Dl. Gebo et Ca. Chapman, HABITAT, ANNUAL, AND SEASONAL EFFECTS ON POSITIONAL BEHAVIOR IN RED COLOBUS MONKEYS, American journal of physical anthropology, 96(1), 1995, pp. 73-82
Positional behavior in adult red colobus monkeys (Colobus badius) was
examined in a variety of ecological contexts. Using a focal-animal met
hodology, we assessed how data collected by different observers, in di
fferent years, in different seasons, and in different forests affected
estimates of positional behavior. In all, 23,000 bouts were recorded.
Variation in frequency is greatest in the common behaviors, especiall
y arboreal quadrupedalism. Significant behavioral differences occur mo
re often in the context of different forests than in annual or seasona
l comparisons. The activity of feeding exhibits the largest frequency
changes across positional behavior and ecological context. In all, red
colobus monkeys exhibit substantial amounts of flexibility in positio
nal behavior across different ecological contexts. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss
, Inc.