scholarly journals The effect of reproductive state on activity budget, feeding behavior, and urinary C-peptide levels in wild female Assamese macaques

2021 ◽  
Vol 75 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Touitou ◽  
Michael Heistermann ◽  
Oliver Schülke ◽  
Julia Ostner
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Behavior ◽  
Activity Budget ◽  
Female Reproduction ◽  
Wild Female ◽  
Energetic Costs ◽  
Female Reproductive Success ◽  
C Peptide ◽  
Assamese Macaques ◽  
Physiological Adaptations ◽  
Lactating Females

Abstract The source of maternal energy supporting reproduction (i.e., stored or incoming) is an important factor determining different breeding strategies (capital, income or mixed) in female mammals. Key periods of energy storage and allocation might induce behavioral and physiological shifts in females, and investigating their distribution throughout reproduction helps in determining vulnerable phases shaping female reproductive success. Here, we examined the effects of reproductive state on activity budget, feeding behavior, and urinary C-peptide (uCP) levels, a physiological marker of energy balance, in 43 wild female Assamese macaques (Macaca assamensis). Over a 13-month study period, we collected 96,266 instantaneous records of activity and 905 urine samples. We found that early lactating females and non-gestating–non-lactating females follow an energy-saving strategy consisting of resting more at the expense of feeding and consuming mostly fruits which contributed to enhancing their energy intake and feeding efficiency. We found an opposite pattern in gestating and late lactating females who feed more at the expense of resting and consume mostly seeds, providing a fiber-rich diet. Storing food into cheek pouches increased throughout gestation while it decreased all along with lactation. Lastly, we found the highest uCP levels during late gestation. Our results reflect different feeding adaptations in response to the energetic costs of reproduction and suggest a critical role of fat accumulation before conception and metabolizing fat during gestation and lactation. Overall, our study provides an integrative picture of the energetics of reproduction in a seasonal species and contributes to our understanding of the diversity of behavioral and physiological adaptations shaping female reproductive success. Significance statement To offset their substantial energetic investment in reproduction, mammalian females may modify their behavior and the way they extract energy from their environment. In addition, as a result of heightened energy expenditure, female reproduction might trigger physiological shifts. To date, most studies investigated the energetic costs of female reproduction using either a behavioral or a physiological approach. To arrive at a more comprehensive picture, we combined behavioral data with a physiological marker of energy balance, i.e., urinary C-peptide, in a seasonal primate species in its natural habitat. Our results indicate that throughout the reproductive cycle, behavioral and physiological adaptations operate concomitantly, inducing modifications in female activity budget, feeding behavior, and suggesting shifts in fat use. Overall, our results illustrate the relevance of combining data on behavior and hormones to investigate breeding strategies in coping with the energetic costs of reproduction.

Socioecological correlates of energy balance using urinary C-peptide measurements in wild female mountain gorillas

2014 ◽  
Vol 127 ◽  
pp. 13-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cyril C. Grueter ◽  
Tobias Deschner ◽  
Verena Behringer ◽  
Katie Fawcett ◽  
Martha M. Robbins
Keyword(s):  
Energy Balance ◽  
Wild Female ◽  
C Peptide ◽  
Mountain Gorillas

scholarly journals Better together? How intergroup associations affect energy balance and feeding behavior in wild bonobos

2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Lucchesi ◽  
Leveda Cheng ◽  
Tobias Deschner ◽  
Roger Mundry ◽  
Erin G. Wessling ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Balance ◽  
Feeding Behavior ◽  
Energetic Costs ◽  
Neighboring Group ◽  
Group Competition ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Intergroup Encounters ◽  
Time Spent Feeding ◽  
Travel Distances

