Júlio César Bicca-Marques

Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul | PUCRS · Escola de Ciências da Saúde e da Vida

Objectives Although fermented food use is ubiquitous in humans, the ecological and evolutionary factors contributing to its emergence are unclear. Here we investigated the ecological contexts surrounding the consumption of fruits in the late stages of fermentation by wild primates to provide insight into its adaptive function. We hypothesized that...

Infectious diseases are a growing threat to the conservation of nonhuman primates. In the case of diseases shared with humans, the risk is higher where habitat loss and fragmentation facilitate proximity to wildlife. Yellow fever (YF) is an infectious disease transmitted by mosquito vectors between primates in a sylvatic cycle or between humans in...

Land-use change transforms natural ecosystems, threatening species persistence worldwide. There is increasing evidence that forest loss negatively affects forest-dependent species and matrix quality can favor species maintenance, whereas forest fragmentation has mainly null or positive effects on species. However, the effects of these landscape att...

Primates, represented by 521 species, are distributed across 91 countries primarily in the Neotropic, Afrotropic, and Indo-Malayan realms. Primates inhabit a wide range of habitats and play critical roles in sustaining healthy ecosystems that benefit human and nonhuman communities. Approximately 68% of primate species are threatened with extinction...

Among mammals, the order Primates is exceptional in having a high taxonomic richness in which the taxa are arboreal, semiterrestrial, or terrestrial. Although habitual terrestriality is pervasive among the apes and African and Asian monkeys (catarrhines), it is largely absent among monkeys of the Americas (platyrrhines), as well as galagos, lemurs,...

Eukaryotes are important components of primate gut communities. Despite their role in the diversity and structure of the gut ecosystem, microbiome research has focused on the prokaryotic component of the gut community. While gut bacteria are shaped by host phylogeny and diet, these factors are known to have negligible effects on eukaryotic diversit...

Food supplementation by humans in peri-urban and urban landscapes can lead to excessive intake of energy and certain macronutrients, and affect animal health. In this study, we evaluated the influence of food supplementation on urinary health indicators in brown howler monkeys (Alouatta guariba) by comparing supplemented and non-supplemented free-r...

The gut microbiome has the potential to buffer temporal variations in resource availability and consumption, which may play a key role in the ability of animals to adapt to a broad range of habitats. We investigated the temporal composition and function of the gut microbiomes of wild common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) exploiting a hot, dry envir...

Habitat modification due to human activities threatens species survival. While some species can inhabit habitat patches in anthropogenic landscapes, their occurrence often depends on landscape structure. We assessed the effects of landscape structure on brown howler monkey (Alouatta guariba clamitans) occurrence in an urban scenario. We conducted c...

A close phylogenetic relationship between nonhuman primates (NHPs) and humans is recognized as a causal subjacent factor to the sharing and coevolution of zoonotic pathogens. A relevant barrier to limit the transmission of infectious agents between humans and NHPs is the reduction of exposure and interspecific encounters. Neotropical NHPs occur fro...

Conservation funding is currently limited; cost-effective conservation solutions are essential. We suggest that the thousands of field stations worldwide can play key roles at the frontline of biodiversity conservation and have high intrinsic value. We assessed field stations’ conservation return on investment and explored the impact of COVID-19. W...

This chapter provides an overview of the knowledge on mammals in the Campos Sulinos. To date, 134 native species have been recorded, of which eleven are endemic. Through a topical analysis of the literature produced so far, we present research priorities on several topics and subregions. Currently, there is a reasonable body of knowledge on small m...

Postings on social media on Twitter (now X), BioAnthropology News (Facebook), and other venues, as well as recent publications in prominent journals, show that primatologists, ecologists, and other researchers are questioning the terms "Old World" and "New World" due to their colonial implications and history. The terms are offensive if they result...

The consumption of vertebrate tissues and eggs (hereinafter "meat") is relatively common among some primates that are highly frugivorous or eclectic omnivores, but rare or absent in those that are highly folivorous. The Neotropical howler monkeys (Alouatta spp.) belong in the latter group. Here we report the consumption of meat by free-ranging urba...

