富和分布的数据，以评估雌性动物如何在森林中分布自己，以及幼崽存活情况，以评估父亲照料的好处。最后，他们将进行模拟捕食者和性竞争者存在的实验，以评估雄性和雌性如何应对对其一夫一妻制关系的威胁。该项目将为理解生态和社会因素如何影响包括人类在内的灵长类动物的社会一夫一妻制的进化做出重大的智力贡献。它还将使我们能够检查男性和女性在行为以及父母和交配倾向方面的差异。从更实用的角度来看，猫头鹰猴子的长期人口统计数据将有助于为其他不太知名的灵长类和哺乳动物物种的管理决策提供信息。例如，根据这个项目收集的信息，有可能对其他更濒危的灵长类种群的生存能力进行建模。这个项目的广泛影响是多方面的。猫头鹰猴子项目与阿根廷负责教育当地人民有关保护问题的非政府组织以及国家和省政府办公室保持合作。PI已经(并将继续提供)培训和教育机会，包括来自美国的85名学生，以及来自7个拉美国家、英国和日本的84名学生，他们的情况从实地实习到硕士和博士学位论文不等。这项研究将继续产生有价值的生物样本，并将与众多研究人员和机构共享。PI还参与了保护活动，他为该地区创建了一个与保护有关的组织(他是该组织的科学主任)。此外，他还为拉美学生组织了实地培训课程。

This project will examine why and how owl monkeys live in a monogamous relationship. Owl monkeys live in groups that include only one pair of reproducing adults and male owl monkeys are heavily involved in infant care, carrying the infant most of the time. Why do male owl monkeys mate in a monogamous relationship presumably foregoing other reproductive opportunities? Why are they such good fathers, investing heavily in the care of offspring they may have not even sired? The evolution of monogamy and paternal care in primates remains largely unknown, despite its profound implications for understanding human behavior. There are three possible explanations that the study will evaluate: 1- males are unable to monopolize more than one female because females are spread too far apart from each other, 2- the care and services the male provides to the female are necessary for the survival of the offspring and, 3- social monogamy occurs because of the successful guarding of mates done by males and females. A team of doctoral and undergraduate students from the USA and Argentina will collect data from 22 owl monkey groups in the forests of the Argentinean Chaco. Among other things, they will collect data on the abundance and distribution of food resources to evaluate how females distribute themselves in the forest and on infant survival to evaluate the benefits of paternal care. Finally, they will conduct experiments simulating the presence of predators and the presence of sexual competitors to evaluate how males and females may respond to a threat to their monogamous relationship.This project will make a substantial intellectual contribution to the understanding of how ecological and social factors affect the evolution of social monogamy in primates, including humans. It will also allow us to examine the differences between males and females in behavior and both parental and mating tendencies. From a more applied perspective, the long-term demographic data on owl monkeys will be useful in informing management decisions for other less well-known primate and mammal species. For example, it may be possible to model the viability of other more endangered primate populations based on the information collected from this project.The broad impacts of this project are numerous. The owl monkey project maintains collaborations with NGOs in Argentina that are responsible for educating the local people about conservation issues, as well as with national and provincial government offices. The PI has already offered (and will continue to offer) training and educational opportunities to 85 students from the US and to 84 students from seven Latin American countries, England, and Japan in situations ranging from field internship to MA and PhD dissertations. The study will continue to generate valuable biological samples that will be shared with numerous researchers and institutions. The PI is also involved in conservation activities, and he founded a conservation-related organization (of which he is scientific director) for the region. In addition, he has organized field training courses for Latin American students.