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Reproductive Ecology of Female Muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides)

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Adaptive Radiations of Neotropical Primates

Abstract

Reproductive seasonality, or the clustering of reproductive events, is well-documented among New World primates, and has been associated, in part, with the effects of seasonal rainfall on food availability (Lindberg, 1987). Food availability may influence the optimal timing of conceptions and births depending on the energetic and nutritional requirements of mothers and infants during the critical periods of gestation, lactation, and weaning (Crockett and Rudran, 1987; Bercovitch and Harding, 1993). It has been difficult, nonetheless, to identify consistent relationships between food availability and reproduction because ecological conditions and nutritional requirements may vary across species, different populations of the same species, and different years in the same population. For example, although some populations of both Ateles and Alouatta exhibit birth peaks, in Ateles births are concentrated during the early wet season when preferred fruits required by lactating mothers are most abundant (Chapman and Chapman, 1990). In Alouatta, by contrast, the avoidance of early wet season births has been attributed to the importance of food availability during the weaning period (Crockett and Rudran, 1987).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706

    Karen B. Strier

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  1. Karen B. Strier
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Kent State University, Kent, Ohio

    Marilyn A. Norconk

  2. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

    Alfred L. Rosenberger

  3. University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois

    Paul A. Garber

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© 1996 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Strier, K.B. (1996). Reproductive Ecology of Female Muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides). In: Norconk, M.A., Rosenberger, A.L., Garber, P.A. (eds) Adaptive Radiations of Neotropical Primates. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8770-9_29

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8770-9_29

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-4686-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-8770-9

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