Publication
Title
Jumping in the night : an investigation of the leaping activity of the Western tarsier (**Cephalopachus bancanus borneanus**) using accelerometers
Author
Abstract
Accelerometers enable scientists to quantify the activity of free-living animals whose direct observation is difficult or demanding due to their elusive nature or nocturnal habits. However, the deployment of accelerometers on small-bodied animals and, in particular, on primates has been little explored. Here we show the first application of accelerometers on the western tarsier (Cephalopachus bancanus borneanus), a nocturnal, small -bodied primate endemic to the forests of Borneo. The fieldwork was carried out in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. We provide guidelines for the deployment of accelerometers on tarsiers that might also be applied to other primate species. Our collected data on 2 females show levels of leaping activity comparable to those previously described using direct observation of wild or captive individuals. The 2 females showed different patterns of leaping activity, which calls for work to explore individual differences further. Our work demonstrates that accelerometers can be deployed on small primates to acquire body motion data that would otherwise be demanding to collect using classic field observations. Future work will be focused on using accelerometer data to discriminate in more detail the different behaviours tarsiers can display and to address the causes and consequences of individual variations in activity. (C) 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel
Language
English
Source (journal)
Folia primatologica. - Basel
Publication
Basel : 2017
ISSN
0015-5713
DOI
10.1159/000477540
Volume/pages
88 :1 (2017) , p. 46-56
ISI
000405647600004
Pubmed ID
28662508
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 05.09.2017
Last edited 09.10.2023
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