Yellow-Tailed Woolly Monkey Conservation Genetics
Our lab is working closely with international conservation NGOs Yunkawasi Perú and Neotropical Primate Conservation to better understand the conservation needs of the Critically Endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda). Our particular contribution to these efforts is by using genetic and genomic methods to better understand habitat connectivity and gene flow, and potential barriers to habitat and dispersal flexibility based on energetic needs and this species' adaptations to high-altitude environments.
Projects planned as part of this collaboration include the de novo sequencing of a yellow-tailed woolly monkey reference genome, population resequencing to look at population genomics and for signs of selection around genes associated with hypoxia, cold, and high solar irradiance, and whole mitogenome sequencing to look for signs of selection or methylation in oxygen phosporylation pathways. All our genomic work will be done in Perú with local collaborators (led by Fanny Cornejo of Rainforest Partnership and Yunkawasi Perú), Dr. Sam Shanee (of Neotropical Primate Conservation), and Dr. Mrinalini Watsa at the newly-established Wildlife Conservation Lab at the Los Amigos Biological Station.
This project has been funded by the National Science Foundation (Biological Anthropology), Primate Conservation Inc, the Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation, the Primate Action Fund, the International Primatological Society, the American Society of Primatologists, and Boston University.
Projects planned as part of this collaboration include the de novo sequencing of a yellow-tailed woolly monkey reference genome, population resequencing to look at population genomics and for signs of selection around genes associated with hypoxia, cold, and high solar irradiance, and whole mitogenome sequencing to look for signs of selection or methylation in oxygen phosporylation pathways. All our genomic work will be done in Perú with local collaborators (led by Fanny Cornejo of Rainforest Partnership and Yunkawasi Perú), Dr. Sam Shanee (of Neotropical Primate Conservation), and Dr. Mrinalini Watsa at the newly-established Wildlife Conservation Lab at the Los Amigos Biological Station.
This project has been funded by the National Science Foundation (Biological Anthropology), Primate Conservation Inc, the Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation, the Primate Action Fund, the International Primatological Society, the American Society of Primatologists, and Boston University.
Recent publications associated with this project include:
* = undergraduate student; ** = graduate student; *** = postdoctoral research associate
Zarate** et al. (2023, American Journal of Primatology) uses novel survey data from the recently documented population in Región Junín to update habitat viability analyses for yellow-tailed woolly monkeys. We find that habitat viability is largely determined by precipitation levels and seasonality, and that ~47% of remaining suitable habitat in Perú remains unprotected. The results of these models may be used to prioritize surveys, and also suggests that there may be competitive exclusion between L. flavicauda and the lowland woolly monkey taxon L. lagothricha tschudii in southern Perú.
McHugh et al. (2020, Oryx 54: 814-818) is the first published record of a yellow-tailed woolly monkey population south of Región Huánuco, in Región Junín, over 200 km further south than previously recorded. We describe the location and context of the population, some phenotypic differences between these and more northern populations, and discuss recommendations for their study and conservation.
Di Fiore et al. (2015, Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution 82: 495-510) uses a comparative analysis of the COX2 mitogene among platyrrhines to establish that Lagothrix flavicauda is different enough from other woolly monkeys (with a divergence from that group estimated at ~2.1 Ma) to be distinguished at the species level, but not at the generic level (as many taxonomists and conservationists had argued, often placing yellow-tailed woolly monkeys in their own genus Oreonax). This work led to the formal retirement of the genus Oreonax, establishing it as a synonym to Lagothrix.
* = undergraduate student; ** = graduate student; *** = postdoctoral research associate
Zarate** et al. (2023, American Journal of Primatology) uses novel survey data from the recently documented population in Región Junín to update habitat viability analyses for yellow-tailed woolly monkeys. We find that habitat viability is largely determined by precipitation levels and seasonality, and that ~47% of remaining suitable habitat in Perú remains unprotected. The results of these models may be used to prioritize surveys, and also suggests that there may be competitive exclusion between L. flavicauda and the lowland woolly monkey taxon L. lagothricha tschudii in southern Perú.
McHugh et al. (2020, Oryx 54: 814-818) is the first published record of a yellow-tailed woolly monkey population south of Región Huánuco, in Región Junín, over 200 km further south than previously recorded. We describe the location and context of the population, some phenotypic differences between these and more northern populations, and discuss recommendations for their study and conservation.
Di Fiore et al. (2015, Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution 82: 495-510) uses a comparative analysis of the COX2 mitogene among platyrrhines to establish that Lagothrix flavicauda is different enough from other woolly monkeys (with a divergence from that group estimated at ~2.1 Ma) to be distinguished at the species level, but not at the generic level (as many taxonomists and conservationists had argued, often placing yellow-tailed woolly monkeys in their own genus Oreonax). This work led to the formal retirement of the genus Oreonax, establishing it as a synonym to Lagothrix.
Presentations by lab members associated with this project have included:
* = undergraduate student; ** = graduate student; *** = postdoctoral research associate
Zarate MA**, Charpentier E, Shanee S, Schmitt CA. 2022. Predicting the presence of the yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) using habitat suitability models and newly confirmed localities in Junín, Peru. Annual Meeting of the American Association of Biological Anthropologists. Denver, CO.
Zarate MA**, Shanee S, Schmitt CA. 2021. Current distribution and predicted suitable habitat for the Critically Endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) in Peru. 2021. 7th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Evolutionary Primatologists. Boston, MA.
Zarate M**, Schmitt CA. 2020. Predicting presence of the yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) using habitat sustainability models between previous and new population ranges in Peru. Student Conference on Conservation Science, American Museum of Natural History Center for Biodiversity and Conservation.
Zarate MA**, Cornejo FM, Shanee S, Schmitt CA. 2019. Impact of habitat fragmentation on genetic diversity of the Critically Endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) in Perú. 2nd Congress of the Peruvian Primatological Association. Lima, Perú.
Zarate MA**, Cornejo FM, Shanee S, Schmitt CA. 2019. Impact of habitat fragmentation on genetic diversity of the Critically Endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) in Perú. 5th Conference of the Northeastern Evolutionary Primatologists. Amherst, MA.
* = undergraduate student; ** = graduate student; *** = postdoctoral research associate
Zarate MA**, Charpentier E, Shanee S, Schmitt CA. 2022. Predicting the presence of the yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) using habitat suitability models and newly confirmed localities in Junín, Peru. Annual Meeting of the American Association of Biological Anthropologists. Denver, CO.
Zarate MA**, Shanee S, Schmitt CA. 2021. Current distribution and predicted suitable habitat for the Critically Endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) in Peru. 2021. 7th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Evolutionary Primatologists. Boston, MA.
Zarate M**, Schmitt CA. 2020. Predicting presence of the yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) using habitat sustainability models between previous and new population ranges in Peru. Student Conference on Conservation Science, American Museum of Natural History Center for Biodiversity and Conservation.
Zarate MA**, Cornejo FM, Shanee S, Schmitt CA. 2019. Impact of habitat fragmentation on genetic diversity of the Critically Endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) in Perú. 2nd Congress of the Peruvian Primatological Association. Lima, Perú.
Zarate MA**, Cornejo FM, Shanee S, Schmitt CA. 2019. Impact of habitat fragmentation on genetic diversity of the Critically Endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) in Perú. 5th Conference of the Northeastern Evolutionary Primatologists. Amherst, MA.
Completed theses associated with this project include:
Master's Thesis (Biology): Zarate MA**. 2020. Predicting suitable habitat for the Critically Endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) in Perú. (Winner, Denton Award for Outstanding Masters Thesis in Biology)
Master's Thesis (Biology): Zarate MA**. 2020. Predicting suitable habitat for the Critically Endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) in Perú. (Winner, Denton Award for Outstanding Masters Thesis in Biology)