From Mexico to Michigan and back: An international collaboration investigating primate behavior, ecology, and evolution from multiple perspectives.

Evolutionary research benefits form the integration of laboratory and field components to determine factors and processes that affect the evolutionary trajectories of species. Our shared interest in understanding hybridization with genetic admixture as a process that may impact social, behavioral, and ecological features of primates, brought us together in a collaborative project aimed at addressing how vocal variation in two species of howler monkeys in Mexico affects and is affected by hybridization. To achieve this goal, we joined our academic expertise in studying primate genetics, ecology, and behavior under different natural and experimental conditions. We took advantage of decades of experience studying and handing wild howler monkeys for translocation projects to safely sample and study wild populations for this project. Here, we describe the history of our collaboration highlighting how our different perspectives, academic realities, and individual strengths built the foundation for our successful collaboration. We also share our perspectives on how this collaboration opened up new academic venues, broadened our individual perspectives on the integration of different research approaches to address a complex topic, and allowed us to recognize the strength of international collaboration.

The loss of behavioral diversity as a consequence of anthropogenic habitat disturbance: the social interactions of black howler monkeys.

To date, no study has investigated how human disturbance affects the size of the behavioral repertoire of a species. The aim of the present study is to illustrate how measurement of behavioral diversity assists in documenting biodiversity loss, demonstrating that human disturbance has a negative effect on behavioral diversity. We studied the social interaction repertoire of 41 adult black howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra) belonging to 10 groups living in different habitats in Campeche (Mexico), and related repertoire size to a proxy of human-induced habitat disturbance, habitat size. The social interaction repertoire of groups living in habitats with higher human-induced disturbance included lower number of behavioral types, and in particular, fewer energy-demanding behaviors. Thus, in addition to a loss in biodiversity, measured through organismal diversity, the disturbance of black howler monkeys' habitats is accompanied by a loss in behavioral diversity. We believe that the study of behavioral diversity as an element of biodiversity will become an increasingly important research topic, as it will improve our understanding of the behavioral strategies displayed by wildlife facing anthropogenic disturbance.