Arboreal route navigation in a Neotropical mammal: energetic implications associated with tree monitoring and landscape attributes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Although navigating along a network of routes might constrain animal movement flexibility, it may be an energetically efficient strategy. Routinely using the same route allows for visually monitoring of food resources, which might reduce the cognitive load and as such facilitate the process of movement decision-making. Similarly, locating routes in areas that avoid costly landscape attributes will enhance their overall energy balance. In this study we determined the benefits of route navigation in an energy minimiser arboreal primate, the black howler monkey (Alouatta pigra).

Methods

We monitored five neighbouring groups of black howler monkeys at Palenque National Park, Mexico from September 2016 through August 2017. We recorded the location of the focal g

SUBMITTER: de Guinea M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6918719 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature