Anthony Di Fiore
Biographic Data
| ID | 144698 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Anthony Di Fiore |
| GIVEN NAMES | Anthony |
| FAMILY NAME | Di Fiore |
| SIGNATURE | DI FIORE A |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Texas at Austin |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8893-9052 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 52 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 207 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 52 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1977 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Phylogeography and Niche Modeling of Night Monkeys (Aotus) in Northwestern South America
Variation in Maternal Effort, Activity Budgets, and Feeding Behavior in Wild Saddleback Tamarins ( Leontocebus weddelli ) in Northwestern Bolivia
Among primates, maternal infant care may vary in response to several factors including litter size, reproductive history, and health status. In cooperative breeders, maternal investment may also depend on the amount of help their group mates (or allomothers) provide. We studied infant care and activity in four wild groups of saddleback tamarins ( Leontocebus weddelli ) and collected hair and fecal samples from which we extracted genomic DNA to es…
Sex-Biased Dispersal, Reproductive Structure, and Relatedness in the White-Footed Tamarin (Oedipomidas leucopus)
The Evolution of Primate Social Systems and Social Complexity: The Promise and Challenge of Comparative Phylogenetic Methods
Social systems vary across the primate order, both within and between major lineages. Understanding how and why this variation arises and how social systems have changed over the radiation is a major focus of comparative primate evolutionary biology. For anthropologists in particular, the issue of social evolution resonates strongly because of interest in how certain aspects of human social systems-e.g., multilevel societies, divisions of labor-h…
Reproductive endocrinology of wild female woolly monkeys ( Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii ) during puberty, ovarian cyclicity, and pregnancy
Behavioral observations can provide clues about female reproductive status. However, the study of the endocrine dynamics that underlie processes such as puberty, ovulation, conception, and gestation, may help increase our understanding of female reproductive biology. We used noninvasive methods to study female reproductive endocrinology in wild woolly monkeys (genus Lagothrix ). We extracted ovarian steroid hormones from fecal samples collected n…
Ranging behavior and the potential for territoriality in pair‐living titi monkeys ( Plecturocebus discolor )
Patterns of ranging behavior and space use are key for evaluating current ideas about the evolution and maintenance of pair‐living and sexual monogamy as they provide insights into the dispersion of females, the potential for territoriality, and whether males are limited to defending an area that can support only one female and her offspring. We examined ranging behavior and space use to evaluate the potential for territoriality in five groups of…
Reproductive seasonality in two sympatric primates ( Ateles belzebuth and Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii ) from Amazonian Ecuador
With their large body size and “slow” life histories, atelin primates are thought to follow a risk‐averse breeding strategy, similar to capital breeders, in which they accumulate energy reserves in anticipation of future reproductive events such as gestation and lactation. However, given the paucity of longitudinal data from wild populations, few studies to date have been able to compare the timing of reproductive events (e.g., copulations, conce…
Behavioral and physiological responses to instability in group membership in wild male woolly monkeys ( Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii )
In group‐living species, integrating into a new social group after dispersal is an important life history milestone associated with physical and social challenges. Generally, this process seems to be accompanied by heightened glucocorticoid (GC) concentrations; however, most studies of physiological responses to group transfer have been conducted on species with despotic social relationships, where integrating individuals are often targets of fre…
The evolution of pair‐living, sexual monogamy, and cooperative infant care: Insights from research on wild owl monkeys, titis, sakis, and tamarins
“Monogamy” and pair bonding have long been of interest to anthropologists and primatologists. Their study contributes to our knowledge of human evolutionary biology and social evolution without the cultural trappings associated with studying human societies directly. Here, we first provide an overview of theoretical considerations, followed by an evaluation of recent comparative studies of the evolution of “social monogamy”; we are left with seri…
Phylogeographic evidence for two species of muriqui (genus Brachyteles )
The taxonomy of muriquis, the largest extant primates in the New World, is controversial. While some specialists argue for a monotypic genus ( Brachyteles arachnoides ), others favor a two‐species classification, splitting northern muriquis ( Brachyteles hypoxanthus ) from southern muriquis ( B. arachnoides ). This uncertainty affects how we study the differences between these highly endangered and charismatic primates, as well as the design of m…
Terrestrial Behavior in Titi Monkeys (Callicebus, Cheracebus, and Plecturocebus): Potential Correlates, Patterns, and Differences between Genera
Demography and life history of a group of white‐bellied spider monkeys ( Ateles belzebuth ) in western Amazonia
Species-specific demographic parameters and life history variables are important for understanding how individual primate taxa have adapted to evolutionary and ecological pressures and for conducting interspecific comparisons as well as for conducting population viability analyses and for managing captive populations. Here, we describe results from a 12+ year study of the demographic dynamics of a wild group of white-bellied spider monkeys (Atele…
Ranging behavior and potential for territoriality in equatorial sakis ( Pithecia aequatorialis ) in Amazonian Ecuador
OBJECTIVES: Territoriality refers to the consistent defense of an area within the home range (HR) against intrusions of conspecifics. It implies exclusive space use with low degree of overlap among neighboring groups, high site fidelity, specific ranging behavior such as high mobility relative to HR size and frequent visits of territory borders, and monitoring behavior. We examined ranging behavior and use of space to evaluate territoriality in P…
Impending extinction crisis of the world’s primates: Why primates matter
Impending extinction of the world’s primates due to human activities; immediate global attention is needed to reverse the trend.
