Abstract
Understanding the way howler monkeys interact with other vertebrates has critical ecological, evolutionary, cognitive, and conservation implications. In this review, we completed an extensive search of the available data on interspecific howler encounters, including individual communications from field primatologists, in order to gain insight into how howlers share their habitat and interact with other species, the pressure that predators and potential competitors may exert on them, and the potential benefits and costs that howlers may represent for other species. Howlers interacted with several vertebrates throughout their distribution range, including birds and mammals, particularly capuchin monkeys, spider monkeys, and coatis. A great deal of these interactions occurred in fruiting trees and were, in general, pacific, although howlers were frequently harassed by other monkeys, and they were observed behaving aggressively with coatis and birds. Howlers were also targets of multiple predators. Among them, large felids and harpy eagles are ranked as the prevalent natural predators of this primate taxon. Finally, evidence indicates that the transformation of natural habitats can have important effects on the interaction patterns of howlers with other species. Fragmentation can increase competition for food and in extreme cases even force them to predate on eggs to compensate for the reduction in food availability. On the other hand, natural predators are often absent in anthropogenic landscapes, but there are increasing reports of predation by dogs and coyotes, which could potentially have very negative effects on the already highly threatened populations of howler monkeys in fragmented landscapes.
Resumen
Comprender cómo los monos aulladores interaccionan con otros vertebrados tiene importantes implicaciones ecológicas, evolutivas, cognitivas y de conservación. En esta revisión, realizamos una búsqueda extensiva de la información disponible, además de comunicaciones con primatólogos de campo, en torno a encuentros interespecíficos de aulladores. Nuestro objetivo es elucidar cómo los monos aulladores comparten su hábitat e interactúan con otras especies, la presión que potenciales depredadores y competidores ejercen sobre ellos, así como los potenciales beneficios y detrimentos que tienen los aulladores en relación a sus vinculaciones con otras especies. Los monos aulladores interactúan con múltiples vertebrados a lo largo de su distribución, entre ellos aves y mamíferos, en particular, monos capuchinos, monos araña y coatis. Gran parte de esas interacciones ocurrieron en árboles frutales, siendo en su mayoría interacciones pacíficas, mientras que en otras ocasiones fueron agredidos por otros monos. Igualmente, los aulladores se comportaron agresivamente con aves y coatis. Los monos aulladores son también presa de varios depredadores. Entre ellos, felinos de gran tamaño y águilas arpía serían los principales depredadores naturales de este taxón de primates. Para finalizar, existe evidencia de que la transformación de los hábitats naturales puede tener repercusiones importantes sobre los patrones de interacción de los aulladores con otras especies. Puede incrementar la competencia por el alimento, y en casos extremos incluso forzar a los aulladores a depredar huevos a fin de compensar la reducción en la disponibilidad de alimento. Por otra parte, los depredadores naturales de los aulladores regularmente no están presentes en los paisajes antropogenizados, pero existe un número creciente de observaciones de deprecación por perros y coyotes, los cuales podrían tener un efecto muy negativo sobre las ya altamente amenazadas poblaciones de aulladores en paisajes fragmentados.
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Acknowledgments
We thank all field researchers that generously provided valuable information on interspecific interactions among howlers for this manuscript: Julio Cesar Bicca-Marques (Brazil), Xyomara Carretero (Colombia), Carlos Andrés Chica-Galvis (Colombia), Lisa Corewyn (USA/Costa Rica), Anthony Crease (Venezuela), Carolyn Crockett (USA/Venezuela), Denisse Goffard (Bolivia), Carolina Gómez-Posada (Colombia), Shawn Lehman (Canada/Guyana), Miguel Marquina (Venezuela), Katherine Milton (USA/Panama), Tracy McKinney (USA/Costa Rica), Sylvana Peker (Argentina), Gilberto Pozo-Montuy (Mexico), Melissa Raguet-Schofield (USA/Nicaragua), and Germán Rios (Colombia). Thanks to the editors and reviewers for their comments that serve to improve this chapter, and to Mathías R. González-Alentorn for the photograph.
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Cristóbal-Azkarate, J., Urbani, B., Asensio, N. (2015). Interactions of Howler Monkeys with Other Vertebrates: A Review. In: Kowalewski, M., Garber, P., Cortés-Ortiz, L., Urbani, B., Youlatos, D. (eds) Howler Monkeys. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1960-4_6
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