The Ecology and Behavior of Mantled Howling Monkeys

这项研究是始于1972年的一个长期项目的继续，该项目旨在研究长颈猴的生态、行为和人口学。这项研究的目的是研究是什么影响了猴子的密度、分散度、繁殖成功和食物选择。将收集关于(1)生活在不同栖息地；(2)生活在不同人口密度；(3)生活在不同规模社会群体中的个人的生态和行为数据。将对结果进行比较分析，以检验由社会生物学理论产生的各种假说。例如，一种假说是“群体成员与亲属共享资源”多于与非亲属共享资源。这项研究之所以能够集中在个体策略上，是因为350只咆哮的总种群中的大多数都有独特的标记和身份识别。对标记动物的长期和多学科研究可以提供关于生活史变量和亲属关系的宝贵信息，这些因素可能会随着时间的推移而变化。许多非人类灵长类物种要么受到威胁，要么高度濒危，人们正在努力保护最濒危的物种。在这方面，一个强大的工具是数学建模，模型必须用长期人口统计研究的数据进行测试，比如这一项。

This research is the continuation of a long-term project, begun in 1972, to study the ecology, behavior, and demography of mantled howler monkeys. The objectives of the study are to examine what influences density, dispersion, reproductive success, and food selection of the monkeys. Ecological and behavioral data will be collected on individuals living (1) in different habitats; (2) at different population densities; and, (3) in different-sized social groups. A comparative analysis of the results will be done to test various hypotheses generated from sociobiological theory. One hypothesis, for example, is "Group members share resources with relatives" more than with non-relatives. The research is able to concentrate on individual strategies because most of the total population of 350 howlers are uniquely marked and identifiable. Long-term and multidisciplinary studies of marked animals can provide valuable information on life-history variables and kinship relationships, factors which can change over time. Many species of nonhuman primates are either threatened or highly endangered and attempts are being make to protect the most endangered. One powerful tool in this regard is mathematical modeling, and models must be tested with data from long-term demographic studies such as this one.