Primates are facing an impending extinction crisis. Here, we examine the set of conservation challenges faced by the 100 primate species that inhabit the Brazilian Amazon, the largest remaining area of primary tropical rainforest in the world. The vast majority (86%) of Brazil's Amazonian primate species have declining populations. Primate populati...

Assemblage structure and acquisition of high-value resources will usually be affected by changes in resource availability and differential competitive abilities of assemblage members. In fragmented habitats where carrying capacity limits are exceeded due to high population densities and biomass, interspecific interactions can be expected to occur a...

Filho de um imigrante italiano e de mãe brasileira, Roque Callage nasceu em 1888, em Santa Maria, cidade em que realizou suas primeiras incursões pela imprensa. Esse foi um de seus principais espaços de atuação, tendo colaborado com diversas publicações, do interior do Rio Grande do Sul ao Rio de Janeiro. Escreveu também um dicionário de termos gau...

Context Environmental change can affect the ecology and behavior of host and parasite species and modulate the composition of within-host parasite communities. Objectives We assessed if habitat patch size and landscape structure (forest cover, matrix permeability, patch density, and mean distance to the nearest forest fragment) influence the richn...

Among mammals, the order Primates is exceptional in having a high taxonomic richness in which the taxa are arboreal, semiterrestrial, or terrestrial. Although habitual terrestrial-ity is pervasive among the apes and African and Asian monkeys (catarrhines), it is largely absent among monkeys of the Americas (platyrrhines), as well as galagos, lemurs...

Alouatta guariba is endemic to the Atlantic Forest in eastern Brazil and northeastern Argentina. In the south, its range is limited by the Camaquã river basin in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (Printes et al. 2001) and, in the past, to the north by the Rio Paraguaçu in the state of Bahia (Gregorin 2006).

Urbanization and deforestation impose severe challenges to wildlife, particularly for forest-living vertebrates. Understanding how the peri-urban matrix impacts their survival is critical for designing strategies to promote their conservation. We investigated the threats faced by brown howler monkeys (Alouatta guariba clamitans) in peri-urban regio...

Animals that forage in groups may either search actively for food sources (producers, P) or monitor other members of the group in an attempt to consume resources that producers have encountered (scroungers, S). One factor that may influence the choice of foraging strategy is the finder's share, defined as the proportion of the resource consumed by...

Urbanization and deforestation impose severe challenges to wildlife, particularly for forest-living vertebrates. Understanding how the peri-urban matrix impacts their survival is critical for designing strategies to promote their conservation. We investigated the threats faced by brown howler monkeys (Alouatta guariba clamitans) in peri-urban regio...

Primate–parasite interactions are often investigated via coprological studies given ethical and conservation restrictions of collecting primate hosts. Yet, these studies are inadequate to recover adult helminths for taxonomic identification and to accurately assess their prevalence, intensity, abundance, and site of infection. Fresh carcasses found...

Within‐group competition over food resources can be a major cost of social living. In the wild, foragers are confronted with social (e.g. hierarchical rank) and ecological (e.g. food availability and distribution) challenges that affect their foraging decisions and feeding success. Exhibiting prosocial behaviours, such as tolerance at feeding sites...

Platyrrhini are highly vulnerable to the yellow fever (YF) virus. From 2016 to 2018, the Atlantic Forest of southeast Brazil faced its worst sylvatic YF outbreak in about a century, thought to have killed thousands of primates. It is essential to assess the impact of this epidemic on threatened primate assemblages to design effective conservation s...

The main factors influencing feeding competition among members of diurnal primate groups are the distribution, availability, and quality of food resources. Socioecological models predict that temporal availability of preferred resources, such as fruit, can influence intragroup feeding competition, which is expected to affect rates of agonism and in...

Context Anthropogenic habitat disturbances that affect the ecology and behavior of parasites and hosts can either facilitate or compromise their interactions and modulate the parasite richness. Objectives We assessed if the size of the habitat patch, the composition and configuration of the landscape (forest cover, patch density and mean distance t...