Persistent effects of pre-Columbian plant domestication on Amazonian forest composition
Past human influences on Amazonian forest The marks of prehistoric human societies on tropical forests can still be detected today. Levis et al. performed a basin-wide comparison of plant distributions, archaeological sites, and environmental data. Plants domesticated by pre-Columbian peoples are much more likely to be dominant in Amazonian forests than other species. Furthermore, forests close to archaeological sites often have a higher abundanc…
Social monogamy, male–female relationships, and biparental care in wild titi monkeys (Callicebus discolor)
Demography and life history of wild red titi monkeys ( Callicebus discolor ) and equatorial sakis ( Pithecia aequatorialis ) in Amazonian Ecuador: A 12‐year study
We investigated demographic patterns and life history traits from several groups of red titi monkeys (Callicebus discolor) and equatorial sakis (Pithecia aequatorialis) monitored throughout the first 12 years (November 2003 through May 2015) of an ongoing research project in the Yasuní National Park and Biosphere Reserve, Ecuador. The saki groups ranged in size between two and six individuals, comprising either one adult male and one adult female…
Tamarins: Insights into monogamous and non‐monogamous single female social and breeding systems
Tamarins are reported to live in small multimale-multifemale groups characterized by a single breeding female. Here we present information on the composition and genetic relatedness of individuals in 12 wild-trapped groups of Weddell's saddleback tamarins (Saguinus weddelli) from northern Bolivia to determine if groups are best described as nuclear or extended families suggesting social monogamy or whether groups contain several unrelated same se…
Transparency, usability, and reproducibility: Guiding principles for improving comparative databases using primates as examples
Recent decades have seen rapid development of new analytical methods to investigate patterns of interspecific variation. Yet these cutting‐edge statistical analyses often rely on data of questionable origin, varying accuracy, and weak comparability, which seem to have reduced the reproducibility of studies. It is time to improve the transparency of comparative data while also making these improved data more widely available. We, the authors, met …
Long-term decline of the Amazon carbon sink
Phylogeography of the Critically Endangered Brown Spider Monkey (Ateles hybridus): Testing the Riverine Barrier Hypothesis
Predation risk sensitivity and the spatial organization of primate groups: A case study using GIS in lowland W oolly Monkeys ( L agothrix lagotricha poeppigii )
Predation risk is thought to be a potent force influencing intragroup cohesion, and the level of risk experienced by an individual is expected to vary with both group size and spatial position within a group. Smaller‐bodied and less‐experienced individuals are presumed to be more vulnerable to predators, suggesting that within‐group spatial organization should show size‐ and age‐dependent patterns in predator sensitive positioning. However, such …
Behavioral and physiological responses to fruit availability of spider monkeys ranging in a small forest fragment
Numerous animal species currently experience habitat loss and fragmentation. This might result in behavioral and dietary adjustments, especially because fruit availability is frequently reduced in fragments. Food scarcity can result in elevated physiological stress levels, and chronic stress often has detrimental effects on individuals. Some animal species exhibit a high degree of fission-fusion dynamics, and theory predicts that these species re…
Double effort: Parental behavior of wild Azara's owl monkeys in the face of twins
In species of mammals that habitually bear single offspring, like most anthropoid primates, the occurrence of twins is expected to impose considerable energetic costs on the caretakers. The question then arises of how caregivers cope with the potentially increased costs of raising twins. These increased costs should lead to differing developmental rates in twins when compared to singletons, and/or to changes in the caregivers' behavior. Likewise,…
The Interplay of Landscape Features and Social System on the Genetic Structure of a Primate Population: An Agent-Based Simulation Study Using “Tamarins”
Fission-Fusion Dynamics: New Research Frameworks
Renewed interest in fission-fusion dynamics is due to the recognition that such dynamics may create unique challenges for social interaction and distinctive selective pressures acting on underlying communicative and cognitive abilities. New frameworks for integrating current knowledge on fission-fusion dynamics emerge from a fundamental rethinking of the term "fission-fusion" away from its current general use as a label for a particular modal typ…
Time Allocation Patterns of Lowland Woolly Monkeys (Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii) in a Neotropical Terra Firma Forest
Molecular genetic approaches to the study of primate behavior, social organization, and reproduction
In the past several decades, the development of novel molecular techniques and the advent of noninvasive DNA sampling, coupled with the ease and speed with which molecular analyses can now be performed, have made it possible for primatologists to directly examine the fitness effects of individual behavior and to explore how variation in behavior and social systems influences primate population genetic structure. This review describes the theoreti…
Diet and Feeding Ecology of Woolly Monkeys in a Western Amazonian Rain Forest
Social Behavior, Reproductive Strategies, and Population Genetic Structure of Lagothrix poeppigii
Behavior, Ecology, and Demography of Aotus vociferans in Yasuní National Park, Ecuador
The evolution of pair‐living, sexual monogamy, and cooperative infant care: Insights from research on wild owl monkeys, titis, sakis, and tamarins
“Monogamy” and pair bonding have long been of interest to anthropologists and primatologists. Their study contributes to our knowledge of human evolutionary biology and social evolution without the cultural trappings associated with studying human societies directly. Here, we first provide an overview of theoretical considerations, followed by an evaluation of recent comparative studies of the evolution of “social monogamy”; we are left with seri…
Terrestrial Behavior in Titi Monkeys (Callicebus, Cheracebus, and Plecturocebus): Potential Correlates, Patterns, and Differences between Genera
A Novel Use of Camera Traps to Study Demography and Life History in Wild Animals: A Case Study of Spider Monkeys (Ateles belzebuth)
Effects of predation risk on the grouping patterns of white‐bellied spider monkeys ( Ateles belzebuth belzebuth ) in Western Amazonia
Predation is proposed to be one of the most important factors influencing the evolution of mammalian societies. Although predation risk is thought to influence both the behavior and grouping patterns of most diurnal primates, evidence supporting this hypothesis is still limited. The spatial and temporal patterns of mineral lick use by one group of white‐bellied spider monkeys ( Ateles belzebuth ) were evaluated, based on the growing evidence that…
Ranging behavior and potential for territoriality in equatorial sakis ( Pithecia aequatorialis ) in Amazonian Ecuador
OBJECTIVES: Territoriality refers to the consistent defense of an area within the home range (HR) against intrusions of conspecifics. It implies exclusive space use with low degree of overlap among neighboring groups, high site fidelity, specific ranging behavior such as high mobility relative to HR size and frequent visits of territory borders, and monitoring behavior. We examined ranging behavior and use of space to evaluate territoriality in P…
Phylogeography of the Critically Endangered Brown Spider Monkey (Ateles hybridus): Testing the Riverine Barrier Hypothesis
Population Genetics, Dispersal, and Kinship Among Wild Squirrel Monkeys (Saimiri sciureus macrodon): Preferential Association Between Closely Related Females and Its Implications for Insect Prey Captu…
The Interplay of Landscape Features and Social System on the Genetic Structure of a Primate Population: An Agent-Based Simulation Study Using “Tamarins”
Male philopatry in spider monkeys revisited
Dispersal patterns are critical for understanding social systems as they influence social interactions and relationships. Spider monkeys ( Ateles spp.) are typically described as being characterized by male philopatry and female dispersal, with these patterns reflected in stronger affiliative and cooperative relationships among males than among females. Recent findings, however, indicate that male–male relationships may not be as uniformly strong…
Contemporary Issues in Ecology, Behavior and Evolution of the Atelin Primates
Analysis of Love Relationships in Functional and Dysfunctional Marriages
35 functional and 35 dysfunctional married couples were compared for their expression of love in their marital relationship. The two groups were differentiated on whether they sought help for marriage problems and on the number and severity of problems they had in their marriages. There was little difference between the two groups in their expectations of expression of love in marriage but the functional married couples expressed significantly mo…
Evolution of social organization: A reappraisal for primates by using phylogenetic methods.
