Anglia Ruskin University

Team:
Dr Andrew Smith

Collaborators:
Prof Hannah Buchanan-Smith, University of Stirling
Dr Eckhard Heymann, Deutsches Primatenzentrum, Gottingen.
Dr Nick Mundy, University of Cambridge
Prof Daniel Osorio, University of Sussex
Dr Alison Surridge, University of Cambridge
Dr Misha Vorobyev, The University of Aukland

Location of Fieldwork:
Estación Biológica Quebrada Blanco, Peru

Project description:
Tamarins (Saguinus spp.) are a good model for ecological studies. These small-bodied New World primates live in groups, with saddleback tamarins (S. fuscicollis) forming consistent mixed-species troops with either moustached (S. mystax), red-bellied (S. labiatus) or emperor tamarins (S. imperator) or Snethlage's marmosets (Callithrix emiliae) in areas where they are sympatric. These mixed-species troops of tamarins are particularly useful in answering questions concerning niche partitioning as they are subject to the same ecological conditions. As small-bodied (250 - 500g) primates they are potential prey for a wide range of predators, and several aspects of their behaviour can be interpreted in terms of antipredation such as the strategy with which they use their sleeping sites. Their diet consists of fruits, animal prey (principally tettigoniid katydids) and plant exudates. The ways in which these resources are exploited varies between species, season and time of day.

Our research into the behavioural ecology of tamarins can be divided into three main areas:

Colour vision

• Evolution and advantages of trichromacy
• Maintenance of colour vision polymorphism in New World monkeys (see Primate Colour Vision project page)

Ecology

• Specialisation, and niche partitioning; mixed-species associations
• Spatio-ecology; inter-individual distances and group leadership
• Influence of predation pressure

Nutrition

• Mineral requirements; exudates; temporal patterns of feeding

Links:
Estación Biológica Quebrada Blanco

Funding:
Anglia Ruskin University
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
British Council

Publications

Smith AC (2010) Exudativory in primates: interspecific patterns. In Burrows A, Nash L (eds) The Evolution of Exudativory in Primates pp 45-88. Springer.

Smith AC (2010) Influences on gum feeding in primates. In Burrows A, Nash L (eds) The Evolution of Exudativory in Primates pp 109-122. Springer.

Smith, AC; Knogge, C; Huck, M; Lottker, P; Buchanan-Smith, HM; Heymann, EW (2007) Long term patterns of sleeping site use in wild saddleback (Saguinus fuscicollis) and mustached tamarins (S. mystax). American Journal of Physical Anthropology 134: 340-353.

Buchanan-Smith, HM; Smith AC; Surridge, AK; Prescott MJ; Osorio, D; Mundy, NI (2005) The effect of sex and color vision status on prey capture by captive and wild tamarins (Saguinus spp.). American Journal of Primatology 66: 49.

Surridge, AK, Suárez, SS, Buchanan-Smith, HM, Smith, AC, & Mundy NI (2005) Distribution of colour vision phenotypes in wild tamarins (Saguinus spp.). American Journal of Primatology 67: 463-470

Smith, AC; Buchanan-Smith, HM; Surridge, A & Mundy, N (2005) Factors effecting group spread within wild mixed-species troops of saddleback and moustached tamarins. International Journal of Primatology: 26: 337-355

Prescott MJ, Buchanan-Smith HM, Smith AC (2005) Social interaction with non-averse group-mates modifies a learned food aversion in single- and mixed-species groups of tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis and S. labiatus). American Journal of Primatology: 65: 313-26

Osorio, D; Smith, AC; Vorobyev, M & Buchanan-Smith, HM. (2004) Detection of fruit and the selection of primate visual pigments for color vision. American Naturalist.164: 696-708

Smith, AC; Kelez, S & Buchanan-Smith, HM (2004) Factors affecting vigilance within wild mixed-species troops of saddleback (Saguinus fuscicollis) and moustached tamarins (S. mystax). Behavioural Ecology & Scociobiology 56:18-25.

Smith, AC; Buchanan-Smith, HM; Surridge, A & Mundy, N (2003) Factors affecting group leadership within wild mixed-species groups of saddleback and moustached tamarins, with special emphasis on color vision and sex. American Journal of Primatology 61: 145-157.

Smith, AC; Buchanan-Smith, HM; Surridge, A; Mundy, N & Osorio D (2003) The effect of colour vision status on the detection and selection of fruits by tamarins (Saguinus spp.). Journal of Experimental Biology 206: 3159-3165

Smith, AC; Tirado, ER; Buchanan-Smith, HM & Heymann, EW (2002) Multiple breeding females and allo-nursing in a wild group of moustached tamarins (Saguinus mystax). Neotropical Primates. 9 (2): 67-69.

Smith, AC (2000) Composition and proposed nutritional importance of exudates eaten by saddleback (Saguinus fuscicollis) and moustached (Saguinus mystax) tamarins. International Journal of Primatology. 21(1): 69-83.

Smith, AC (2000) Interspecific differences in prey captured by associating saddleback (Saguinus fuscicollis) and moustached (Saguinus mystax) tamarins. Journal of Zoology. 251(3): 315-324.

Heymann, EW & Smith, AC (1999) When to feed on gums - temporal patterns of gummivory in wild tamarins, Saguinus mystax and Saguinus fuscicollis (Callitrichinae). Zoo Biology 18 (6): 459-471.

