American Journal of Primatology最新文献

{"title":"Highs and Lows of Arboreal Life: Space use and Movement Strategies of Lion-Tailed Macaques (Macaca silenus) in the Western Ghats of India","authors":"Sikha Hariharan,&nbsp;Krithi K. Karanth,&nbsp;Divya Vasudev","doi":"10.1002/ajp.70042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.70042","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Lion-tailed macaques (<i>Macaca silenus</i>), endemic to the Western Ghats of India, are increasingly threatened by habitat loss and degradation, and are vulnerable to environmental change. Insights into their spatial ecology can reveal the strategies that enable these macaques to navigate and use spatially complex heterogeneous spaces. This is crucial for conservation, given the increasing human disturbance in and around the Western Ghats. This study, conducted in Silent Valley National Park between January and June of 2019, 2022, and 2023, focused on two macaque troops occupying habitats with varying human presence—in the park's core (Sairandhri) and in the buffer (Keeripara). The observed group sizes of the Sairandhri and Keeripara troops were 51 and 21, respectively. We examined differences in the spatial ecology of these troops by assessing their vertical space use, two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) home ranges, and using an integrated step-selection function to understand movement-based habitat selection. We observed similarities in movement patterns across the two troops, with notable differences mainly in their vertical use of the forest. The Keeripara troop, resident in a more disturbed area, utilized a smaller home range (1.80 km²). They spent 94.2% of their time in mid-level canopy (6–20 m), descending rarely (1.1%) into lower strata (≤ 5 m), likely due to perceived high risk from predators and humans, and proximity to roads. The Sairandhri troop, resident in the less disturbed area, had a larger home range (3.05 km²) and exhibited greater terrestriality (11.3%), with 84.2% observed time in mid-canopies. Both troops preferred areas with canopy cover and fruiting trees, displaying similar slow movements (indicated through small step lengths and large turning angles) near these resources. Our findings suggest that lion-tailed macaques may be less strictly arboreal than previously believed, displaying more terrestriality in less disturbed habitats. Strategic use of 3D space based on local ecological and anthropogenic conditions highlights the need for conservation efforts that maintain canopy connectivity to support the ecological flexibility of this vulnerable species.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7662,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Primatology","volume":"87 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143879915","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Is Sociability Generally Linked to Infection? A Study Based on Rhesus and Japanese Macaques","authors":"Zhihong Xu,&nbsp;Chengfeng Wu,&nbsp;Yun Yang,&nbsp;Alba Castellano-Navarro,&nbsp;Emilio Macanás-Martínez,&nbsp;Bojun Liu,&nbsp;Tao Chen,&nbsp;Xiaochen Ma,&nbsp;Andrew J. J. MacIntosh","doi":"10.1002/ajp.70037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.70037","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Parasite infection is one key risk inherent in group living and is considered to influence the formation and evolution of animal societies. Previous studies investigating the relationship between sociability (a measure of an individual's level of social engagement) and parasite infection have yielded mixed results, with some observing positive relationships between social network centrality and infection and others observing negative or no sociability-infection links. Here, we aggregated behavioral and parasitological data from three groups of rhesus macaques (<i>Macaca mulatta brevicaudus</i>) in China and two groups of Japanese macaques (<i>Macaca fuscata</i> and <i>Macaca fuscata yakui</i>) to test whether sociability generally predicts geohelminth infection in macaques with similar social structure. We discovered variability in the relationship between sociability and geohelminth infection across these different groups of macaques, and results did not support a general pattern linking sociability to geohelminth infection. Among the five groups, we found a significant positive relationship between sociability and infection in only one group. These results call into question how generally useful an indicator social network centrality metrics are in predicting geohelminth parasite infection across individuals, at least relative to other factors that influence infection dynamics. We discuss potential confounds when examining relationships between sociability and infection across populations and groups, and encourage future studies that can account for these while focusing on the mechanisms that might link social factors and parasite infection to fully understand this relationship.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7662,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Primatology","volume":"87 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143853064","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Electrocutions in Free-Ranging Platyrrhine Nonhuman Primates: Diagnostic Features for a Threatening Condition","authors":"Rafaela M. Barros,&nbsp;Isabel L. Macêdo,&nbsp;Davi E. R. Sousa,&nbsp;Liz A. Cerqueira,&nbsp;Yasmin N. G. Fonseca,&nbsp;Ana L. V. Sousa,&nbsp;Antonio D. Santos,&nbsp;Cristiano B. de Melo,&nbsp;Márcio B. Castro","doi":"10.1002/ajp.70039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.70039","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Electrical accidents pose a considerable threat to wildlife in anthropized regions, particularly arboreal mammals, as evidenced by cases of electrocutions in nonhuman primates (NHPs). This study characterized the frequency, anatomic distribution, and pathological features of electrocution injuries in free-ranging NHPs based on data retrieved from necropsy archives at the Veterinary Pathology and Forensics Laboratory, University of Brasilia, Brazil. Gross and microscopic evaluations were