João Pedro Souza-Alves

Seasonal versatility in the feeding ecology of a group of titis (Callicebus coimbrai) in the northern Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

The feeding behavior of a group of titis (Callicebus coimbrai) was monitored over an annual cycle at a site in northeastern Brazil. Behavioral data were collected in scan samples (1‐min scan at 5‐min intervals), and complementary data on fruit availability and new leaf cover were collected. Feeding time accounted for 28.9% of daily activity. Fruit was the principal item of the diet (61.2% of records) and the primary category in all months except September, when it was surpassed by leaves. Young leaves were the second most important category (20.0%). The consumption of seeds and insects was prominent in November and December. Fifty‐two plant species were exploited, and the Elaeocarpaceae, Myrtaceae, Sapotaceae, and Passifloraceae provided the vast majority (86.0%) of plant feeding records. The phenological record did not provide a good measure of fruit availability, but a strong correlation (rs=0.902, P<0.0001, n=12) was found between the consumption of leaves and the exploitation of lianas each month. Lianas accounted for 28.2% of plant feeding records, and predominated between August and December. This suggests that lianas may represent a key factor in the ability of the species to tolerate the intense habitat fragmentation found throughout its geographic range. Am. J. Primatol. 73:1199–1209, 2011.

Amphibians and reptiles of the Refúgio de Vida Silvestre Mata do Junco, municipality of Capela, state of Sergipe, northeastern Brazil

The Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest has high diversity levels of amphibians and reptiles, but there is a lack of richness survey at several areas, while a high level of deforestation is already known. The biome is highly endangered in northeastern Brazil, and few protected areas have been the main mechanism for providing the habitat conservation. We studied the Refugio da Vida Silvestre Mata do Junco, a recently established conservation unit in this biome, at the Capela municipality, in the state of Sergipe. Field surveys and literature review were conducted between 2007-2009, revealing 33 species of anuran amphibians and 26 of reptiles (one turtle, ten lizards and 15 snakes). The presence of rare and endemic species suggests an important role of this area as a source remnant of the northeastern Atlantic Forest herpetological community.

Geographic comparison of plant genera used in frugivory among the pitheciids Cacajao, Callicebus, Chiropotes, and Pithecia.

Pitheciids are known for their frugivorous diets, but there has been no broad‐scale comparison of fruit genera used by these primates that range across five geographic regions in South America. We compiled 31 fruit lists from data collected from 18 species (three Cacajao, six Callicebus, five Chiropotes, and four Pithecia) at 26 study sites in six countries. Together, these lists contained 455 plant genera from 96 families. We predicted that 1) closely related Chiropotes and Cacajao would demonstrate the greatest similarity in fruit lists; 2) pitheciids living in closer geographic proximity would have greater similarities in fruit lists; and 3) fruit genus richness would be lower in lists from forest fragments than continuous forests. Fruit genus richness was greatest for the composite Chiropotes list, even though Pithecia had the greatest overall sampling effort. We also found that the Callicebus composite fruit list had lower similarity scores in comparison with the composite food lists of the other three genera (both within and between geographic areas). Chiropotes and Pithecia showed strongest similarities in fruit lists, followed by sister taxa Chiropotes and Cacajao. Overall, pitheciids in closer proximity had more similarities in their fruit list, and this pattern was evident in the fruit lists for both Callicebus and Chiropotes. There was no difference in the number of fruit genera used by pitheciids in habitat fragments and continuous forest. Our findings demonstrate that pitheciids use a variety of fruit genera, but phylogenetic and geographic patterns in fruit use are not consistent across all pitheciid genera. This study represents the most extensive examination of pitheciid fruit consumption to date, but future research is needed to investigate the extent to which the trends in fruit genus richness noted here are attributable to habitat differences among study sites, differences in feeding ecology, or a combination of both. Am. J. Primatol. 78:493–506, 2016.

New Records of Bradypus torquatus (Pilosa: Bradypodidae) from Southern Sergipe, Brazil

One of the main threats to the survival of the endangered maned sloth (Bradypus torquatus) is its relatively restricted geographic range, especially in comparison with the other mainland species of the genus (Aguiar and Fonseca, 2008; Chiarello, 2008). This range is basically restricted to the coastal Atlantic Forest between eastern Rio de Janeiro and southern Sergipe (Fonseca and Aguiar, 2004; Lara-Ruiz and Chiarello, 2005), and thus also coincides with the region of Brazil with the longest history of European colonization and deforestation (Dean, 1995). Furthermore, there is some evidence of the existence of three geographically and genetically distinct populations in Bahia, Espirito Santo, and Rio de Janeiro (Lara-Ruiz et al., 2008) which may even represent separate taxa (Fonseca and Aguiar, 2004).

