Estratégias ecofisiológicas e comportamentais adotadas por grupos de saguis (Callithrix jacchus) periurbanos e selvagens, sujeitos às variações na disponibilidade e na diversidade de alimentos na caatinga

Abstract

The Northeastern common marmoset Callithrix jacchus is a primate that, in contrast to other species of primates, acts as a colonizer of environments, given its ecological plasticity. In at least three decades numerous field studies have been carried out with the species, dealing almost always with aspects of its ecology and behavior. However, this invaluable basis of scientific data is primarily concentrated in groups and populations that are restricted to Atlantic Mata mesic environments. Numerous gaps in the lives of these same animals in xerophytic environments, such as Caatingas, are yet to be filled. There is strong evidence to support the hypothesis that it was in a scenario like the Caatinga, with all its environmental severity, that the Northeast had developed, in evolutionary terms, the set of ecophysiological and behavioral strategies to survive the inclement weather and from there radiate to other environments. During continuous 27 months, six multi-males, multi-females, with a mean of nine subjects were monitored for 8 hours / day, three days per week. On the occasion, catches were taken for individual identification and, in one case, for the collection of biological samples in individuals with genetic abnormalities (albinism). More than five thousand records of behavioral data (social affiliative, individual and agonistic) were collected. The initial chapter (Chapter 1) reviews C. jacchus and the Caatinga biome. The results in terms of reproductive strategies focus on aspects related to the periodicity of births in relation to climatic seasonality (Chapter 2), revealing that the xeric environment groups remained reproductively active in both seasonal periods, as observed in the groups of mésicos environment. Regarding food, the groups were opportunistic and generalist, although strongly gomivorous, with gum consumption percentages around 50% for both climatic seasons. Chapter 3 presents an unprecedented detail of a predation and consumption record, which discusses the energy conservation strategies adopted by the animal; while Chapter 4 reports another anecdotal case of consumption of an exotic vegetable of local agricultural production, indicative of the versatility of these little primates. Chapter 5 reports the first records of multiple births of 50% and 100% albino dyads, and chapter 6 discusses the environmental impact of these animals, social interactions and clinical-pathological aspects of these albinism events. Finally, it is assumed that the environmental pressures and restrictions observed in the Caatinga, besides serving to enhance the development of survival skills in the Caatinga environment and to promote the adaptive irradiation and dispersion of the Northeastern, provided surprising information that opens new frontiers in understanding the intricate ecological relationships and evolutionary paths traced by Neotropical primates.