Influences of moonlight, ambient temperature, and food availability on the diurnal and nocturnal activity of owl monkeys (Aotus azarai)

By Eduardo Fernández-Duque. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 2003

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The study of activity rhythms, their potential zeitgebers and masking factors among free-ranging primates has received relatively little attention in the past. Most primates are diurnal, a few of them nocturnal, and even fewer are cathemeral. Owl monkeys (Aotus azarai azarai) regularly show diurnal, as well as nocturnal, activity in the Argentinean and Paraguayan Chaco. The goal of this study was to examine how changes in activity patterns in owl monkeys of Formosa, Argentina are related to daily, monthly, and seasonal changes in temperature, light and food availability . During 1 year, I collected activity data from five groups followed continuously from dawn to dusk, dusk to dawn or uninterruptedly during 24 or 36 h for approximately 1,500 h. I kept hourly and daily records of temperature and light conditions, and I gathered monthly information on the density, distribution and abundance of food resources available to the monkeys. I found that the area of study is highly seasonal, and characterized by significant fluctuations in rainfall, temperature, photoperiod, and food availability. Owl monkeys had on average 5 h of activity during the day and 4 h during the night. The amount of diurnal activity remained fairly constant through the year despite seasonal changes in exogenous factors. Owl monkeys did not show changes in their activity patterns that could be attributed to changes in food availability. Nocturnal activity increased as the amount of moonlight increased, whereas diurnal activity decreased following a full-moon night. Ambient temperature was a good predictor of activity only when the moon was full. These results argue convincingly for an interaction between ambient temperature and moonlight in determining the observed activity pattern. It is then highly advisable that any evaluation of diurnal activity in cathemeral animals be analyzed controlling for the possible effects of moonlight during the previous night.

Subfields: Developmental Biology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/35bd7f15371750c27fcbd692b110d128c1ad5149

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Citations in the corpus

The ecological impacts of nighttime light pollution: a mechanistic appraisal (2013, background): “Natural variation in nighttime lighting, particularly in moonlight due to the phase of the moon and cloud-cover conditions, has been shown to affect the timing of activity in a range of species (e.g. Imber, 1975; Morrison, 1978; Gliwicz, 1986; Kolb, 1992; Tarling, Buchholz & Matthews, 1999; Baker & ”
Arrived in the light: diel and seasonal activity patterns in wild Verreaux’s sifakas (Propithecus v. verreauxi; Primates: Indriidae) (2004, background): “Previous field studies on cathemeral activity (e.g., Overdorff and Rasmussen 1995; Andrews and Birkinshaw 1998; Colquhoun 1998; Curtis et al. 1999, see also Fernandez-Duque 2003 ) examined proximate environmental factors underlying this unusual primate activity pattern.”
On the move around the clock: correlates and determinants of cathemeral activity in wild redfronted lemurs (Eulemur fulvus rufus) (2003, background): “Comparative studies of other primates with flexible activity patterns (e.g., Fernandez-Duque 2003), as well as other Malagasy taxa, could shed additional light on causes and consequences of different activity patterns for various social and ecological costs and benefits.”