Linda Marie Fedigan
Biographic Data
| ID | 82815 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Linda Marie Fedigan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Linda Marie |
| FAMILY NAME | Fedigan |
| SIGNATURE | FEDIGAN L M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Calgary |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9343-629X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 75 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 376 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 75 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1972 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 12 |
MHC-DRB heterozygosity may increase subordinate but not alpha male siring success in white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus imitator)
A History of Primatology in Canada and an Introduction to the Special Issue
Primatological research by anthropologists and evolutionary biologists based in Canada has expanded greatly since its inception ca. 60 years ago. The research foci of the founding primatologists were based on the study of social behaviors to understand human behavior. While Canadian anthropologists have remained interested in how study of our nonhuman primate relatives can inform our understanding of our own species, today the currently active ge…
And Baby Makes Three: Postpartum Changes in Male–Female Affiliative Interactions in White‐Faced Capuchins
In group‐living primates, male investment in infants is highly variable. Previous research on polygynandrous primates found that male care of infants, whether direct or indirect, may be a means to increase offspring survival, increase social status, invest in future mating opportunities, and/or invest in future social or coalition partners, any of which may increase fitness outcomes. Relationships between male white‐faced capuchins ( Cebus imitat…
Mothers of disabled infants had higher cortisol levels in a free‐ranging group of Japanese macaques ( Macaca fuscata )
Glucocorticoids (GCs) are hormones released in response to stressors and can provide insight into an organism's physiological well‐being. Experiencing chronic challenges to homeostasis is associated with significant deviations from baseline fecal GCs (fGCs) in many species, providing a noninvasive biomarker for assessing stress. In the group of free‐ranging Japanese macaques ( Macaca fuscata ) at the Awajishima Monkey Center in Japan, ~17% have c…
My path to primatology: Some stories from the field
Female-committed infanticide followed by juvenile-enacted cannibalism in wild white-faced capuchins
On 5 February 2021, we observed the first instance of female-committed infanticide followed by cannibalism in a long-studied (> 35 years) population of wild white-faced capuchins (Cebus imitator) in the Santa Rosa Sector of the Área de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The events leading up to and including the infanticide and cannibalism were observed and documented ad libitum, with segments digitally recorded, and a post-mortem necropsy perf…
Direct Stacked Investment Is a Flexible Reproductive Strategy for Female Colobus vellerosus
Costs of male infanticide for female capuchins: When does an adaptive male reproductive strategy become costly for females and detrimental to population viability
OBJECTIVES: Infanticide in white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus imitator) typically occurs in association with alpha male replacements (AMRs). Although infanticide is likely adaptive for males, it imposes costs on females that are difficult to quantify without long-term demographic data. Here we investigate effects of AMRs and infanticide on female reproductive success and how these costs affect capuchin groups. We investigate (1) effects of AM…
Reflections of an Imperfect Anthropologist
This article summarizes my perspective on vital lessons that I have learned over my 45 years as a practicing anthropologist. To avoid repeating previously published biographical details of my life, I have only briefly described the facts and stages of my career here. Instead I have focused on a personal account of what I have learned from the events and experiences of my career and have attempted to distill them into underlying premises that have…
Group versus population level demographics: An analysis of comparability using long term data on wild white‐faced capuchin monkeys ( Cebus capucinus imitator )
Primates have long been used as indicator species for assessing overall ecosystem health. However, area‐wide census methods are time consuming, costly, and not always feasible under many field conditions. Therefore, it is important to establish whether monitoring a subset of a population accurately reflects demographic changes occurring in the population at large. Over the past 35 years, we have conducted 15 area‐wide censuses in Sector Santa Ros…
The nutritional importance of invertebrates to female Cebus capucinus imitator in a highly seasonal tropical dry forest
OBJECTIVES: Invertebrates are important foods for many primates and provide valuable nutrients often unavailable from plant sources. We examine the diet of white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus imitator) to determine: (a) timing and types of invertebrate food consumption; (b) whether invertebrate consumption varies with availability of plant foods; and (c) how invertebrates contribute to energy and protein intake of females during different repr…
Infant mortality in white‐faced capuchins: The impact of alpha male replacements