For many animal taxa, the extent to which phylogeny can account for the form of species' social systems has seldom been investigated formally. A quantitative phylogenetic analysis of social systems in the order Primates reveals that social organization may be strongly conserved in some lineages, even in the face of considerable ecological variability. This result has important implications for efforts to understand the evolution of animal societi…
The road less traveled: Phylogenetic perspectives in primatology
Interest in phylogeny is increasing in many areas of evolutionary biology. One area of evolutionary anthropology that has not yet fully embraced this growth in phylogenetic thinking, however, is the study of primate behavior and ecology. 1 The predominant framework for behavioral studies of primates over the last three decades has been socioecological. The goals have been to identify broad correlations between species' behaviors and current envir…
Neotropical Rainforest Mammals: Still a great guide
Neotropical Rain Forest Mammals: A Field Guide, Second Edition. Text by Louise H. Emmons. Illustrations by Francois Feer. Chicago and London, University of Chicago Press, 1997, xvi + 307 pages, 29 color plates, 7 black-and-white plates, 19 figures, 195 maps, $25.95 (paper), $80.00 (cloth).
Time Allocation Patterns of Lowland Woolly Monkeys (Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii) in a Neotropical Terra Firma Forest
Ranging behavior and foraging ecology of lowland woolly monkeys ( Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii ) in Yasuní National Park, Ecuador
In a year‐long study, I investigated the ranging behavior of lowland woolly monkeys ( Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii ) in a terra firma rainforest in Yasuní National Park, Ecuador, and examined the relationship between ranging, diet, food availability, and food patch use for this population. In Yasuní the total home range sizes for two social groups were 124 and 108 ha, which are much smaller than has been reported previously for Lagothrix elsewh…
Molecular genetic approaches to the study of primate behavior, social organization, and reproduction
In the past several decades, the development of novel molecular techniques and the advent of noninvasive DNA sampling, coupled with the ease and speed with which molecular analyses can now be performed, have made it possible for primatologists to directly examine the fitness effects of individual behavior and to explore how variation in behavior and social systems influences primate population genetic structure. This review describes the theoreti…
Diet and Feeding Ecology of Woolly Monkeys in a Western Amazonian Rain Forest
Social Behavior, Reproductive Strategies, and Population Genetic Structure of Lagothrix poeppigii
Contemporary Issues in Ecology, Behavior and Evolution of the Atelin Primates
Scent marking in two western Amazonian populations of woolly monkeys ( Lagothrix lagotricha )
We describe patterns of scent marking observed in two wild populations of lowland woolly monkeys that were the subjects of long‐term studies in the westernmost portion of the Amazon basin. The woolly monkeys engaged primarily in two types of scent marking: chest rubbing and anogenital rubbing. In both study populations, males and females performed both types of scent marking, but males chest‐rubbed more commonly than females, while females engage…
Adult male replacement and subsequent infant care by male and siblings in socially monogamous owl monkeys (Aotus azarai)
Behavior, Ecology, and Demography of Aotus vociferans in Yasuní National Park, Ecuador
Fission-Fusion Dynamics: New Research Frameworks
Renewed interest in fission-fusion dynamics is due to the recognition that such dynamics may create unique challenges for social interaction and distinctive selective pressures acting on underlying communicative and cognitive abilities. New frameworks for integrating current knowledge on fission-fusion dynamics emerge from a fundamental rethinking of the term "fission-fusion" away from its current general use as a label for a particular modal typ…
Drought Sensitivity of the Amazon Rainforest
Amazon forests are a key but poorly understood component of the global carbon cycle. If, as anticipated, they dry this century, they might accelerate climate change through carbon losses and changed surface energy balances. We used records from multiple long-term monitoring plots across Amazonia to assess forest responses to the intense 2005 drought, a possible analog of future events. Affected forest lost biomass, reversing a large long-term car…
Male and female range use in a group of white‐bellied spider monkeys ( Ateles belzebuth ) in Yasuní National Park, Ecuador
