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Predation of army ants by Toppin’s titi monkey, Plecturocebus toppini Thomas 1914 (Primates: Pitheciidae), in an urban forest fragment in eastern Acre, Brazil

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Abstract

The predation of army ants (Eciton rapax) was recorded during an observational study of the feeding behavior of a group of titi monkeys (Plecturocebus toppini) in an urban fragment of forest in Acre, Brazil. During one observed event, the group’s adult female used its tail to retrieve ants, a type of behavior not observed previously in this genus. All incidents of on-forest floor foraging occurred during the dry season, when fruit was least abundant in the forest, while on other occasions, the ants were captured from tree branches and leaves. The observation of predation and ground-level foraging recorded in this study reinforce the adaptive capacity of P. toppini for survival in fragmented forests, and this was also the first record of the predation of army ants by this titi species.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Coordination for Higher Education Training (CAPES: Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) of the Brazilian government for providing a graduate stipend. We would also like to thank the team at the UFAC Insect Ecology Laboratory, in particular Prof. Fernando A. Schmidt and Andressa Menezes, for the identification of the ants, and Gerbson Maia for editing the photographs, Felipe Gonçalves by map and Prof. Stephen Ferrari for translation and comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Program in Ecology and the Management of Natural Resources (PPG/EMRN), Universidade Federal do Acre, Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil

    Francisco Salatiel Clemente de Souza

  2. Center for Natural and Biological Sciences (CCBN), Universidade Federal do Acre, Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil

    Armando Muniz Calouro

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  1. Francisco Salatiel Clemente de Souza
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  2. Armando Muniz Calouro
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Correspondence to Francisco Salatiel Clemente de Souza.

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de Souza, F.S.C., Calouro, A.M. Predation of army ants by Toppin’s titi monkey, Plecturocebus toppini Thomas 1914 (Primates: Pitheciidae), in an urban forest fragment in eastern Acre, Brazil. Primates 59, 469–474 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-018-0677-4

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