Infanticide is common in the context of alpha male replacements (AMR), particularly in groups where alpha males experience high reproductive skew and the infants are unlikely to be related to a new alpha male. We examined the relationship between the rate of infant mortality, infant age, and the occurrence and type of AMR in white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus imitator) of the Santa Rosa population in Sector Santa Rosa, Área de Conserva…
Using urinary parameters to estimate seasonal variation in the physical condition of female white‐faced capuchin monkeys ( Cebus capucinus imitator )
OBJECTIVES: The physical condition of females depends on access to resources, which vary over space and time. Assessing variation in physical condition can help identify factors affecting reproductive success, but noninvasive measurement is difficult in wild animals. Creatinine concentration relative to the specific gravity (i.e., density) of urine has promise for noninvasively quantifying the relative muscle mass (RMM) of wild primates. We verif…
Hormonal correlates of life history characteristics in wild female Colobus vellerosus
Paternal kin recognition and infant care in white‐faced capuchins ( Cebus capucinus )
Evidence for paternal kin recognition and paternally biased behaviors is mixed among primates. We investigate whether infant handling behaviors exhibit paternal kin biases in wild white-faced capuchins monkeys (Cebus capucinus) by comparing interactions between infants and genetic sires, potential sires, siblings (full sibling, maternal, and paternal half-siblings) and unrelated handlers. We used a linear mixed model approach to analyze data coll…
Seasonal importance of flowers to Costa Rican capuchins ( Cebus capucinus imitator ): Implications for plant and primate
OBJECTIVES: Our goal is to investigate flower foraging by capuchin monkeys, a behavior rarely studied in wild primates. We ask what drives seasonal variation in florivory rates: flower quality and abundance or fluctuations in fruit and invertebrate abundances. We explore how capuchins affect the reproductive success of flower food species by quantifying the potential pollination rate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We followed capuchin groups from dawn t…
Male endocrine response to seasonally varying environmental and social factors in a neotropical primate, Cebus capucinus
OBJECTIVE: Circannual variation in reproduction is pervasive in birds and mammals. In primates, breeding seasonality is variable, with seasonal birth peaks occurring even in year-round breeders. Environmental seasonality is reportedly an important contributor to the observed variation in reproductive seasonality. Given that food availability is the primary factor constraining female reproduction, predictions concerning responsiveness to environme…
Quantifying seasonal fallback on invertebrates, pith, and bromeliad leaves by white‐faced capuchin monkeys ( C ebus capucinus ) in a tropical dry forest
OBJECTIVES: Fallback foods (FBFs) are hypothesized to shape the ecology, morphology, and behavior of primates, including hominins. Identifying FBFs is therefore critical for revealing past and present foraging adaptations. Recent research suggests invertebrates act as seasonal FBFs for many primate species and human populations. Yet, studies measuring the consumption of invertebrates relative to ecological variation are widely lacking. We address…
The Behavioral Ecology of Color Vision: Considering Fruit Conspicuity, Detection Distance and Dietary Importance
Social consequences of disability in a nonhuman primate
Seasonality, extractive foraging and the evolution of primate sensorimotor intelligence
Predictors of Parasitism in Wild White-Faced Capuchins (Cebus capucinus)
Dominance style of female white‐faced capuchins
Dominance style, the level of tolerance displayed by dominant individuals toward subordinate ones, is exhibited along a continuum from despotic to relaxed. It is a useful concept to describe the nature of dominance relationships in macaque species and it bridges among multiple features of dominance hierarchies, aggression, kinship and conflict resolution. Capuchins share many behavioral similarities with Old World monkeys and like macaques, may e…
Disability, Compensatory Behavior, and Innovation in Free‐Ranging Adult Female J apanese Macaques ( M acaca Fuscata )
Little is known about consequences of disability in nonhuman primates, yet individuals with disabilities can reveal much about behavioral flexibility, innovation, and the capabilities of a species. The M acaca fuscata population surrounding the A wajishima M onkey C enter has experienced high rates of congenital limb malformation for at least 40 years, creating a unique opportunity to examine consequences of physical impairment in situ , in a rel…
Social factors influencing natal dispersal in male white‐faced capuchins ( Cebus capucinus )
White‐faced capuchin males disperse from their natal group at around 4.5 years of age, but there is much variation in dispersal timing: our youngest confirmed disperser was 19 months and the oldest 11 years old. In this study, we investigate possible factors influencing dispersal decisions in this species. Between 1983 and 2010, 64 males were born into three study groups in Santa Rosa National Park, Area de Conservación Guanacaste, and Costa Rica…
Social Conventions in Wild White-faced Capuchin Monkeys: Evidence for Traditions in a Neotropical Primate
Ten researchers collaborated in a longterm study of social conventions in wild whitefaced capuchin monkeys, involving examination of a 19,000hour combined data set collected on 13 social groups at four study sites in Costa Rica over a 13year period. Five behavior patterns qualified as social traditions, according to the studys criteria: handsniffing, sucking of body parts, and three types of games. Some conventions were independently invented in …