Spider monkeys ( Ateles sp.) live in a flexible fission–fusion social system in which members of a social group are not in constant association, but instead form smaller subgroups of varying size and composition. Patterns of range use in spider monkeys have been described as sex‐segregated, with males and females often ranging separately, females utilizing core areas that encompass only a fraction of the entire community range, and males using mu…
Patterns of mineral lick visitation by spider monkeys and howler monkeys in Amazonia: Are licks perceived as risky areas
Mineral licks—also known as “salados,” “saladeros,” or “collpas”—are specific sites in tropical and temperate ecosystems where a large diversity of mammals and birds come regularly to feed on soil. Although the reasons for vertebrate geophagy are not completely understood, animals are argued to obtain a variety of nutritional and health benefits from the ingestion of soil at mineral licks. We studied the temporal patterns of mineral lick use by w…
Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas
Interspecific Infanticide and Infant‐Directed Aggression by Spider Monkeys ( A teles hybridus) in a Fragmented Forest in C olombia
Interspecific aggression amongst nonhuman primates is rarely observed and has been mostly related to scenarios of resource competition. Interspecific infanticide is even rarer, and both the ultimate and proximate socio‐ecological factors explaining this behavior are still unclear. We report two cases of interspecific infanticide and five cases of interspecific infant‐directed aggression occurring in a well‐habituated primate community living in a…
Terrestrial Activity in Pitheciins ( C acajao , C hiropotes , and P ithecia )
Neotropical monkeys of the genera C acajao , C hiropotes , and P ithecia ( P itheciidae) are considered to be highly arboreal, spending most of their time feeding and traveling in the upper canopy. Until now, the use of terrestrial substrates has not been analyzed in detail in this group. Here, we review the frequency of terrestrial use among pitheciin taxa to determine the ecological and social conditions that might lead to such behavior. We col…
A Metagenomic Study of Primate Insect Diet Diversity
Descriptions of primate diets are generally based on either direct observation of foraging behavior, morphological classification of food remains from feces, or analysis of the stomach contents of deceased individuals. Some diet items (e.g. insect prey), however, are difficult to identify visually, and observation conditions often do not permit adequate quantitative sampling of feeding behavior. Moreover, the taxonomically informative morphology …
Genetic Structure and Kinship Patterns in a Population of Black Howler Monkeys, A louatta pigra , at P alenque N ational P ark, M exico
We investigated the genetic structure and kinship patterns of black howler monkeys ( A louatta pigra ) at P alenque N ational P ark, M exico. Fecal samples from 49 individuals residing in eight social groups were successfully genotyped for 19 polymorphic microsatellite markers known to be variable in other ateline primates. Overall, genetic diversity was low ( H o = 0.588) with an average of 4.2 alleles per loci (range = 2–8). We found that inter…
Hyperdominance in the Amazonian Tree Flora
Introduction Recent decades have seen a major international effort to inventory tree communities in the Amazon Basin and Guiana Shield (Amazonia), but the vast extent and record diversity of these forests have hampered an understanding of basinwide patterns. To overcome this obstacle, we compiled and standardized species-level data on more than half a million trees in 1170 plots sampling all major lowland forest types to explore patterns of commo…
Male philopatry in spider monkeys revisited
Dispersal patterns are critical for understanding social systems as they influence social interactions and relationships. Spider monkeys ( Ateles spp.) are typically described as being characterized by male philopatry and female dispersal, with these patterns reflected in stronger affiliative and cooperative relationships among males than among females. Recent findings, however, indicate that male–male relationships may not be as uniformly strong…
Effects of predation risk on the grouping patterns of white‐bellied spider monkeys ( Ateles belzebuth belzebuth ) in Western Amazonia
Predation is proposed to be one of the most important factors influencing the evolution of mammalian societies. Although predation risk is thought to influence both the behavior and grouping patterns of most diurnal primates, evidence supporting this hypothesis is still limited. The spatial and temporal patterns of mineral lick use by one group of white‐bellied spider monkeys ( Ateles belzebuth ) were evaluated, based on the growing evidence that…
Biology (44 works) · Primate Behavior and Ecology (41 works) · Ecology (31 works) · Zoology (29 works) · Animal Behavior and Reproduction (27 works) · Demography (23 works) · Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior (22 works) · Ecology (16 works) · Geography (16 works) · Population (16 works)