Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Soto-Calderón, Iván Darío
• Acevedo-Garcés, Yuliet Andrea
• Álvarez-Cardona, Jóhnatan
• Hernández-Castro, Carolina
• García-Montoya, Gisela María

Titel

Physiological and parasitological implications of living in a city: the case of the white-footed tamarin (Saguinus leucopus)

Ist Teil von

• American journal of primatology, 2016-12, Vol.78 (12), p.1272-1281

Ort / Verlag

United States: Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2016

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Wiley Blackwell Single Titles

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Among primates, the Neotropical Callitrichid monkeys (tamarins and marmosets) exhibit a particular ability to adapt to disturbed and urbanized environments. However, little is known about physiological and health status in contrasting ecological contexts. An example of adaptation to urban environments is the white‐footed tamarin (Saguinus leucopus), an endangered species endemic to the central Andes in North West Colombia. This species was used as a model to contrast physical condition, physiological parameters and the parasite community of wild populations in rural and urban settings. Overall, the tamarins seemed to be in good body condition in both environments; however, urban tamarins exhibited overweight, elevated body mass, and higher cholesterol levels, while rural tamarins showed larger diversity and prevalence of parasites. Variation in several hematological parameters associated with altitude was also observed. Our data provide preliminary evidence of differential physiological responses to urban and rural environments in tamarins. These results may be attributed to nutritional factors, physical activity, and specific parasite‐host ecological interactions in these two environments. Also, abundance and diversity of the parasite community in urban environments may be potentially constrained by habitat fragmentation and relatively fewer reservoirs. Finally, significant physiological and ecological disparities between white‐footed tamarins occurring in urban and rural habitats as well as physiological response to hypoxia at higher altitudes were evidenced here. This study provides important preliminary information that will be useful to determine the ability of New World primate populations to cope with urban development and rapidly changing environments.