Costs and Benefits of Biparental Care in Monogamous Owl Monkeys

在人类和非人类灵长类动物的行为中，很少有哪个方面能像父亲对婴儿的悉心照顾那样吸引人，而在灵长类动物中，没有哪个地方的父爱比猫头鹰猴更广泛。鸮猴是一种小型的树栖新热带灵长类动物，它们生活在一夫一妻制的群体中，只有一只繁殖雄性，一只繁殖雌性。父亲是照顾婴儿的主要提供者，比母亲更多地运送、分享食物和梳理婴儿；在这个物种中，父系投资非常强烈和明显。对这些灵长类动物的研究应该让我们了解这种独特生殖系统的功能和进化意义。自1996年以来，阿根廷的猫头鹰猴项目已经评估了解释灵长类动物社会一夫一妻制和婴儿护理进化的假设。在这项研究中，来自美国和阿根廷的一组研究人员和学生将评估一种假设，即猫头鹰猴父亲照顾的功能意义与父母从父亲的帮助中获得的生物能量效益有关。采用一种结合圈养猫头鹰猴和野生猫头鹰猴研究的新方法，研究小组将收集有关觅食和活动模式、体重变化、能量摄入和激素的数据。这项研究有可能改变该领域测量能量学的方式，它的相关性在于有助于理解男性在以伴侣之间的紧密联系和分担父母责任为特征的社会中的角色。这项研究将扩大猫头鹰猴项目的广泛影响。作为阿根廷大查科唯一一个针对哺乳动物物种的长期研究项目，该项目对保护这一生态系统及其动物群产生了倍增的影响。多年来，有来自美国、阿根廷等14个国家的270多名学生（女55%，男45%）参与，促进了青年科学家和生物人类学学科的发展；学生的培训和参与研究将进一步增强这一良好记录。

Few aspects of human and non-human primate behavior are so intriguing as the intense care of infants by fathers, and nowhere among primates is paternal care more extensive than among owl monkeys. Owl monkeys are small, arboreal neotropical primates who live in monogamous groups with only one reproducing male and one reproducing female. The father is the main provider of infant care, transporting, sharing food and grooming the infant more than the mother; paternal investment is exceptionally strong and apparent in this species. Research focused on these primates should inform our understanding of the functional and evolutionary significance of this distinctive reproductive system.Since 1996, the Owl Monkey Project of Argentina has evaluated hypotheses to explain the evolution of social monogamy and infant care in primates. In this study, a team of investigators and students from the US and Argentina will evaluate the hypothesis that the functional significance of paternal care in owl monkeys relates to the bioenergetic benefits that the parenting couple accrues from the father's assistance. Taking a novel approach that combines research on both captive and wild owl monkeys, the team will gather data on foraging and activity patterns, body mass changes, energy intake, and hormones. The relevance of the study, which has the potential to transform how energetics are measured in the field, lies in contributing to the understanding of the role of males in societies that are characterized by a strong bond between partners and shared parental duties. The study will expand the broad impacts of the Owl Monkey Project. As the only long-term research program on any mammal species in the Argentinean Gran Chaco, the project has multiplying effects on the conservation of this ecosystem and its fauna. It also promotes the development of young scientists and the discipline of biological anthropology through the participation over the years of more than 270 students (55% females, 45% males) from the US, Argentina and 14 other countries; student training and involvement in the research will further augment this strong record.