Springer Science and Business Media LLC

China is one of the countries with the greatest diversity of nonhuman primate species: 22 species with 30 subspecies, in 6 genera and 3 families. Primatology in China started in 1862, but fruitful study began only in the 1950s. More than 2,000 academic papers have been published, covering systematics, evolution, ecology, etho-ecology, conservation, reproduction and neuroscience. We review primatology in China over the past century, concentrating mostly on systematics, etho-ecology, conservation and reproduction. We aim to share this information with international colleagues and to seek possibilities for collaboration in the future.

African anthropoids are first recorded in Early Oligocene deposits of the Fayum Province, Egypt. Six genera and nine species are recognized. Estimated body weights for these taxa are based on the regression equation log10(B) = 2.86log10(L) + 1.37, whereB is the bodyweight in grams, and Lis the M2length in millimeters. The equation is derived from 106 species of living primates. Fayum species range in body weight from about 600 g (Apidium moustafai)to about 6000 g (Aegyptopithecus zeuxis).A similar range of body weight is found among extant Cebidae. The Fayum primates are larger than any extant insectivorous primates;this fact probably rules out a predominantly insectivorous diet. Extant frugivorous hominoids can be separated from folivorous hominoids on the basis of molar morphology. Folivorous apes (gorilla and siamang) have proportionately more shearing on their molars than do frugivorous species. Based on the hominoid analogy, the molar morphology of the Fayum species is consistent with a frugivorous diet. Parapithecus grangeristands apart from other Fayum species in having better developed molar shearing, possibly indicating that it had more fiber in its diet. Terrestrial species of Old World monkeys tend to have significantly higher molar crowns than do more arboreal species. This difference may relate to an increased amount of grit in the diet of the more terrestrial species, selecting for greater resistance to wear. Oligocene primates have molar crown heights consistent with a primarily arboreal mode of existence. However, the particularly high molar crowns of Parapithecus grangerisuggest that this species may have foraged on the ground to a considerable degree. Other evidence is advanced suggesting that Apidiummay have had a diurnal activity pattern.

I describe the patterns of forelimb movements that facilitate adult red howling monkeys (Alouatta seniculus) to advance quadrupedally on arboreal trails in directions ± 45° from the horizontal, the articular surface morphology at the scapulohumeral and elbow joints, and the structure of the trails. Results indicate (1) that red howlers splay their forelimbs when advancing on arboreal trails of mesh-like substrates, but they do not splay them to proceed on unilineal arboreal trails, and (2) that the articular surfaces are adapted to enable the scapulohumeroulnar bony alignments that result in both splayed and nonsplayed forelimb motions. These results have implications for the locomotor habits of several fossil catarrhines.

Social animals benefit from group living. However, competition for limited resources may lead to agonistic conflicts. These conflicts can affect the behavior and the social relationships, not only of the individuals involved in the confrontation, but also of bystanders. The aim of this study was to describe postconflict affiliative interactions among bystanders (quadratic affiliation) in a captive group of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) and test whether 1) after observing a conflict bystanders tend to interact with other bystanders, 2) conflicts increase bystanders’ rates of self-directed behaviors (SDBs), 3) postconflict rates of SDBs mediate affiliative interactions between bystanders, and 4) quadratic affiliation decreases rates of SDBs to baseline levels. We used the postconflict matched-control (PC-MC) method (5 min focal samples) to record bystanders’ behavior (156 PC-MC pairs from 15 subjects). Results show that bystanders’ rates of SDBs increased above baseline levels after conflicts. Bystanders responded to conflicts by increasing affiliation with other bystanders (mainly with close associates) but not with former combatants. After quadratic affiliation, rates of SDBs decreased to baseline levels. Together with previous findings, these results support the idea that quadratic affiliation is a tension reduction mechanism in less tolerant species.

Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) in a Sumatran swamp forest used home ranges far larger than any described so far for the species, in spite of living at the highest density on record. Although it was difficult to estimate home range sizes, minimum reliably estimated home range sizes for adult females are ca. 850 ha, whereas subadult and adult males used ranges of at least ca. 2500 ha, and perhaps much more. Range overlap was very high: up to 16 adult females, 9 adult males and at least 15 subadult males were seen within a single 4-ha square in the center of the study area. We found no evidence for the use of seasonally distincthome ranges—commuters—, and only some subadult males may have been transients—wanderers—without a stable home range. The large size of the home ranges is attributed to the coarse grain of the habitat mosaic, with orangutans converging on parts with a high density of favored fruit trees. Orangutans at this swamp forest included a variety of habitat types within their ranges.

A geographically and temporally widespread pattern of repetitive episodes of developmental stress, recorded as furrows of linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) in most recent and fossil apes, requires explanation. I compared observations of LEH recurrence among museum specimens of Pan troglodytes and Pan paniscus with historical weather records of seasonally recurrent combinations of lower temperature, higher rain and wind (“cold discomfort”). I imaged samples of 34 canine teeth (N = 20 animals, 54 independent LEH) from P. troglodytes from Fongoli, Senegal, and Taï Forest, Côte d’Ivoire and P. paniscus from the Democratic Republic of Congo with a scanning electron microscope and counted perikymata between and within LEH events. I converted counts to time using published Retzius periodicities (the number of days taken to form enamel layers, visible in thin sections) and compared their recurrence and duration to seasonal peaks of incidence and the intensity of cold discomfort. Using the longest Retzius periodicity (9 days), chimpanzees and bonobos show LEH lasting about 7–9 weeks, respectively, recurring annually. Most bonobos also show just-under semiannual recurrence of LEH. “Colder, wetter, windier” weeks recur annually at the P. troglodytes locations and semiannually at P. paniscus sites. When the combination of “below median temperatures, above median rain and winds” peaks in intensity and incidence over a 7-week period, daily “minimum hourly” temperatures average 20–21°C (7–9°C below lower critical body temperature for chimpanzees) with wind 3 times and rainfall 30 times higher than usual. These findings suggest that seasonal cold discomfort may be an important factor in episodic enamel hypoplasia in many nonhuman primates.