Abstract When the benefits of interacting with out-group members exceed the associated costs, social groups may be expected to be tolerant towards each other. However, in many species exhibiting intergroup tolerance, the nature of benefits gained from intergroup encounters remains unclear. We investigated the potential costs and benefits associated with intergroup associations in bonobos, a species with varying degrees of intergroup tolerance, by testing whether these associations conferred energetic benefits to participants under different socioecological contexts and whether the consequences of these associations substantially differed from within-group competition. We used measures of socioecological factors (fruit abundance and group size), feeding and ranging behaviors, and a physiological marker of energy balance (urinary c-peptide of insulin) collected over a 19-month period from two neighboring wild communities in the Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve, Democratic Republic of the Congo. We found that intergroup associations were not related to individuals’ energy balance, but they were related to variations in individuals’ ranging and feeding behavior. Specifically, bonobos traveled longer distances, visited larger fruit patches, and increased the time spent feeding on fruits on days they associated with the neighboring group. These adaptations in feeding behavior may be strategies to offset the energetic costs of increased travel distances. In the absence of obvious energetic benefits and with clear strategies employed to offset energetic costs, it is likely that intergroup associations in bonobos provide benefits unrelated to energy acquisition, such as social benefits. Our study sheds light on the potential incentives promoting social networks to extend beyond and across groups in a tolerant species. Significance statement Intergroup encounters can be energetically costly due to increased competition over resources. Yet, some species associate with out-group individuals for extended periods of time when the benefits of participating in these associations exceed the potential costs. Bonobos, a species exhibiting intergroup tolerance, modified their feeding behavior during intergroup associations by feeding on larger fruit patches and increasing their time spent feeding on fruits, likely to offset energetic costs of increased travel distances. As results, individuals’ energy balance was not related with intergroup associations. The employment of such strategies in addition to the absence of clear energetic benefits suggests that intergroup associations in bonobos provide social rather than ecological benefits.

scholarly journals Changes in the Activity Budget of Wild Female Chimpanzees in Relation to Their Reproductive States

1999 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-178
Author(s):  
Akiko MATSUMOTO-ODA ◽  
Ryo ODA
Keyword(s):  
Activity Budget ◽  
Wild Female

Feeding strategy and activity budget of the frugivorous bat Carollia perspicillata (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in French Guiana

1991 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Charles-Dominique
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
French Guiana ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Feeding Strategy ◽  
Activity Budget ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Carollia Perspicillata ◽  
Pregnant Females ◽  
Lactating Females ◽  
Reproductive Females

ABSTRACTThe frugivorous phyllostomid bat Carollia perspicillata is closely associated with specific fruits which are found and picked in flight, then eaten at a feeding roost. Each fruit eaten corresponds to a single flight. An apparatus designed for this study permits the simultancous tracking of 10 bats equipped with double rhythm transmitters (slow rate corresponding to resting position and rapid rate to flying bouts). (1) The number of flights, (2) the percentage time spent flying and (3) the range of activity were recorded for different categories of animals during two periods of fruit production. Heavier males displayed high activity, while other males, non-breeding females and females in early pregnancy displayed a similar pattern of flying behaviour. Full-term pregnant females and lactating females performed almost as many flying bouts as non-reproductive females, but these flights were much shorter. This unexpected feeding strategy can be interpreted as a means of shifting energy to reproductive effort from exploratory behaviour (non-breeding females performed longer flights which combine the survey of environment and the fruit collection). This strategy, based upon the optimization of flying bouts, is in contrast to those of non-flying mammals and probably is only compatible with periods of high food production.

scholarly journals Activity budget and gut microbiome structure across reproductive states in wild, female capuchin monkeys

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shasta Ellen Webb ◽  
Joseph D Orkin ◽  
Rachel E Williamson ◽  
Amanda D Melin
Keyword(s):  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Alpha Diversity ◽  
Amplicon Sequencing ◽  
Activity Budget ◽  
Energy Harvest ◽  
Energy Costs ◽  
Reproductive State ◽  
Wild Female ◽  
Pregnancy And Lactation

Energy demands associated with pregnancy and lactation have been a significant force in mammalian evolution. To mitigate increased energy costs associated with reproduction, female mammals have evolved multiple behavioural and physiological responses. Some species alter activity budget to conserve energy during pregnancy and lactation, while others experience changes in metabolic rate and fat deposition. Previous studies suggest that restructuring of gut microbiota with shifting reproductive states may help females increase energy harvest from foods, especially during pregnancy, while others have found little change in response to pregnancy or lactation. Here, we combined a robust set of >10,000 individual behavioural scans with >300 fecal samples collected longitudinally across multiple years from 33 known white-faced capuchin monkey females to examine the relationships among behaviour, gut microbiota composition, and reproductive state. We used a 16S-based amplicon sequencing approach and the DADA2 pipeline to anlayse gut microbiota diversity and putative functions. We found that reproductive state explained some variation in activity budget, but that overall resting behaviour was relatively stable across the reproductive cycle. We found evidence for increases in biotin synthesis pathways among microbes in lactating females, and that the alpha diversity of gut microbial bacteria was higher in pregnant females. Otherwise, the gut microbiota community structure and estimated functional pathways were not significantly different between reproductive states. These results suggest that capuchins in our population may have limited ability to mitigate energy costs through behaviour and microbiota and/or that ecological factors, including food availability and temperature may constrain behavioural flexibility and/or gut microbial plasticity. These data contribute to a broader understanding of plasticity and constraint at multiple levels in response to the physiological shifts caused by mammalian reproduction.

