The mother-child conflict in the Black and Golden Howler Monkey and its comparison in two parts of north-eastern Argentina

Lead researcher: Romina Elizabeth Pavé (Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences).

Description:
Primates have a long childhood compared to that of other mammals (Janson and van Schaik, 1993). During this period of development, children depend on their mother and other individuals in their social group for their nutritional needs, transportation and protection (STRI, 1999; Silk, 2005). As the child grows, it gradually becomes independent of its mother in terms of food and motor skills, and behavioural conflicts between them begin to appear (STRI 1999).

This project investigates the evolution of sociability in primates and modelling factors in the relationship between mothers and offspring. This research examines the relationship between the mother-child conflict in the Black and Golden Howler Monkey and the ecological characteristics of two forests with different structure and floristic composition in north-eastern Argentina.

The overall objective is to study the mother-child conflict to understand their adaptive function and to analyze how certain environmental, behavioural and life history variables influence the intensity of this conflict. Moreover, the specific objective is to compare the behaviour of children and their mothers in six groups of Alouatta caraya in two environments of north-eastern Argentina which vary in structure and floristic composition and in the seasonal availability of food, and to study if these ecological variables affect the intensity and frequency of conflict.

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