Title
Factors influencing terrestriality in primates of the Americas and Madagascar
Author(s)
Eppley, Timothy M.
Hoeks, Selwyn
Chapman, Colin A.
Ganzhorn, Jörg U.
Hall, Katie
Owen, Megan A.
Adams, Dara B.
Allgas, Néstor
Amato, Katherine R.
Andriamahaihavana, McAntonin
Aristizabal, John F.
Baden, Andrea L.
Balestri, Michela
Barnett, Adrian A.
Bicca-Marques, Júlio César
Bowler, Mark
Boyle, Sarah A.
Brown, Meredith
Caillaud, Damien
Calegaro-Marques, Cláudia
Campbell, Christina J.
Campera, Marco
Campos, Fernando A.
Cardoso, Tatiane S.
Carretero-Pinzón, Xyomara
Champion, Jane
Chaves, Óscar M.
Chen-Kraus, Chloe
Colquhoun, Ian C.
Dean, Brittany
Dubrueil, Colin
Ellis, Kelsey M.
Erhart, Elizabeth M.
Evans, Kayley J. E.
Fedigan, Linda M.
Felton, Annika M.
Ferreira, Renata G.
Fichtel, Claudia
Fonseca, Manuel L.
Fontes, Isadora P.
Fortes, Vanessa B.
Fumian, Ivanyr
Gibson, Dean
Guzzo, Guilherme B.
Hartwell, Kayla S.
Heymann, Eckhard W.
Hilário, Renato R.
Holmes, Sheila M.
Irwin, Mitchell T.
Johnson, Steig E.
Kappeler, Peter M.
Kelley, Elizabeth A.
King, Tony
Knogge, Christoph
Koch, Flávia
Kowalewski, Martin M.
Lange, Liselot R.
Lauterbur, M. Elise
Louis, Edward E.
Lutz, Meredith C.
Martínez, Jesús
Melin, Amanda D.
de Melo, Fabiano R.
Mihaminekena, Tsimisento H.
Mogilewsky, Monica S.
Moreira, Leandro S.
Moura, Letícia A.
Muhle, Carina B.
Nagy-Reis, Mariana B.
Norconk, Marilyn A.
Notman, Hugh
O’Mara, M. Teague
Ostner, Julia
Patel, Erik R.
Pavelka, Mary S. M.
Pinacho-Guendulain, Braulio
Porter, Leila M.
Pozo-Montuy, Gilberto
Raboy, Becky E.
Rahalinarivo, Vololonirina
Raharinoro, Njaratiana A.
Rakotomalala, Zafimahery
Ramos-Fernández, Gabriel
Rasamisoa, Delaïd C.
Ratsimbazafy, Jonah
Ravaloharimanitra, Maholy
Razafindramanana, Josia
Razanaparany, Tojotanjona P.
Righini, Nicoletta
Robson, Nicola M.
Gonçalves, Jonas da Rosa
Sanamo, Justin
Santacruz, Nicole
Sato, Hiroki
Sauther, Michelle L.
Scarry, Clara J.
Serio-Silva, Juan Carlos
Shanee, Sam
Lins, Poliana G. A. de Souza
Smith, Andrew C.
Smith Aguilar, Sandra E.
Souza-Alves, João Pedro
Stavis, Vanessa Katherinne
Steffens, Kim J. E.
Stone, Anita I.
Strier, Karen B.
Suarez, Scott A.
Talebi, Maurício
Tecot, Stacey R.
Tujague, M. Paula
Valenta, Kim
Van Belle, Sarie
Vasey, Natalie
Wallace, Robert B.
Welch, Gilroy
Wright, Patricia C.
Donati, Giuseppe
Santini, Luca
Published
2022
Publisher
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Abstract
Among mammals, the order Primates is exceptional in having a high taxonomic richness in which the taxa are arboreal, semiterrestrial, or terrestrial. Although habitual terrestriality is pervasive among the apes and African and Asian monkeys (catarrhines), it is largely absent among monkeys of the Americas (platyrrhines), as well as galagos, lemurs, and lorises (strepsirrhines), which are mostly arboreal. Numerous ecological drivers and species-specific factors are suggested to set the conditions for an evolutionary shift from arboreality to terrestriality, and current environmental conditions may provide analogous scenarios to those transitional periods. Therefore, we investigated predominantly arboreal, diurnal primate genera from the Americas and Madagascar that lack fully terrestrial taxa, to determine whether ecological drivers (habitat canopy cover, predation risk, maximum temperature, precipitation, primate species richness, human population density, and distance to roads) or species-specific traits (body mass, group size, and degree of frugivory) associate with increased terrestriality. We collated 150,961 observation hours across 2,227 months from 47 species at 20 sites in Madagascar and 48 sites in the Americas. Multiple factors were associated with ground use in these otherwise arboreal species, including increased temperature, a decrease in canopy cover, a dietary shift away from frugivory, and larger group size. These factors mostly explain intraspecific differences in terrestriality. As humanity modifies habitats and causes climate change, our results suggest that species already inhabiting hot, sparsely canopied sites, and exhibiting more generalized diets, are more likely to shift toward greater ground use.
Keywords
primate communities; primate evolution; evolutionary transitions; niche shift; climate change
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PUB35897