Seasonal Variation in Activity Budget of Assamese Macaques in Limestone Forest of Southwest Guangxi, China

2020 ◽  
Vol 91 (5) ◽  
pp. 495-511
Author(s):  
Yuhui Li ◽  
Guangzhi Ma ◽  
Qihai Zhou ◽  
Zhonghao Huang
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Activity Budget ◽  
Assamese Macaques

Feeding behavior and activity budget of the southern yellow-cheeked crested gibbons (Nomascus gabriellae) in a lowland tropical forest

2017 ◽  
Vol 79 (8) ◽  
pp. e22667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thanh H. Bach ◽  
Jin Chen ◽  
Minh D. Hoang ◽  
Kingsly C. Beng ◽  
Van T. Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Feeding Behavior ◽  
Activity Budget ◽  
Lowland Tropical Forest ◽  
Crested Gibbons

scholarly journals Notes on natural history and behavior of Monodelphis glirina (Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae) and sympatry with congeners

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 309-312
Author(s):  
Marcus Vinicius BRANDÃO ◽  
Harley SEBASTIÃO ◽  
Adriana Akemi KUNIY ◽  
Soraya CAVALIERI ◽  
Leandro Perez GODOY
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Feeding Behavior ◽  
Rainy Season ◽  
Video Recording ◽  
Pitfall Traps ◽  
Mato Grosso ◽  
Life Habits ◽  
Lactating Females ◽  
And Behavior

ABSTRACT Monodelphis glirina is endemic to the Amazon and its life habits and natural history are poorly known. Data on the species were collected in northern Mato Grosso, Brazil, including observations on its behavior and simpatry with congeners. During 10 expeditions and with an effort of 3,680 buckets-day, 29 M. glirina, three M. saci and one M. emiliae individuals were captured. Adults accounted for 82.8% of M. glirina captures, with a sex ratio of three males for each female. Capture of young and lactating females was seasonal, as both were captured only in the rainy season. We observed three events of M. glirina preying on rodents in pitfall traps, all with the same feeding behavior. We also report an individual climbing a tree at night, including a video recording. Our report contributes to a better understanding of the ecology of this highly diversified and still poorly known genus.

Social bonds with males lower the costs of competition for wild female Assamese macaques

2017 ◽  
Vol 125 ◽  
pp. 51-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine B. Haunhorst ◽  
Marlies Heesen ◽  
Julia Ostner ◽  
Oliver Schülke
Keyword(s):  
Social Bonds ◽  
Wild Female ◽  
Assamese Macaques

scholarly journals Faecal parasites increase with age but not reproductive effort in wild female chimpanzees

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1811) ◽  
pp. 20190614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Renee Phillips ◽  
T. L. Goldberg ◽  
M. N. Muller ◽  
Z. P. Machanda ◽  
E. Otali ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Accelerated Ageing ◽  
Female Reproduction ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Wild Female ◽  
Energy Investment ◽  
Investment In Reproduction ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
The Relationship

Energy investment in reproduction is predicted to trade off against other necessary physiological functions like immunity, but it is unclear to what extent this impacts fitness in long-lived species. Among mammals, female primates, and especially apes, exhibit extensive periods of investment in each offspring. During this time, energy diverted to gestation and lactation is hypothesized to incur short and long-term deficits in maternal immunity and lead to accelerated ageing. We examined the relationship between reproduction and immunity, as measured by faecal parasite counts, in wild female chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii ) of Kibale National Park, Uganda. While we observed higher parasite shedding (counts of eggs, cysts and larvae) in pregnant chimpanzees relative to cycling females, parasites rapidly decreased during early lactation, the most energetically taxing phase of the reproductive cycle. Additionally, while our results indicate that parasite shedding increases with age, females with higher fertility for their age had lower faecal parasite counts. Such findings support the hypothesis that the relatively conservative rate of female reproduction in chimpanzees may be protective against the negative effects of reproductive effort on health. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Evolution of the primate ageing process’.

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