Primate

About: Primate is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1250 publications have been published within this topic receiving 67388 citations. The topic is also known as: the primate order & primates.

Single neurons in monkey prefrontal cortex encode volitional initiation of vocalizations

Abstract: Broca's area in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) has a crucial role in human volitional speech production; damage to this area causes severe impairment of speech production. Lesions in PFC of monkeys, however, have only mild effects on spontaneous vocal behaviour. Non-human primate vocalizations are thus believed to constitute affective utterances processed by a subcortical network. Here in contrast to this assumption, we show that rhesus monkeys can control their vocalizations in a goal-directed way. During single-cell recordings in the vlPFC of monkeys trained to vocalize in response to visual cues, we find call-related neurons that specifically predict the preparation of instructed vocalizations. The activity of many call-related neurons before vocal output correlates with call parameters of instructed vocalizations. These findings suggest a cardinal role of the monkey homologue of Broca's area in vocal planning and call initiation, a putative phylogenetic precursor in non-human primates for speech control in linguistic humans.

Diet for a Small Primate: Insectivory and Gummivory in the (Large) Patas Monkey (Erythrocebus patas pyrrhonotus)

Abstract: A 17 month field study of unprovisioned patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas pyrrhonotus) in Laikipia, Kenya, using both ad libitum and scan sampling techniques, revealed that the diet of patas monkeys consists primarily of gum of Acacia drepanolobium, arthropods (both free-living and concentrated in the swollen thorns of A. drepanolobium), and other animals. This type of diet is normally found only in smaller-bodied primates. Results from vegetational transects suggest that the larger-bodied patas monkey can subsist on such a diet because gum and arthropods are relatively easily found in their habitat, thereby minimizing search time. Patas monkeys also spend more time moving and less time feeding (while not moving) than other Old World primates. The characteristic long limbs of patas may have evolved in response to feeding on small, nonusurpable, and widely distributed foods, in which access to foods is maximized while time and energy spent in terrestrial travel between food sites are minimized.

Primate anti-predator strategies

Abstract: Predation Theory.- Predation and Primate Cognitive Evolution.- Predation on Primates: A Biogeographical Analysis.- Anti-Predator Strategies of Nocturnal Primates.- Primates and Other Prey in the Seasonally Variable Diet of Cryptoprocta ferox in the Dry Deciduous Forest of Western Madagascar.- Predation on Lemurs in the Rainforest of Madagascar by Multiple Predator Species: Observations and Experiments.- Predation, Communication, and Cognition in Lemurs.- A Consideration of Leaping Locomotion as a Means of Predator Avoidance in Prosimian Primates.- Anti-Predator Strategies of Cathemeral Primates: Dealing with Predators of the Day and the Night.- Moonlight and Behavior in Nocturnal and Cathemeral Primates, Especially Lepilemur leucopus: Illuminating Possible Anti-Predator Efforts.- A Comparison of Calling Patterns in Two Nocturnal Primates, Otolemur crassicaudatus and Galago moholi as a Guide to Predation Risk.- Predator Defense by Slender Lorises and Pottos.- The Response of Spectral Tarsiers Toward Avian and Terrestrial Predators.- Talking Defensively, a Dual Use for the Brachial Gland Exudate of Slow and Pygmy Lorises.- Anti-Predator Strategies of Non-Nocturnal Primates.- Anti-Predator Strategies in a Diurnal Prosimian, the Ring-Tailed Lemur (Lemur catta), at the Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve, Madagascar.- Howler Monkeys and Harpy Eagles: A Communication Arms Race.- Effects of Habitat Structure on Perceived Risk of Predation and Anti-Predator Behavior of Vervet (Cercopithecus aethiops) and Patas (Erythrocebus patas) Monkeys.- Predation Risk and Habitat Use in Chacma Baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus).- Reconstructing Hominin Interactions with Mammalian Carnivores (6.0-1.8 Ma).