Objectives Although fermented food use is ubiquitous in humans, the ecological and evolutionary factors contributing to its emergence are unclear. Here we investigated the ecological contexts surrounding the consumption of fruits in the late stages of fermentation by wild primates to provide insight into its adaptive function. We hypothesized that...

Water is vital for the survival of any species because of its key role in most physiological processes. However, little is known about the non-food-related water sources exploited by arboreal mammals, the seasonality of their drinking behavior and its potential drivers, including diet composition, temperature, and rainfall. We investigated this sub...

Despite its large range, occurrence in numerous nature reserves in several countries, and apparent adaptation to modified habitats, Alouatta caraya is considered Near Threatened due to a suspected population reduction of 25-30% over 36 years (three generations; 2004-2040) due to ongoing loss of suitable habitat, hunting pressure, and the susceptibi...

This species is listed as Least Concern as it is relatively widely distributed, adaptable, occurs in a number of protected areas, and because the current rate of decline (due to habitat loss and fragmentation and hunting), is not sufficient to qualify it for, or near for, a threatened category.

Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become invasive, it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a nonnative habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat, and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown. In...

Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) provides a long-term retrospective measure of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity, and is increasingly used to assess the life history, health and ecology of wild mammals. Given that sex, age, season and pregnancy influence HCC, and that it may indicate ongoing stress, we examined HCC in common marmosets (...

This species is listed as Endangered based on a suspected population reduction of >50% over the past three generations (2000-2018) due to habitat loss (>43%), competition and hybridization with invasive species, and occasional live capture for the pet trade.

With 60% of all primate species now threatened with extinction and many species only persisting in small populations in forest fragments, conservation action is urgently needed. But what type of action? Here we argue that restoration of primate habitat will be an essential component of strategies aimed at conserving primates and preventing the exti...

Habitat loss and fragmentation are major threats to the conservation of nonhuman primates. Given that species differ in their responses to fragmented landscapes, identifying the factors that enable them to cope with altered environments or that cause their extirpation is critical to design conservation management strategies. Howler monkeys ( Alouat...

In this paper published in Primates, we report the first case of successful infant adoption in a wild group of brown howler monkeys (Alouatta guariba clamitans). We evaluated the potential costs of the behavior for the adoptive mother by comparing her activity budget and diet before and after the adoption. On 18 June 2013, a domestic dog killed the...

These datasets were used to run the analyses described in the following in press paper: Chaves ÓM, Martins V, Camaratta D, Bicca-Marques JC. 2019. Successful adoption of an orphan infant in a wild group of brown howler monkeys Primates (in press). The same datasets are also available in Medeley data: http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/z2syyjdv8h.3

Datasets used to run the analysis presented in the paper: Chaves ÓM, Amorim Fernandes F, Turcato Oliveira G, Bicca-Marques JC. 2019. Assessing the influence of biotic, abiotic, and social factors on the physiological stress of a large Neotropical primate in Atlantic Forest fragments. Science of the Total Environment 690:705–716. The same dataset...

Research is a highly competitive profession where evaluation plays a central role; journals are ranked and individuals are evaluated based on their publication number, the number of times they are cited and their h-index. Yet such evaluations are often done in inappropriate ways that are damaging to individual careers, particularly for young schola...

Howlers are highly susceptible to yellow fever, and two recent outbreaks have severely affected their numbers.

For arboreal primates, ground use may increase dispersal opportunities, tolerance to habitat change, access to ground-based resources, and resilience to human disturbances, and so has conservation implications. We collated published and unpublished data from 86 studies across 65 localities to assess titi monkey (Callicebinae) terrestriality. We exa...

Research on the influence of food supplementation on primate behavior has focused on terrestrial and semiterrestrial species. Its effects on highly arboreal species are poorly known. We assessed the influence of food supplementation on the feeding behavior and activity budget of four adult female and two adult male brown howler monkeys (Alouatta gu...

Wildlife physiological responses to environmental and human-related stressors provide useful clues on animal welfare. Non-invasive biomarkers, such as fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCM), allow researchers to assess whether variations in habitat quality, behavior, and climate influence the animals' physiological stress. We examined the role of...

