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19 - Field endocrinology: monitoring hormonal changes in free-ranging primates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
J. Keith Hodges  and
Michael Heistermann
Edited by
Joanna M. Setchell  and
Deborah J. Curtis
J. Keith Hodges
Affiliation:
German Primate Centre, Göttingen
Michael Heistermann
Affiliation:
German Primate Centre, Göttingen
Joanna M. Setchell
Affiliation:
University of Surrey, Roehampton
Deborah J. Curtis
Affiliation:
University of Surrey, Roehampton
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Summary

INTRODUCTION

Field endocrinology can be considered as the application of non-invasive methodologies to examine behavioural–endocrine interactions in primates living in natural conditions and social settings. In bringing together laboratory and field-based research methods, the discipline is providing new and exciting opportunities for developing a more integrated approach to studies of primate behavioural ecology (in this chapter ‘primate’ implies non-human primate).

Traditionally, field studies have relied mainly on visual measures, such as behaviour and/or morphology. Although this has generated a great deal of essential information, its limitation is that interpretation of the meaning of an observation is often based on assumptions concerning the physiological context in which it was made. The availability of non-invasive methodologies, based on measurement of hormones in either urine or faeces, now provides us with quantitative measures (of physiological status) by which the significance of these observational field data can be gauged. In turn, this greatly facilitates the testing of hypotheses concerning the adaptive significance of behavioural traits or mating systems and is helping to provide new insights into reproductive processes in an evolutionary context. For a comprehensive review of the topic of field endocrinology and its application to studies in primatology, readers should consult Whitten et al. (1998a).

Type
Chapter
Information
Field and Laboratory Methods in Primatology
A Practical Guide
 , pp. 282 - 294
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2003

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References

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