The primate species that I am studying is the common squirrel monkey, also known as Saimiri sciureus. This paper will discuss the lifestyle of S. sciureus in the aspect of their diet and sociality. Sociality includes reproductive behavior, social behavior, and competition. S. sciureus are small, arboreal platyrrhines that are dispersed in north South America (Lima and Ferrari, 2003). The countries they are found in include Brazil, Columbia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela (Goldschmidt et al., 2009). Over the past 40 years, they have become known as the second-most commonly used primate in laboratory studies.
Squirrel monkeys are considered frugivorous and insectivorous, meaning they mainly consume fruits and insects (Lima …show more content…
The opposite was seen in the first group, which shows that seasonality of feeding is not supported in this study. However, in other studies, seasonal variations in food preference have been reported in free-ranging squirrel monkeys. In captive squirrel monkeys, seasonal food preference is not observed, as there are no seasonal changes in food availability or abundance (Laska, 2001). This species is more likely to have one female monopolize the resource (Boinski et al., 2002). This evidence against within-group scramble also is seen through the lack of benefits of forming a coalition among females, as they are not stable. However, competition in larger patches tends to lead to coalition formation. Their coalitions tend to be kin-based. When a female needs defending, her alliances help defend the resources exploited. S. sciureus simultaneously forage on multiple trees at once with about 17-18 individuals per fruit resource and in one study they ate more than 150 species of plants within 42 families (Mitchell et al., 1991). In the Mitchell et al (1991) study, S. sciureus ate fruit that had less than 5m-crown diameter. When feeding, there is a female dominance hierarchy. With this species, there is a high level of within-group contest. Females are involved in defending their food resources yet they are more focused on feeding rather than …show more content…
During the dry season, play is significantly lower since they use most of their activity budget foraging. It was observed that 2.6% of active time was used as play during the dry season whereas it was 9.3% of active time during the wet season. Play includes behaviors that are considered “rough-and-tumble” activity. The most common of these activities consist of chasing and wrestling. Juveniles tend to spend more time with other juveniles than with adults. It is also observed that play levels decrease when there is nutritional stress, indicating that play has costs to individuals. When juveniles consume less fruits and more prey, it is also seen that play is decreased probably due to the decrease in quality of food. Play is just as important for older juveniles as it is for younger juveniles and infants. Stone’s (2008) study suggests that play is seasonal as more play occurs during wet seasons than it does dry