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Postings on social media on Twitter (now X), BioAnthropology News (Facebook), and other venues, as well as recent publications in prominent journals, show that primatologists, ecologists, and other researchers are questioning the terms "Old World" and "New World" due to their colonial implications and history. The terms are offensive if they result in erasing Indigenous voices and history, ignoring the fact that Indigenous peoples were in the Americas long before European colonization. Language use is not without context, but alternative terminology is not always obvious and available. In this perspective, we share opinions expressed by an international group of primatologists who considered questions about the use of these terms, whether primatologists should adjust language use, and how to move forward. The diversity of opinions provides insight into how conventional terms used in primatological research and conservation may impact our effectiveness in these domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primate research and conservation may inadvertently reproduce neocolonial dynamics when primatologists from affluent, imperialist nations conduct studies in primate habitat countries. Here, we consider how interrogating the positionality of both foreign researchers and range-country collaborators can strengthen primatology. Such consideration may help us to better understand where each member of the collaboration is coming from, both figuratively and literally, and how those situated perceptions shape the research process. Centering the perspectives of the range-country collaborators, whose perspectives are infrequently voiced within the primatology literature, may illuminate challenges in cross-cultural communication and imbalances of knowledge and power. Here, we explore how positionality shapes collaborative research through the narratives of two foreign/range-country collaborator teams doing primate research and conservation in Africa and South America. Our goal is to provide examples that consider the positionalities of range-country collaborators relative to both foreign researchers and local community members, and that serve as models for primate researchers as they consider their own research teams' positionalities. These narratives highlight how prioritizing the perspectives of range-country and local collaborators when they differ from those of foreign collaborators can strengthen future research and conservation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Folivorous primates are typically considered time minimizers because the constraints of their unique digestive systems require them to spend a large portion of their activity budgets resting. However, inter- and intraspecific behavioral variation in their activity budgets may be influenced by local geographic and climatic conditions and evolutionary history. We compiled 48 studies representing ten genera, 31 species, and 50 populations to assess geographic (elevation, latitude), climatic (precipitation, temperature), and phylogenetic correlates of colobine activity budgets. Time spent resting negatively correlated with time spent feeding, moving, and socializing. Except for time spent socializing, activity budgets were independent of phylogeny, with more time spent feeding and less time resting in higher-elevation habitats and at lower temperatures. Among the four most common genera in our sample, only in Rhinopithecus did time spent feeding increase with higher elevations (range, 950–3950 m above mean sea level) and lower temperatures (range, 0.9–25 ℃). Only in Trachypithecus did time spent resting decrease with lower temperatures (range, 19–25 ℃). Our findings suggest that there are no apparent effects of geographic or climatic gradients on colobine activity budgets except for Rhinopithecus and Trachypithecus, whose activities are biased in favor of energy maximization rather than time minimization. Compared with other colobines, the ability of Rhinopithecus to adapt their activity budget at high elevations may make them less vulnerable to climate change, while the greater sensitivity of Trachypithecus to heat may make them more vulnerable to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primate thanatology, or the study of primate responses to dying and death, has become increasingly relevant in recent years. However, the number of reports remains small and the quality of published records is highly variable. Here, we extend the literature on comparative thanatology with observations on a population of the northern muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxanthus). We compiled all seven cases of muriqui responses to dead, dying, or abandoned infants observed by trained researchers of the Muriqui Project of Caratinga between 1998 and 2020. Four different adult females were observed carrying their dead offspring (n = 4) and one of these females was also observed carrying her dead grand-offspring (n = 1). Five of the seven cases involved dead newborns, one involved a newborn abandoned by its mother on the forest floor, and one involved a 1.6-year-old infant that was visibly ill and died after its mother left it on the ground. Dead newborns were carried for 1–3 days, and all cases occurred during the dry season months. No other age-sex classes were observed to interact with the dead or dying immatures. Our observations are consistent with hypotheses concerning the predominance of dead-infant carrying in other primates, and with the effects of climate on rates of corpse disintegration. They also show the value of long-term studies for obtaining and understanding anecdotal records of rare behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some of these former students have continued to work with me and other colleagues on the Caratinga muriquis and other sympatric primates in this forest, while others have used their experience on the project to launch important new comparative studies and conservation and management initiatives involving other populations of muriquis (Strier et al. [41]). The first pertains to the vital ecosystem services primates provide in their roles as pollinators and especially seed dispersers, and the disruptions to the ecological communities caused by the loss of these services due to primate extirpations. 10 Monthly population of northern muriquis at the Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural-Feliciano Miguel Abdala, Caratinga, Minas Gerais, Brazil. K. B. Strier: Associate Editor, Primates Resilience is a concept that describes the ability of a system to absorb or rebound from external disturbances or perturbations. [Extracted from the article]