conducted to assess the nature and extent of electrothermal injuries, including burns and tissue damage. Between 2019 and 2022, electrocution accounted for 16.5% of NHP deaths, primarily affecting black tufted marmosets. Adult NHPs, regardless of sex, were predominantly affected, mainly in the rainy season. Limbs were the most commonly affected body parts, with double, triple, or multiple injury sites being common. Gross findings mostly included severe burns (Grades III and IV), ulcerative injuries, blisters, bone exposure, singed hair, and muscle exposure. Microscopic examinations unveiled epidermal necrosis, smudging of collagen fibers, stretched epidermal nuclei, blisters (epidermal honeycomb aspect), muscle necrosis, skin metallization, and hemorrhage and congestion within internal organs. Electrocution has emerged as a substantial cause of death in free-ranging NHPs, particularly in urban and peri-urban areas. The study underscores the need for public policy adjustments to mitigate the risks of electrocution in NHPs and enhance species conservation efforts in human-dominated landscapes.</p>","PeriodicalId":7662,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Primatology","volume":"87 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ajp.70039","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143852845","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Wild Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) Use Tools to Access Out of Reach Water","authors":"Charlie MacKenzie,&nbsp;Skylar Brodnan,&nbsp;Elisa Felsche,&nbsp;Kris Sabbi,&nbsp;Emily Otali,&nbsp;Richard Wrangham,&nbsp;Alexandra G. Rosati,&nbsp;Zarin P. Machanda","doi":"10.1002/ajp.70036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.70036","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The use of tools to drink water is well-documented in wild chimpanzees, but the specific function of this behavior is unclear. Here we use a large data set of drinking behaviors spanning 14 years of observation from the Kanyawara community of chimpanzees living in Kibale National Park, Uganda, to test two possible functions of leaf-sponges and other drinking tools. On the one hand, chimpanzees may use tools to access water that is hard to reach, which predicts that chimpanzees will preferentially use tools to drink at tree holes and crevices compared to all other locations. Conversely, chimpanzees may use these tools to filter stagnant water, in which case they would use tools more often at holes and puddles compared to running water sources (e.g., streams). We compared both likelihood of using a tool to drink at different locations, as well as overall rates of drinking, and found chimpanzees in this community most often drink from streams without tools. However, when they do use tools, they preferentially do so to drink at tree holes. Given known age and sex effects on tool use in chimpanzees, we also examined demographic variation in drinking tool use to understand the emergence of this behavior. While females use tools more often than males overall—in part driven by differences in drinking rates at different locations—both males and females use tools more frequently at tree holes than other locations when they do drink there. Finally, comparisons by age indicate that this selectivity strengthens over development with older chimpanzees showing a more pronounced effect of using tools more often at tree holes, suggesting that younger chimpanzees may exhibit exploratory tool use behavior. These results pinpoint the specific function of tool use during drinking and further suggest that even simple tools may require learning for use in appropriate contexts.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7662,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Primatology","volume":"87 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143852880","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pigtail Macaque (Macaca nemestrina) Performance Differs Across Multiple Cognitive Domains in Comparison to Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta)","authors":"Isabella M. Baumann,&nbsp;Bess Carlson,&nbsp;Jasmine Hadeed,&nbsp;Suzanne E. Queen,&nbsp;Kenneth W. Witwer,&nbsp;Joseph Mankowski,&nbsp;Rebecca Veenhuis,&nbsp;Lydia M. Hopper","doi":"10.1002/ajp.70033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.70033","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Rhesus and pigtail macaques are closely related and have similar social structures, yet differences in their behavior, socio-ecology, and personality have been observed, although not systematically documented. Given these differences, it is important to assess pigtail macaque cognition independently, rather than relying on rhesus macaque findings as a proxy. To gain a better understanding of pigtail macaque cognition, we used a battery of three cognitive tasks. Rhesus macaques were tested on the same tasks to validate our methods and to allow for comparison. Across just three tasks, we found significant differences between the two closely related species. In the three cups task, which tests short-term memory, both pigtail and rhesus macaques performed significantly better when they had to recall the location of a hidden food reward after a 0 s delay compared to a 15 s delay. However, in the 15 s delay condition, only rhesus macaques performed above chance levels, whereas pigtail macaques did not. In the reversal learning task, which tested rule learning and cognitive flexibility, we found species differences in learning performance. For the quantity discrimination task, which tests numerosity, we found that both rhesus and pigtail macaques were more accurate at discriminating \"easy\" ratios of foods (e.g., 1 vs. 5 or 2 vs. 6) than the \"hard\" ratios (e.g., 2 vs. 3 or 4 vs. 5). However, pigtail macaques were more accurate than rhesus macaques in the hard ratio trials. These contribute to a novel understanding of cognition in pigtail macaques while also increasing research rigor in translational research.