Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Predator avoidance behaviour in the buffy-headed marmoset,Callithrix flaviceps

  • Published:
Primates Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The predator avoidance behaviour of a free-ranging group of buffy-headed marmosets,Callithrix flaviceps, was recorded in detail during the course of a long-term study of behavioural ecology at the Fazenda Montes Claros, southeastern Brazil. Four distinct patterns of predator avoidance behaviour, each with specific vocalisations, were recognised and are described here. The selection and use of sleeping sites by the study group are also described. An analysis of the records indicates that these small monkeys are generally most vulnerable to predation by aerial raptors. Variations in the frequency of alarm calls also indicate that the marmosets tend to be more vigilant at higher levels in the forest and when the leaf cover is less extensive. The implications of group size and social structure for both the evolution and the efficacy of the anti-predator behaviour of marmosets are also discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Altmann, J., 1974. Observational study of behavior: sampling methods.Behaviour, 49: 227–265.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Alonso, C. &A. Langguth, 1989. Ecologia e Comportamento deCallithrix jacchus (Primates: Callitrichidae) numa ilha de Floresta Atlântica.Rev. Nordestina Biol., 6: 105–137.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartecki, U. &E. W. Heymann, 1987. Field observation of snake-mobbing in a group of saddleback tamarins,Saguinus fuscicollis nigrifrons.Folia Primatol., 48: 199–202.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boinski, S. &P. E. Scott, 1988. Association of birds with monkeys in Costa Rica.Biotropica, 20: 136–143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caine, N. G., 1984. Visual scanning by tamarins: a description of the behavior and tests of two derived hypotheses.Folia Primatol., 43: 59–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————, 1986. Visual monitoring of threatening objects by captive tamarins (Saguinus labiatus).Amer. J. Primatol., 10: 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————, 1987. Vigilance, vocalizations and cryptic behavior at retirement in captive groups of redbellied tamarins (Saguinus labiatus).Amer. J. Primatol., 12: 241–250.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———— &S. L. Marra, 1988. Vigilance and social organization in two species of primates.Anim. Behav., 36: 897–904.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheney, D. L. &R. M. Seyfarth, 1985. Vervet monkey alarm calls: manipulation through shared information?Behaviour, 94: 150–166.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———— &R. W. Wrangham, 1987. Predation. In:Primate Societies,B. B. Smuts,D. L. Cheney,R. M. Seyfarth,R. W. Wrangham, &T. T. Struhsaker (eds.), Univ. of Chicago Press, London, pp. 227–239.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cleveland, J. &C. T. Snowdon, 1982. The complex vocal repertoire of the adult cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus oedipus).Z. Tierpsychol., 58: 231–270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock, T. H. &P. H. Harvey, 1977. Primate ecology and social organization.J. Zool. Soc. London, 183: 1–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coimbra-Filho, A. F., 1978. Natural shelters ofLeontopithecus rosalia and some ecological implications. In:The Biology and Conservation of the Callitrichidae,D. G. Kleiman (ed.), Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., pp. 79–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, G. A., 1976. Behavioral ecology of the Panamanian tamarin,Saguinus oedipus. Unpubl. Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State Univ., East Lansing.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————, 1979. The use of time and space by the Panamanian tamarinSaguinus oedipus.Folia Primatol., 31: 253–284.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrari, S. F., 1988. The behaviour and ecology of the buffy-headed marmoset,Callithrix flaviceps (O. Thomas, 1903). Unpubl. Ph.D. thesis, Univ. College London.

  • ----, in press. A foraging association between two kite species (Ictinea plumbea andLeptodon cayanensis) and buffy-headed marmosets (Callithrix flaviceps) in southeastern Brazil.Condor.

  • ———— &M. A. Lopes Ferrari, 1989. A re-evaluation of the social organisation of the Callitrichidae, with reference to the ecological differences between genera.Folia Primatol., 52: 132–147.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fontaine, R., 1980. Observations of the foraging association of double-toothed kites and whitefaced capuchin monkeys.Auk, 97: 94–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garber, P. A., 1988. Diet, foraging patterns, and resource defense in a mixed species troop ofSaguinus mystax andSaguinus fuscicollis in Amazonian Peru.Behaviour, 105: 18–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldizen, A. W., 1987. Facultative polyandry and the role of infant-carrying in wild saddle-back tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis).Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 20: 99–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hetherington, C. M., 1978. Circadian oscillations of body temperature in marmosets,Callithrix jacchus.Lab. Anim., 12: 107–108.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heymann, E. W., 1987. A field observation of predation on a moustached tamarin (Saguinus mystax) by an anaconda.Int. J. Primatol., 8: 193–195.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hladik, A. &C. M. Hladik, 1969. Rapports trophiques entre végétation et primates dans la forêt de Barro Colorado (Panama).Terre et Vie, 23: 25–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Izawa, K., 1978. A field study of the ecology and behavior of the black-mantle tamarin (Saguinus nigricollis).Primates, 19: 241–274.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindsay, N. B. D., 1979. A report on the field study of Geoffroy's tamarinSaguinus oedipus geoffroyi.Dodo. J. Jersey Wildl. Preserv. Trust, 16: 27–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Masataka, N., 1983. Categorical responses to natural and synthesized alarm calls in Goeldi's monkeys (Callimico goeldii).Primates, 24: 40–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mendes, S. L., 1985. Uso de espaço, padrões de atividades diárias e organizações deAlouatta fusca (Primates, Cebidae) em Caratinga, MG. Unpubl. M. Sc. thesis, Univ. of Brasília.