Sex differences and intersexual relations in adult white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus)
Menopause: A comparative life history perspective
As a life history characteristic of human females, menopause is universal, it occurs halfway through the maximum lifespan of the species, and it consistently occurs at approximately age 50 in different populations. Menopause is fundamentally distinct from the reproductive senescence that has been described for a very small number of very old individual alloprimates. Menopause is not a recent historical artifact. As a species universal showing lit…
Effects of Reproductive Status on Energy Intake, Ingestion Rates, and Dietary Composition of Female Cebus capucinus at Santa Rosa, Costa Rica
Behavioral adaptations to heat stress and water scarcity in white‐faced capuchins ( Cebus capucinus ) in Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica
We examined thermoregulatory behaviors in a wild population of white‐faced capuchins ( Cebus capucinus ) inhabiting a highly seasonal dry forest in Santa Rosa National Park (SRNP), Costa Rica. The dry season in SRNP lasts ∼5 months and is characterized by high ambient temperatures regularly exceeding 37°C, low relative humidity, and the near absence of precipitation. This study demonstrates that capuchins rest more and travel shorter distances du…
Primate paradigms: Sex Roles and Social Bonds
Dominance and reproductive success in primates
Theoretical models of the relationship between competition and differential reproduction in primates share the premise that agonistic dominance hierarchies determine differential access to those limited resources which are essential to reproduction. In particular, the priority‐of‐access‐to‐estrous‐female model is based on the postulate that high rank in males enhances reproductive success. Tests for a correlation between rank and reproductive suc…
Neotropical Primates in a Regenerating Costa Rican Dry Forest: A Comparison of Howler and Capuchin Population Patterns
Science and the Successful Female: Why There Are So Many Women Primatologists
The Behavioral Ecology of Color Vision: Considering Fruit Conspicuity, Detection Distance and Dietary Importance
Seasonality, extractive foraging and the evolution of primate sensorimotor intelligence
Impact of Male Takeovers on Infant Deaths, Births and Conceptions in Cebus capucinus at Santa Rosa, Costa Rica
Growth of Mantled Howler Groups in a Regenerating Costa Rican Dry Forest
Reproductive Seasonality in Female Capuchins (Cebus capucinus) in Santa Rosa (Area de Conservación Guanacaste), Costa Rica
Predictors of reproductive success in female white‐faced capuchins ( Cebus capucinus )
Early investigations into variable reproductive success in nonhuman primates tended to focus on the benefits conferred by high dominance rank. However, the effect of high rank on individual reproductive success has been found to vary both intra‐ and interspecifically, requiring researchers to expand their investigations to include additional factors. Here we examine the age and rank of the mother, sex of the infant, group size, number of close ki…
Why Be Vigilant? The Case of the Alpha Animal
Fig Foraging by Dichromatic and Trichromatic Cebus capucinus in a Tropical Dry Forest
Variability in food‐processing behavior among white‐faced capuchins ( Cebus capucinus ) in Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica
Observed patterns of variability in the food‐processing behavior of white‐faced capuchins ( Cebus capucinus ) across populations may reflect foraging traditions. However, there has been relatively little attention given to intrapopulation variability in food processing among groups and age/sex classes, making recent cross‐population comparisons difficult to interpret. In this paper, we provide data on patterns of object use in foraging that we ob…
Population dynamics of Arashiyama west Japanese macaques
Japanese monkey group translocation: Effects on seasonal breeding
Grooming and consort partner selection in a troop of Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata)
Dominance style of female white‐faced capuchins
Dominance style, the level of tolerance displayed by dominant individuals toward subordinate ones, is exhibited along a continuum from despotic to relaxed. It is a useful concept to describe the nature of dominance relationships in macaque species and it bridges among multiple features of dominance hierarchies, aggression, kinship and conflict resolution. Capuchins share many behavioral similarities with Old World monkeys and like macaques, may e…
Birth in Free-ranging Macaca fuscata
Evaluating social influences on food-processing behavior in white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus)
Interpopulation variability in patterns of food processing, similar to what is described as "traditional" or "cultural" variation in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus), was identified in white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus). However, recent comparisons of food processing in capuchins were conducted only at the population level, with relatively little attention given to variability among groups, age/sex classes, or in…
Territoriality in the St Kitts vervet, Cercopithecus aethiops
Social and solitary play in a colony of vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops)
Responses of a transplanted troop of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) to bobcat (Lynx rufus) predation
Grooming and consort partner selection in a troop of Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata)
Japanese monkey group translocation: Effects on seasonal breeding
Primate paradigms: Sex Roles and Social Bonds
Population dynamics of Arashiyama west Japanese macaques