The black-and-gold howler monkey ( Alouatta caraya ) is widely distributed in Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and northeastern Argentina. Despite this wide distribution, it is locally threatened in some parts of its southern range by forest loss and fragmentation, and yellow fever outbreaks. We present 14 new localities of A. caraya occurrence in the Pa...

Understanding the set of factors that promote and constrain a species' ability to exploit ecologically distinct habitats is central for addressing questions of intraspecific variability in behavior and morphology. In this study, we compared newly collected data with published data on body measurements, group size and composition, daily path length,...

The jaguar (Panthera onca) is widely distributed across a broad range of habitat types, where its feeding habits and habitat use patterns vary significantly. The jaguar and its main arboreal prey-the brown-throated sloth (Bradypus variegatus) and the red howler monkey (Alouatta juara)-are widespread in the Amazonian floodplain forests of the Mamira...

Abstract Background: Free‐ranging non‐human primates (NHPs) can host a variety of pathogenic microorganisms, such as arboviruses, which include the yellow fever virus (YFV). This study aimed to detect the circulation of YF and other arboviruses in three wild Alouatta caraya populations in forests in southern Brazil. Methods: We collected 40 blood a...

The jaguar (Panthera onca) is widely distributed across a broad range of habitat types, where its feeding habits and habitat use patterns vary significantly. The jaguar and its main arboreal prey – the brown-throated sloth (Bradypus variegatus) and the red howler monkey (Alouatta juara) – are widespread in the Amazonian floodplain forests of the Ma...

Mapping yellow fever (YF) risk is often based on place of infection of human cases, whereas the circulation between nonhuman primates (NHP) and vectors is neglected. In 2008/2009, YF devastated NHP at the southern limit of the disease in the Americas. In view of the recent expansion of YF in Brazil, we modeled the environmental suitability for YF w...

Hybridization is relatively well documented among Old World primates, but poorly investigated among New World monkeys. We investigated hybridization between the sexually dichromatic howlers Alouatta caraya and Alouatta guariba clamitans, whose lineages diverged ca. 5 million years ago. These taxa show allopatric distributions with a few recently di...

Models of primate sociality focus on the costs and benefits of group living and how factors such as rank, feeding competition, alliance formation, and cooperative behavior shape within‐group social relationships. We conducted a series of controlled field experiments designed to investigate how resource distribution (one or three of four reward plat...

Nested structures of species assemblages have been frequently associated with patch size and isolation, leading to the conclusion that colonization–extinction dynamics drives nestedness. The ‘passive sampling’ model states that the regional abundance of species randomly determines their occurrence in patches. The ‘habitat amount hypothesis’ also ch...

At the end of the meeting "Primatology, Biocultural Diversity and Sustainable Development in Tropical Forests" three working groups were set up and requested to provide recommendations and advice to relevant stakeholders.

At the end of the meeting "Primatology, Biocultural Diversity and Sustainable Development in Tropical Forests" three working groups were set up and requested to provide recommendations and advice to relevant stakeholders. The recommendations of the working group EDUCATION, AWARENESS-RAISING AND COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES addressed the UN 2030 Agenda...

Host-parasite interactions are ubiquitous in all biotic communities, where coevolution selects for resistant hosts and less pathogenic parasites. Yet, pathogens causing infectious diseases (IDs) may compromise the health of hosts or cause their death. Opportunities for cross-species disease transmission between wildlife and humans and their domesti...

Primates play an important role in ecosystem functioning and offer critical insights into human evolution, biology, behavior, and emerging infectious diseases. There are 26 primate species in the Atlantic Forests of South America, 19 of them endemic. We compiled a dataset of 5,472 georeferenced locations of 26 native and 1 introduced primate specie...

Primates play an important role in ecosystem functioning and offer critical insights into human evolution, biology, behavior, and emerging infectious diseases. There are 26 primate species in the Atlantic Forests of South America, 19 of them endemic. We compiled a dataset of 5,472 georeferenced locations of 26 native and 1 introduced primate specie...