Bird Predation by an Endangered Primate Species, Callicebus Coimbrai, in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

The world faces a significant environmental crisis, in which continuous natural environments are being reduced to disturbed fragments (Ladle and Whittaker, 2011). Some species can take advantage of this process, but the majority of biodiversity is threatened by human activities (IUCN, 2012). Ecological plasticity is regarded as a characteristic that favors species’ survival when habitat becomes degraded (McKinney, 1997). Most primates have generalist diets and show some behavioral plasticity (Garber, 1987); however, current knowledge is concentrated on some well studied species, while there is a lack of information for other primates.

Living on the Edge: Habitat Fragmentation at the Interface of the Semiarid Zone in the Brazilian Northeast

The Brazilian Northeast is dominated by the Caatinga, a xeric scrub forest characterized by “semiarid” climatic conditions, with annual precipitation often below 600 mm, and an unpredictable rainy season. North of 13oS, the Atlantic Forest forms a narrow coastal strip, of only a few dozen kilometers in width, with a relatively humid climate. Both biomes have been subjected to intense anthropogenic habitat fragmentation over the past few decades, although this process has different implications for each ecoregion. In Sergipe, the geographic ranges of two titi species, Callicebus barbarabrownae and Callicebus coimbrai, appear to correlate with the Caatinga and Atlantic Forest, respectively. Titis are relatively rare in the Caatinga, in terms of both the number of populations and their density. In the lower Rio Sao Francisco basin, 41.2 % of Atlantic Forest fragments (n = 17) had titi populations, whereas only 28.1 % of Caatinga sites (n = 32) had titis. In the ecotone between the two (the Agreste), however, no populations were found (n = 21), suggesting a lacuna in their distribution. Population surveys at sites representative of the distribution of the two titi species indicate that the density of C. coimbrai may be two to four times higher than that of C. barbarabrownae. Overall, the data appear to indicate that while the survival of titi populations in the Caatinga may be dependent on factors such as fragment size and the presence of groundwater, the survival of the populations of the Atlantic Forest may be more closely related to more random factors such as the history of colonization.

Can a Non-Native Primate Be a Potential Seed Disperser? A Case Study on Saimiri sciureus in Pernambuco State, Brazil

The interaction between native fleshy-fruit plants and introduced fruit consumers contributes to the dynamics of highly fragmented environments. Such interactions can occur through pollination and seed dispersal. Here, we investigated the potential of seed dispersing by a non-native primate, the squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus), in an urban Atlantic forest fragment in north-eastern Brazil. Fleshy fruits from non-native plants were preferentially exploited by the squirrel monkeys. We measured 147 seeds (width and length) from 20 of 106 faecal samples. The dispersed seeds were from five plant species (four families). We found a positive correlation between the size of seeds found in faecal samples with their availability in the habitat. Only one seed was found visually damaged after passage through the squirrel monkeys’ guts. The defecated seeds were uniformly distributed (variance to mean ratio index) in the home range of squirrel monkeys, and there was a lack of specific latrines (i.e., habitat preference for defecation). Our data provide evidence that non-native S. sciureus may in be (i) acting as a potential seed disperser of native plants in the Atlantic forest fragment, (ii) contributing to the ecological role of native frugivores, and (iii) potentially contributing to the regeneration process of the highly degraded study site.

Twinning in Titis (Callicebus coimbrai): Stretching the Limits of Biparental Infant Caregiving?

Twinning occurs rarely in all anthropoid primates except for the marmosets and tamarins (Callitrichidae). While twin births are the norm in callitrichids, there are only a few recorded cases of twinning from field studies of other platyrrhines, such as Alouatta (Chapman and Chapman, 1986; Crockett and Rudran, 1987; Bicca-Marques and CalegaroMarques, 1994), Aotus azarae (Huck et al., 2014), Aotus vociferans (Aquino et al. 1990), Ateles belzebuth (Link et al. 2006), and Brachyteles hypoxanthus (Strier, 1991).