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7662,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Primatology","volume":"87 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143846124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Into the Fire: Problem-Solving and Pyrocognitive Behavior of Temple Dwelling Bonnet Macaques, Macaca radiata, in India","authors":"Mildred Berlena Blessy Herald Victor,&nbsp;Vinothini Govindharaj,&nbsp;Paul A. Garber,&nbsp;Parthasarathy Thiruchenthil Nathan","doi":"10.1002/ajp.70035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.70035","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Pyrocognition has been part of the hominin behavioral repertoire for at least one million years. Here, we report evidence of naturally occurring pyrocognitive behavior in wild bonnet macaques (<i>Macaca radiata</i>) inhabiting a temple site in India. We recorded 2704 instances of macaques attempting to extinguish the fire in offering lamps that contained a food reward (sesame seeds, rice flour, or coconut). Overall, we found significant variation associated with age, with adults experiencing higher foraging success (males 81.1% and females 75.3%) than subadults (males 30.1% and females 18.8%). In addition, there was a positive correlation between the number of lamp manipulations and foraging success among adults, but not among subadults. It appears that despite extensive exposure to burning lamps, subadult bonnet macaques failed to fully understand how their actions in attempting to extinguish the fire resulted in obtaining the food reward. In contrast, over time several adult bonnet macaques appeared to understand how their actions in extinguishing the fire resulted in successfully obtaining a food reward (i.e., causal knowledge). Our results indicate that pyrocognitive behavior develops slowly in bonnet macaques, differs between adults and subadults, is not sex-based, and provides an instructive model for pyrocognition in early hominins.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7662,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Primatology","volume":"87 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143840841","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Personality Assessment of Synanthropic Rhesus Macaques: Implications and Challenges","authors":"Taniya Gill,&nbsp;Anshul Gautam,&nbsp;Jorg J. M. Massen,&nbsp;Debottam Bhattacharjee","doi":"10.1002/ajp.70034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.70034","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Answers to the question of what characteristics allow animals to thrive in human-dominated environments remain elusive. Consistent interindividual differences or personalities can potentially explain the functional significance of habitat-specific traits that enable animals to coexist with humans. Rhesus macaques (<i>Macaca mulatta</i>) are the most successful nonhuman primates in the Anthropocene, living in diverse climatic and environmental conditions. Studying the personalities of <i>synanthropic</i> rhesus macaques, that is, those that thrive in anthropogenic habitats, can provide insights into the biological traits facilitating their success. We planned a multi-method “bottom-up” approach of behavioral observations and novelty experiments, standardized for assessing captive nonhuman primates, to evaluate the personalities of adult rhesus macaques (<i>N</i> = <i>52</i>). Novelty experiments encountered significant challenges, limiting their effectiveness. So, we continued with behavioral observations in the form of focal sampling, that revealed two repeatable traits, subjectively labeled as <i>social tension</i> and <i>meekness</i>. We found an association of sex with social tension, where males exhibited higher social tension than females. In an additional analysis, we found that individuals that obtained food through contact provisioning had higher scores for the meekness trait than individuals that obtained food through noncontact provisioning. We discuss how the observed personality traits may offer adaptive advantages in human-dominated environments, where despotic rhesus macaques face both benefits and costs (including social) of living in an anthropogenic setting. We also emphasize that protocols designed for captive conditions may not be directly applicable to free-living animals. The study underscores the need to reconsider behavioral experiments to obtain comparable measures between captive and non-captive populations. This would enhance the ecological validity of personality assessments. Nevertheless, empirically identifying traits using observations in synanthropic species can provide valuable insights into the mechanisms that enable certain animals to thrive amidst a rapid expansion of anthropogenic activities.</p>","PeriodicalId":7662,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Primatology","volume":"87 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ajp.70034","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143793342","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genetic Diversity, Genetic Structure, and Demographic History of Black Snub-Nosed Monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri) in the Gaoligong Mountains, Southwestern China","authors":"Yuan Li,&nbsp;Jia Luo,&nbsp;Minglin Chen,&nbsp;Christian Roos,&nbsp;Zhechang Hu,&nbsp;Yixin Chen,&nbsp;Yingping Tian,&nbsp;Rongxi Guo,&nbsp;Weimin Kuang,&nbsp;Li Yu","doi":"10.1002/ajp.70031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.70031","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The Gaoligong Mountains, located in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, is one of the world's biodiversity hotspots and provides a refugium for many endangered endemic animals. In this study, we reported a population genetic study on black snub-nosed monkey (<i>Rhinopithecus strykeri</i>), a critically endangered primate endemic to the Gaoligong Mountains, yet their large-scale population genetic study remains underexplored. Here, we performed population genetic analyses from two geographical populations (Pianma and Luoma) based on targeted genomic single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data (37.7 K) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region (842 bp). Both nuclear SNP data and mtDNA revealed relatively low