DEMOGRAPHY

The Owl Monkey Project studies population biology and demography, as well as the spatial and temporal distribution of food resources. These demographic studies will help us elucidate how life-history traits are related to some of the behavioral patterns characteristic of sexual monogamy in the owl monkey population in Guaycolec, Formosa.

One possible explanation to the evolution and maintenance of monogamy is that females are a dispersed resource that males cannot monitor effectively; we test such a hypothesis by collecting data on the quality of territories as indicated by food resources (abundance and distribution of food resources in specific territories), infant production (continuous group demographic data) and female ability to make use of food resources.