  • Mittermeier, R. A., A. B. Rylands, A. F. Coimbra-Filho, &G. A. Bouchardet oa Fonseca, 1988.Ecology and Behavior of Neotropical Primates, Vol. 2, World Wildlife Fund, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrison, P. &J. Simões, Jr., 1962. Body temperature in two Brazilian primates.Bol. Fac. Fil., Ciên. Letr. Univ. S. Paulo 261 (Zoologia no. 24): 167–178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moynihan, M., 1970. Some behavioral patterns of Platyrrhine monkeys. II.Saguinus geoffroyi and some other tamarins.Smiths. Contr. Zool., 28.

  • ————, 1976.The New World Primates. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, New Jersey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neyman, P. F., 1978. Aspects of the ecology and social organization of free-ranging cotton-top tamarinsSaguinus oedipus and the conservation status of the species. In:The Biology and Conservation of the Callitrichidae,D. G. Kleiman (ed.), Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., pp. 39–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pola, Y. V. &C. T. Snowdon, 1975. The vocalizations of pygmy marmosets (Cebuella pygmaea).Anim. Behav., 23: 826–842.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pook, A. G. &G. Pook, 1982. Polyspecific association betweenSaguinus labiatus, Callimico goeldii and other primates in north-western Bolivia.Folia Primatol., 38: 196–216.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • de Ruiter, J. R., 1986. The influence of group size on predator scanning and foraging behaviour of wedgecapped capuchin monkeys (Cebus olivaceus).Behaviour, 98: 240–258.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rylands, A. B., 1982. The behaviour and ecology of three species of marmosets and tamarins (Callitrichidae, Primates) in Brazil. Unpubl. Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Cambridge.

  • van Schaik, C. P., M. A. van Noordwijk, R. J. de Boer, &I. den Tonkelaar, 1983. The effect of group size on time budgets and social behaviour in wild long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis).Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 13: 173–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soini, P., 1988. The pygmy marmosets, genusCebuella. In:Ecology and Behavior of Neotropical Primates, Vol. 2,R. A. Mittermeier,A. B. Rylands,A. F. Coimbra-Filho, &G. A. Bouchardet da Fonseca (eds.), World Wildlife Fund, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson, M. F. &A. B. Rylands, 1988. The marmoset monkeys, genusCallithrix. In:Ecology and Behavior of Neotropical Primates, Vol. 2,R. A. Mittermeier,A. B. Rylands,A. F. Coimbra-Filho, &G. A. Bouchardet da Fonseca (eds.), World Wildlife Fund, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strier, K. B., 1987. Activity budgets of woolly spider monkeys, or muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides).Amer. J. Primatol., 13: 385–395.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sussman, R. W. &W. G. Kinzey, 1984. The ecological role of the Callitrichidae: A review.Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol., 64: 419–449.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Terborgh, J., 1983.Five New World Primates: a Study in Comparative Ecology. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, New Jersey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolters, H. J., 1978. Some aspects of role taking behaviour in captive family groups of the cottontop tamarin (Saguinus oedipus oedipus). In:Biology and Behaviour of Marmosets,H. Rothe,H. J. Wolters, &J. P. Hearn (eds.), Eigenverlag, Göttingen, FRG, pp. 259–278.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Stephen Francis Ferrari & Maria Aparecida Lopes Ferrari

    Present address: Departamento de Zoologia, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Caixa Postal 399, 66.040, Belém, PA, Brasil

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University College London, UK

    Stephen Francis Ferrari

  2. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brasil

    Maria Aparecida Lopes Ferrari

Authors
  1. Stephen Francis Ferrari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Maria Aparecida Lopes Ferrari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

About this article

Cite this article

Ferrari, S.F., Ferrari, M.A.L. Predator avoidance behaviour in the buffy-headed marmoset,Callithrix flaviceps . Primates 31, 323–338 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381104

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381104

Key Words

Search

Navigation