Dominance and reproductive success in primates
Theoretical models of the relationship between competition and differential reproduction in primates share the premise that agonistic dominance hierarchies determine differential access to those limited resources which are essential to reproduction. In particular, the priority‐of‐access‐to‐estrous‐female model is based on the postulate that high rank in males enhances reproductive success. Tests for a correlation between rank and reproductive suc…
Sex differences and social organization in free-ranging spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi)
Territoriality in the St Kitts vervet, Cercopithecus aethiops
The Changing Role of Women in Models of Human Evolution
Infrastructures are material forms that allow for the possibility of exchange over space. They are the physical networks through which goods, ideas, waste, power, people, and finance are trafficked. In this article I trace the range of anthropological ...Read More
Ecological and demographic influences on the pattern of association in St. Kitts vervets
Spider monkey home ranges: A comparison of radio telemetry and direct observation
The ranging patterns of two male and five female spider monkeys ( Ateles geoffroyi ) were studied with the use of radio telemetry in Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica. The average size of a spider monkey home range was 62.4 hectares; however, range size varied with sex, and, for females, with the presence of a dependent infant. The probability of encountering a radio‐collared spider monkey in a three‐hour search using radio telemetry (0.91) wa…
Biological Anthropology: Parenting Across the Life Span: Biosocial Dimensions . Jane B. Lancaster, Jeanne Altmann, Alice S. Rossi , and Lonnie R. Sherrod , eds
Gender and the Study of Primates: (596382011-004)
Menopause: A comparative life history perspective
As a life history characteristic of human females, menopause is universal, it occurs halfway through the maximum lifespan of the species, and it consistently occurs at approximately age 50 in different populations. Menopause is fundamentally distinct from the reproductive senescence that has been described for a very small number of very old individual alloprimates. Menopause is not a recent historical artifact. As a species universal showing lit…
Neither a Genre of Feminism nor of Ethical Naturalism: Primatology as a Source of Naturalistic Truth and Fallacy
Important insight into a problem can result from cross-disciplinary thinking. And yet, when I read an argument such as Arnhart's, I am often struck by the difficulty of bridging the gaps between disciplines, especially in relation to words that may be commonly used but differentially understood. The word nature is used without definition in many different forms and contexts in Arnhart's paper; and yet, throughout my reading of it, I felt that the…
Sex differences and intersexual relations in adult white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus)
Science and the Successful Female: Why There Are So Many Women Primatologists
Interbirth interval variation in three sympatric species of neotropical monkey
Relatively few papers have focused on interbirth intervals in primates, even though the spacing between births is one of the primary determinants of female reproductive success in long‐lived mammals. We present life history data from a ten‐year field study of Costa Rican capuchins ( Cebus capucinus ), howlers ( Alouatta palliata ), and spidei monkeys ( Ateles geoffroyi ). Analyses of intraspecific variability found no significant differences attr…
Why Be Vigilant? The Case of the Alpha Animal
Sex differences in mortality of Japanese macaques: Twenty-one years of data from the Arashiyama West population
Theorists argue that mortality in male mammals should be higher than that of females, and many studies of primates followed across the life course have found this to be the case. This study examines mortality patterns in the rapidly expanding Arashiyama West (Texas) population of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) and finds that males have a significantly lower median survival age (12.2 years) in comparison to females (20.5 years). Males and fema…
Changing Images of Primate Societies
Growth of Mantled Howler Groups in a Regenerating Costa Rican Dry Forest
Reproductive termination in female Japanese monkeys: A comparative life history perspective
This study explores the question of reproductive termination (loss of reproductive ability) in female Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) from the Arashiyama West (Texas) troop. We used a large sample of completed lives to identify reproductively terminated female Japanese macaques and to consider reproductive termination in Japanese macaques from a comparative life history perspective, which permits meaningful comparisons to be made with human fe…
A view on the science: Physical anthropology at the millennium
EN LA MEMORIA SE ABORDA, EN PRIMER LUGAR, EL ESTUDIO ALGEBRAICO DE LAS PROPIEDADES QUE INTERVIENEN EN LOS MODELOS DE COMPORTAMIENTO RACIONAL QUE APARECEN EN LA LITERATURA ECONOMICA, ASI COMO DE OTROS MAS GENERALES, EN SEGUNDO LUGAR, SE OBTIENEN REPRESENTACIONES NUMERICAS, A TRAVES DE FUNCIONES REALES, DE LAS RELACIONES DE PREFERENCIA TRANSITIVAS Y ACICLICAS, TODA VEZ QUE NO EXISTEN EN LA LITERATURA CARACTERIZACIONES COMPLETAS DE DICHAS ESTRUC-PRE…
Biology (65 works) · Primate Behavior and Ecology (64 works) · Demography (40 works) · Ecology (36 works) · Zoology (35 works) · Animal Behavior and Reproduction (32 works) · Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior (29 works) · Ecology (28 works) · Animal ecology (25 works) · Population (23 works)