Glucocorticoid levels in free ranging resident mantled howlers: a study of coping strategies
A growing amount of data shows that a preference for passive‐nonaggressive over active‐aggressive problem solving is associated with higher levels of glucocorticoids (GC). For mantled howlers, the arrival of an adult male in a new group is a potential source of psychological stress for both resident...
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Published in | American journal of primatology Vol. 69; no. 8; pp. 866 - 876 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Hoboken
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
01.08.2007
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | A growing amount of data shows that
a preference for passive‐nonaggressive over
active‐aggressive problem solving is associated
with higher levels of glucocorticoids (GC). For
mantled howlers, the arrival of an adult male in a new
group is a potential source of psychological stress for
both resident males and females. Resident mantled howler
males take an active stand and aggressively repel the
entrance of solitary males, while females take a
passive‐nonaggressive stand. In order to study
whether the relationship between coping strategies and the
activation of the
hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal
(HPA) axis observed in other species applies to
the response of resident mantled howlers to the presence
of solitary males, we examine the relationship between
different group and subpopulation variables and the GC
levels measured in feces collected from 10 groups living
in six forest fragments, in Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. The
results of our study suggest that the resident mantled
howler females' passive response to the presence of
solitary males is accompanied by the activation of the HPA
axis, whereas resident males' aggressive response is
not accompanied by any changes in the HPA axis. In
contrast, a previous study suggests that resident male
howlers respond by increasing their testosterone levels to
the presence of solitary males
(Cristobal‐Azkarate et al., Hormones and
Behavior 2006;49 261–267).These different
behavioral and hormonal responses coincide with the active
and passive coping styles described for other species. The
conditions in which howlers live in our study area may be
favoring the interaction between solitary and resident
howlers, and inducing chronically high GC levels, which in
turn could negatively affect the fitness of these
subpopulations. Am. J. Primatol. 69:866–876, 2007.
© 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. |
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Bibliography: | ark:/67375/WNG-Q3TPVHD1-H Zientzi politikarako zuzendaritza, Basque Government. ArticleID:AJP20383 Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, Spanish Government - No. PB98-127; No. BS02002-03340 istex:85A3E1D2AC5E57C6F58395E5AB8191EF2165BFCB ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 |
ISSN: | 0275-2565 1098-2345 |
DOI: | 10.1002/ajp.20383 |