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Titi monkey neophobia and visual abilities allow for fast responses to novel stimuli.

ABSTRACT: The Snake Detection Theory implicates constricting snakes in the origin of primates, and venomous snakes for differences between catarrhine and platyrrhine primate visual systems. Although many studies using different methods have found very rapid snake detection in catarrhines, including humans, to date no studies have examined how quickly platyrrhine primates can detect snakes. We therefore tested in captive coppery titi monkeys (Plecturocebus cupreus) the latency to detect a small portion of visible snake skin. Because titi monkeys are neophobic, we designed a crossover experiment to compare their latency to look and their duration of looking at a snake skin and synthetic feather of two lengths (2.5 cm and uncovered). To test our predictions that the latency to look would be shorter and the duration of looking would be longer for the snake skin, we used survival/event time models for latency to look and negative binomial mixed models for duration of looking. While titi monkeys looked more quickly and for longer at both the snake skin and feather compared to a control, they also looked more quickly and for longer at larger compared to smaller stimuli. This suggests titi monkeys' neophobia may augment their visual abilities to help them avoid dangerous stimuli.

SUBMITTER: Lau AR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7844259 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Titi monkey neophobia and visual abilities allow for fast responses to novel stimuli.

Lau Allison R AR Grote Mark N MN Dufek Madison E ME Franzetti Tristan J TJ Bales Karen L KL Isbell Lynne A LA

Scientific reports 20210128 1

The Snake Detection Theory implicates constricting snakes in the origin of primates, and venomous snakes for differences between catarrhine and platyrrhine primate visual systems. Although many studies using different methods have found very rapid snake detection in catarrhines, including humans, to date no studies have examined how quickly platyrrhine primates can detect snakes. We therefore tested in captive coppery titi monkeys (Plecturocebus cupreus) the latency to detect a small portion of ...[more]

PMID: 33510399

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Project description:AbstractPredator presentation experiments are widely used to investigate animal alarm vocalizations. They usually involve presentations of predator models or playbacks of predator calls, but it remains unclear whether the two paradigms provide similar results, a major limitation when investigating animal syntactic and semantic capacities. Here, we investigate whether visual and acoustic predator cues elicit different vocal reactions in black-fronted titi monkeys (Callicebus nigrifrons). We exposed six groups of wild titi monkeys to visual models or playbacks of vocalizations of raptor or felid. We characterized each group's vocal reactions using sequence parameters known to reliably encode predatory events in this species. We found that titi monkeys' vocal reactions varied with the predator species but also with the experimental paradigm: while vocal reactions to raptor vocalizations and models were similar, felid vocalizations elicited heterogeneous, different reactions from that given to felid models. We argue that subjects are not familiar with felid vocalizations, because of a lack of learning opportunities due to the silent behaviour of felids. We discuss the implication of these findings for the semantic capacities of titi monkeys. We finally recommend that playbacks of predator vocalizations should not be used in isolation but in combination with visual model presentations, to allow fine-grained analyses of the communication system of prey species.Significance statementIt is common to present prey species with predator models or predator calls to study their vocal reactions. The two paradigms are often used independently, but it remains unclear whether they provide similar results. Here, we studied the vocal reactions of titi monkeys to calls and models of raptors and felids. We show that titi monkeys seem to recognize the vocalizations of raptors but not those of felids. The study of the vocal reactions emitted when titi monkeys cannot clearly identify the threat allows us to draw accurate hypotheses about the meaning of titi monkeys' alarm utterances. We argue that playbacks of predator calls should be used in conjunction with model presentations, which can allow us to better investigate the information and the structure of the alarm systems.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00265-022-03250-1.

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Titi monkey neophobia and visual abilities allow for fast responses to novel stimuli.

Publications

Titi monkey neophobia and visual abilities allow for fast responses to novel stimuli.

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