Dispersal patterns in Costa Rican mantled howling monkeys
Abstract
Both male and female juveniles disperse in Costa Rican mantled howling monkeys (Alouatta
palliata). 79% of the males and 96% of the females leave their natal groups. Males
may spend up to 4 years and females up to 1 year as solitaries. Extra-group individuals
are faced with only three possibilities, i.e., form a new group by joining another
extra-group individual, join an established social group, or remain solitary. Most
surviving extra-group individuals join an established social group which contains
no kin. Females join with the help of a resident male and once in a group proceed
to rise to the alpha position through dyadic interactions. The immigrant female either
becomes the alpha female or leaves and tries again in another group. Males challenge
the alpha male and either defeat him or remain solitary. Competition with relatives
for limited high quality food may be the reason for both sexes leaving their natal
groups in howlers. By leaving, the successful immigrants increase their mothers inclusive
fitness while suppressing the fitness of nonrelatives instead of remaining natal and
competing with relatives for limited food. © 1992 Plenum Publishing Corporation.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6402Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1007/BF02547826Publication Info
Glander, KE (1992). Dispersal patterns in Costa Rican mantled howling monkeys. International Journal of Primatology, 13(4). pp. 415-436. 10.1007/BF02547826. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6402.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Kenneth Earl Glander
Professor Emeritus of Evolutionary Anthropology
Primate ecology and social organization: the interaction between feeding patterns
and social structure; evolutionary development of optimal group size and composition;
factors affecting short and long-term demographic changes in stable groups; primate
use of regenerating forests.

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