Flower Feeding and Reproductive Timing in Spix's Night Monkeys (Aotus vociferans): Evidence From Arboreal Camera...

Tropical forest canopies harbor exceptional biodiversity, yet basic aspects of the ecology and reproductive biology of many canopy-dwelling animal species remain poorly understood. This gap is particularly evident for small nocturnal arboreal mammals, which are challenging to study using conventional methods. Here, we used arboreal camera traps in a tropical mountain rainforest in Southern Ecuador to document flower visitors to the mass-flowering tree Handroanthus chrysanthus. Over a 16-month period, our recordings provided new information on the nocturnal and seasonal activity patterns of a group of Spix's night monkeys (Aotus vociferans). In this study, we report the first evidence of flower feeding on H. chrysanthus and suggest that seasonal activity patterns may be more closely aligned with the primate's reproductive timing than with peaks in floral resource availability. These findings demonstrate the power of arboreal camera traps for studying elusive canopy species and provide new insights into the behavior, feeding ecology, and reproductive biology of owl monkeys in the wild.