levels of genetic variation in both populations compared to other reported primates, which is most likely to be explained by loss of historical genetic diversity due to inbreeding and long-term small effective population size, thus potentially aggravating the effects of inbreeding and genetic depression. Phylogenetic and population structure analyses for mtDNA revealed two deep lineages (approximately 0.69 million years ago), but limited genetic differentiation in nuclear data, which might have been caused by the Late Cenozoic uplift of the Tibetan Plateau and glacial refuge, and subsequent secondary contact as a result of historically high and bidirectional gene flow between populations. Ecological niche modeling and landscape connectivity analyses also showed historical and recent connectivity between two geographical populations. The demographic history inferred from both mtDNA and nuclear data revealed at least two continuous declines in the effective population size occurring around 43 Kya and 8–10 Kya, respectively, probably due to Pleistocene glaciations and subsequent human activities. Our results provide the first detailed and comprehensive genetic insights into the genetic diversity, population structure, and demographic history of a critically endangered species, and provide essential baseline information to guide conservation efforts.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7662,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Primatology","volume":"87 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143793518","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Temperature-Related Differences in Hair Cortisol Among Outdoor-Housed Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta)","authors":"Alexander J. Pritchard,&nbsp;Rosemary A. Blersch,&nbsp;Brenda McCowan,&nbsp;Jessica J. Vandeleest","doi":"10.1002/ajp.70030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.70030","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Temperature has a known potential to influence glucocorticoid concentrations obtained from fecal samples in nonhuman primates. Studies reliant on hair cortisol estimates obtained using samples from outdoor subjects, however, may not control for temperature. This omission is despite the general utility of hair as a sample matrix with relatively longer periods of accrual time. We examined these dynamics in rhesus macaques (<i>Macaca mulatta</i>); importantly, this population of rhesus macaques exhibits covariation between season and breeding behavior. Thus, we also examined temperature relative to contributions of social behavior associated with breeding seasons, which may coincide with climatic shifts. We utilized 1921 hair samples from 580 subjects across six large outdoor-housed mixed-sex groups at the California National Primate Research Center to quantify the capacity for warmer or cooler outdoor temperatures to influence hair cortisol concentrations. We found that colder maximum temperature estimates over the days preceding hair sampling were associated with elevated hair cortisol concentrations, relative to warmer periods. Temperature contributed similarly in a model with a reduced data set (1418 samples) which included breeding-associated social behaviors. Consortship behavior was associated with hair cortisol without temperature, but was not associated with temperature included. Aggression was associated with cortisol, with or without the inclusion of temperature. Outdoor temperature is an important confound or covariate to account for statistically or via careful study design. Inclusion is especially important among research projects reliant on hair cortisol from outdoor-housed primates and spanning multiple seasons.</p>","PeriodicalId":7662,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Primatology","volume":"87 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ajp.70030","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143770320","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Avoiding Cognitive Trap in Habitat Restoration: A Case Study of the World's Rarest Primate","authors":"Yuxin Wang,&nbsp;Xukai Zhong,&nbsp;Changyue Zhu,&nbsp;Xuming Qi,&nbsp;Yexing Feng,&nbsp;Pengfei Fan","doi":"10.1002/ajp.70018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.70018","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The lack of knowledge regarding the basic ecological traits of an endangered species may lead to traps in habitat restoration efforts. Understanding the ranging ecology of endangered species is essential in avoiding these traps. The Hainan gibbon (<i>Nomascus hainanus</i>), the world's rarest primate, reportedly takes refuge in suboptimal montane habitats and occupies an abnormally large home range, resulting in suggestions for enhancing montane habitat quality with high priority. However, these conservation suggestions and actions are not based on solid science. For the first time, we habituated two groups of Hainan gibbon, and studied their ranging ecology over a year from January to December 2022. We found that the average home range size of these groups was 164.5 ± 70.6 ha (95% KDE-href) and 155.2 ± 71.1 ha (95% MCP), which is comparable to other <i>Nomascus</i> gibbons and represents an adaptive trait in response to their heterogeneous habitat. Furthermore, gibbons have shown a preference for higher-altitude habitats between 800 and 1100 m, where food is more abundant than in low-altitude habitats. Our findings, combined with the evidence of favorable food conditions and short interbirth intervals of the Hainan gibbon, indicate that montane habitats meet gibbons' life-history requirements and are suitable for them. The idea that “montane habitat is suboptimal” is a cognitive trap. Given the Hainan gibbons' isolated habitat is approaching saturation, we suggest prioritizing ecological corridor construction to enable gibbons to rapidly gain access to other suitable montane forests.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7662,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Primatology","volume":"87 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143741637","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}