Chengliang Wang

The Qinling Mountains, recognized as a biodiversity hotspot, are included in the national park construction plan, necessitating clear boundaries and critical habitats for endangered species, which are essential to fulfill the function of the national park. In this study, we used the MaxEnt model to analyze the suitable distribution area of the flagship species, the Qinling golden snub‐nosed monkeys ( Rhinopithecus roxellana qinlingensis ), and to identify conservation gaps for this species in the national park. The annual range area of the Qinling golden snub‐nosed monkey was set as the minimum threshold for high‐suitability habitat patches. We identified 30 high‐suitability habitat patches (8664 km ² ), with 1350 km ² located outside the national park. Additionally, we identified 58 ecological corridors, which included 44 ecological pinch‐points and 88 ecological barrier patches. Approximately 16% of the corridors and 29% of the ecological pinch‐points were located outside the national park. The primary barriers to these corridors were roads and buildings, corresponding to the key factors affecting the distribution of the Qinling golden snub‐nosed monkeys in the Qinling Mountains (human footprint). Projections for the year 2030 indicate that 9.89% (857 km ² ) of high‐suitability habitat patches would be affected under the natural development scenario (2020–2030 trend). However, in the national park scenario, a loss of 159 km ² of high‐quality habitat—projected under natural development—would be prevented. The national park will overcome the shortcomings of the decentralized protected area system, and future efforts may involve expanding boundaries or creating protection districts, alongside enhancing monitoring surveys and the construction of artificial corridors.

Competition within primate groups often translates to a social hierarchy, with high‐rank individuals gaining privileged access to resources, especially food. Golden snub‐nosed monkeys Rhinopithecus roxellana live in a multi‐level society, with multiple one‐male units (OMUs), each containing a single adult male and several females, forming a breeding‐band. High‐rank males have increased access to high‐value foods and spend less time feeding and more time being groomed by females, potentially enhancing social cohesion within their OMUs. The adults of each OMU mainly feed and socialize together, with food competition predominantly acting at the OMU level. We thus predicted that adult females by association attain the rank and feeding privileges of their OMU leader males, and make similar time‐budget trade‐offs. By food‐provisioning a wild breeding‐band during winter and spring, when natural foods are abundant or limited, respectively, we found that females of high‐rank OMUs ate more provisioned foods at higher rates, especially during winter when provisioned foods had increased value. In winter, females of low‐rank OMUs fed for longer on natural foods and females of high‐rank OMUs longer on provisioned foods. Females of high‐rank OMUs spent longer being groomed by other OMU members, especially during winter. Our results are consistent with females attaining the feeding privileges of their OMU leader male, enhanced during winter due to increased value of provisioned foods, high thermal demands, and reduced natural food availability. Importantly, the feeding privileges attained by females of high rank OMUs were less pronounced than those previously found for leader males, possibly due to higher tolerance between females of different OMUs. We suggest that behavioral time‐budget effects of food competition in female R. roxellana enhance cohesion in high‐rank OMUs, contributing to OMU integrity and, hence, the social structure of this multi‐level society.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe psychiatric disorder, affecting approximately 25–35% of individuals exposed to significant psychological trauma. Despite extensive research, the underlying biological mechanisms of PTSD remain poorly understood, and the effectiveness of trauma-focused psychotherapeutic interventions is limited. To date, animal studies investigating trauma responses have primarily relied on rodent models, with the potential contributions of non-human primates relatively neglected. In this study, matched-control observations were employed to examine maternal caregiving behaviors, prosocial interactions, and responses to alarm calls in free-ranging golden snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) before and after an infanticide event. Results indicated a significant decrease in prosocial behaviors among some mothers, accompanied by significant increases in caregiving behaviors, heightened responsiveness to alarm calls, and indications of low mood. These findings provide evidence of trauma-related behavioral changes in golden snub-nosed monkeys, underscoring their utility as a model for studying PTSD given the similarity to trauma responses observed in humans. Overall, this study provides a foundation for further investigation into the evolutionary and biological aspects of PTSD, as well as the interactions between species-specific trauma responses. Future research should explore the use of non-human primate models to deepen our understanding of PTSD mechanisms.

Substantial phylogenetic differences in the evolution of decision-making in group-living animals are observed in the animal kingdom. Decision-making is vital for maintaining a cohesive social structure, health, survival, and reproductive fitness. Thus, exploring such mechanisms in diverse social species living in the wild, especially nonhuman primates, provides insight into the coordinating rules, behaviors, regulations, and laws in human society. The golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) is characterized by a multilevel social system. The present study investigated individual spatial positioning during collective movements at departure and determination of consensus during decision-making. The results indicate that individuals traveling in the front of the group determine whether a collective movement succeeds or fails. These front positions provide various benefits and are typically occupied by adults in one-male units (OMUs). In addition to the hypotheses of protection and food resource competition proposed for species with a single-level social system, we suggest that communication between and within OMUs also plays an essential role in achieving consensus decisions. Social affiliations among individuals also significantly influence decision-making via mediation effects, a phenomenon observed in sophisticated multilevel societies. Thus, these findings illuminate avenues for further research on how communications between and within groups contribute to consensus decisions and how such decisions are initiated at lower levels and developed at higher levels in a multilevel society. Such avenues can provide insight for primatologists and social anthropologists.

A systematic understanding of dynamic animal extinction trajectories for different regions in a nation like China is critically important to developing practical conservation strategies. We explored historical and contemporary changes in terrestrial mammalian diversity to determine how diversity in each of the 5 regions in China has changed over time and to examine the conservation potential of these regions. We used records from databases on Pleistocene mammalian fossils and historical distribution records (1175–2020) for Primates (as a case study) to reconstruct evolutionary and historical distribution trajectories of the 11 orders of terrestrial mammals and to predict their prospective survival based on the national conservation strategy applied. The results indicated that since the Pleistocene, 4–5 mammalian orders have been lost in the northeast, 3 in central China, 2 along the coast, and 1 in the northwest. In the southwest, all 11 orders were maintained. Contemporarily, the coast and southwest had the highest and second‐highest species densities. The southwest region and southeastern sections of the northwest region were the most historically and contemporarily diverse areas, which suggests that they should be the first priority for protected area (PA) designation. The central and coastal areas should be secondarily prioritized. In these 2 regions, conservation should focus on human coexistence with nature. Less attention should be paid to the PA in the northeast and western northwest because in these areas ecosystems are depauperate and the climate is harsh. Conservation in these areas should focus principally on avoiding further human encroachment on natural areas. Article impact statement : Historical and contemporary patterns of extinction can be a basis for mammalian conservation strategies.

Group living provides various advantages to individuals in regards to protection avoidance, intergroup competition, productive success and social information. Stable one-male units (OMUs) consist of relationships between the adult females and the resident male as well as the relationships among adult females. Based on continuous observation of a reproductive group of golden snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) in the Qinling Mountains, we analyzed the relationships among adult individual dyads within 4 OMUs. The results indicated that in golden snub-nosed monkey societies, females not only had no strong tendency to build a relationship with the resident male in the OMU but also had no strong tendency to build relationships with other females in the OMU. In comparison with hamadryas (Papio hamadryas) and gelada baboons (Theropithecus gelada), the relationships within golden snub-nosed monkeys OMUs showed neither the star-shaped pattern observed in hamadryas baboons nor the net-shaped pattern observed in gelada baboons. We concluded that the relationships within golden snub-nosed monkey OMUs indicated a third pattern in nonhuman primate societies. Future research is required to determine the potential mechanisms for such a pattern.