| Yunnan snub-nosed monkey,Rhinopithecus bieti is a nonhuman primate living in the highest altitude,endemic to China,and is also listed as the first grade National Key Protected wild animal.In the early 1970 s,researchers at home and abroad conducted research on the behavior and ecology of Rhinopithecus bieti.However,due to the poor observation conditions,many basic data on the behavior and ecology of Rhinopithecus bieti have yet to be accumulated.Many related theories and problems have yet to be further explored;on the other hand,the thermal physiology to determine the survival status of Rhinopithecus bieti and explore its survival strategies has not been reported.From November 2016 to December 2017,provisioned group of Rhinopithecus bieti,about 60 individuals was studied at Xianggujing in Baima Snow Mountain National Nature Reserve,Yunnan.The study aims to:(1)understand the thermal physiology of Rhinopithecus bieti and its adaptation to high altitude and extremely cold climate;(2)explore the behavioral adaptation strategies of the Rhinopithecus bieti on high altitudes and extremely cold climate;and(3)put forward protection suggestions.1.The instantaneous scanning sampling method combined with the focus animal sampling method was used to compare the activity patterns of Rhinopithecus bieti in the cold season(from January to April,November and December)and hot season(from May to October).The results showed that:(1)the proportion of resting time was the highest and the proportion of other behaviors was the lowest,accounting for 49.17%,and 6.21%,respectively.In the cold season,the proportion of foraging was the highest,while in the hot season,the proportion of resting time was the highest,accounting for 34.54% and 53.06%,respectively.Moreover,the proportion of resting time in the hot season was significantly higher than that in the cold season(P<0.05),and the proportion of other behaviors was on the contrary.(2)The target monkey group had a peak of resting at 13:00-14:00,and two peaks of foraging at 9:00-10:00 in the morning and 16:00-17:00 in the afternoon.Especially,juvenile monkeys reached the peak of foraging early,at 8:00 to 9:00.(3)Throughout the year,adult males,infant monkeys,juvenile monkeys,and adult females spent more time on resting,moving,foraging,and other behaviors,respectively,than other sex-age groups.2.We studied thermal physiology of target monkey group using the infrared thermal imaging technology.The preliminary findings of the study were:(1)Facial(naked area)temperature of adult Rhinopithecus bieti is the highest than any part of the body,about 30.48±2.77°C(n=60).(2)In the cold season,the back temperature of Rhinopithecus bieti rise to "more stable temperature" was faster than that in the hot season.(3)In the cold season,the average temperature differences and its range between the back and the environment of adult Rhinopithecus bieti were higher than that in the hot season.(4)The heat loss of back,abdomen and head of Rhinopithecus bieti were all positive values,that is,it released energy actively.(5)In the cold season,the abdominal heat loss of Rhinopithecus bieti was the highest all year around.(6)The abdominal heat loss of adult male monkeys was less than that of other sex-age groups,but the back heat loss of adult female monkeys is greater than that of other sex-age groups.3.We found that:(1)In the cold season,Rhinopithecus bieti quickly raised its body surface temperature by bask behavior,and more frequencies of bask behavior occurred from February to April.(2)There were less bask behavior occurred from May to October,and it was almost related to drying hair and avoiding cold after raining.(3)When basking,the back orientation of Rhinopithecus bieti ranged from east to north84° and from east to south60°.Finally,based on the above research results,the following protection proposals were put forward:(1)Properly expand the range of monkeys' activities.(2)During the hot season,the monkey's activity elevation can be appropriately increased.(3)Strengthen the protection of native vegetation. |
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