Smith, AC (1999) Potential competitors for exudates eaten by saddleback (Saguinus fuscicollis) and moustached (Saguinus mystax) tamarins. Neotropical Primates 7(3): 73-75.

Heymann, EW; Knogge, C; Tirado, ER & Smith, AC (1998) Unter Affengnomen im Amazonasregenwald - Freilandforschung an Tamarinen in Peru (Amongst gnome monkeys in Amazon rainforest - Field research on tamarins in Peru). Zeitschrift des Kvlner Zoo 41(2): 63-84.

Smith, AC (1996) Orthopteran prey capture in wild saddle-back and moustached tamarins in north-eastern Peru. Primate Eye 59: 17-18.


Conference papers:
Smith, AC; Buchanan-Smith, HM; Surridge, A; Prescot, MJ; Osorio, D & Mundy, N (2010) The effect of colour vision status on prey capture by captive and wild tamarins (Saguinus Spp.). The XXIIIth Congress of the International Primatological Society, Kyoto.

Smith AC (2008) Exudativory in primates: what, why, and when. The XXIIth Congress of the International Primatological Society, Edinburgh.

Smith AC & Buchanan-Smith, HM (2007) Food, Sex & Violence: Influences on intergroup encounters in tamarins (Saguinus spp.). Second Congress of the European Federation for Primatology, Prague, Czech Rep.

Smith AC; Knogge, C; Huck, M; Löttker, P; Buchanan-Smith, HM; Heymann, EW (2007) Sleeping sites in primates: The effects of foraging, thermoregulation, predation and resource defence constraints. 30th International Ethological Conference, Halifax, Canada

Smith AC & Buchanan-Smith, HM (2007) Factors influencing intergroup encounters in wild mixed-species troops of saddleback (Saguinus fuscicollis) and moustached tamarins (S. mystax). Primate Society of Great Britain, spring meeting - Durham.

Buchanan-Smith, HM, Smith AC, Surridge AK, Prescott MJ, Osorio D, Mundy NI (2005) The effect of sex and colour vision status on prey capture by captive and wild tamarins (Saguinus spp.). XXVIII Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists, Portland, OR, USA.

Surridge AK, Suarez SS, Buchanan-Smith HM, Smith AC, & Mundy NI (2004) "Distribution of colour vision phenotypes in wild tamarins" The XXth Congress of the International Primatological Society, Taurino, Italy.

Smith AC; Buchanan-Smith H., Surridge A., & Mundy N. (2004) Effects of colour vision on group spread within wild mixed-species troops of tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis and Saguinus mystax) The XXth Congress of the International Primatological Society, Taurino, Italy.

Smith AC (2004) From The Amazon to Northern Ireland: Unravelling the Mysteries of Primate Colour Vision. Rank Prize Symposium: The Assessment of Foodstuffs by the Eye and by Instrumentation. Kendal, UK

Buchanan-Smith, HM; Smith, AC; Surridge, A; Mundy, N & Osorio, D (2003) Colour vision and cognition in primates. Primate Society of Great Britain, spring meeting - St Andrew's.

Vorobyev, M; Smith, AC; Buchanan-Smith, HM; Osorio, D & Cronin TW (2003) Fruits, flowers and origins of primate trichromacy. Australian Neuroscience Meeting.

Smith, AC; Buchanan-Smith, HM; Surridge, A; Mundy, N & Osorio, D (2002) The effect of colour vision status on the detection and selection of fruits by tamarins (Saguinus spp.). Primate Society of Great Britain, spring meeting - Oxford.

Buchanan-Smith, HM; Smith, AC; Prescott, MJ; Surridge, A; Mundy, N & Osorio, D (2002) The effect of colour vision phenotype on foraging success in tamarins (Saguinus) spp. The XIXth Congress of the International Primatological Society, Beijing, China.

Smith, AC; Buchanan-Smith, HM; Surridge, A & Mundy, N (2001) Colour blindness: An advantage for prey capture in primates? Primate Society of Great Britain, spring meeting - Bolton.

Smith, AC; Buchanan-Smith, HM; Surridge, A & Mundy, N (2001) Does colour vision genotype affect insect capture in tamarins? The XVIII Congress of the International Primatological Society - Adelaide, Australia.

Smith, AC; Buchanan-Smith, HM & Prescott, MJ (2001) Sex differences in prey capture by tamarins. The XVIII Congress of the International Primatological Society - Adelaide, Australia.

Smith, AC; Buchanan-Smith, HM; Surridge, A & Mundy, N (2001) Wild Eyes; camouflage, prey capture and colour vision in primates. Scottish Conference on Animal Behaviour - Edinburgh.

Surridge, A.K., Buchanan-Smith, H.M. Smith, A.C., Prescott, M.J. & Mundy, N.I. (2001) Genetic polymorphism at the opsin locus - colour vision and foraging ability in New World primates. Photopigments, Colour Vision and Evolution Meeting.

Smith, AC (1996) Orthopteran prey capture in wild saddle-back and moustached tamarins in north-eastern Peru. Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour, spring meeting - Norwich.

Smith, AC; Knogge, C & Puertas, P (1995) Insectivory in the primates. XXXVI Convencion National de Entomologia, Iquitos, Peru.