The Return of Monkey Life Vocabulary Flashcards

A set of vocabulary flashcards based on the lecture notes regarding the study of howler monkeys and forest regeneration in Central America.

Hacienda La Pacifica

A remote working cattle ranch in Guanacaste province of northern Costa Rica that serves as a unique laboratory for the study of monkeys.

Mantled howler monkeys

A community of primates at Hacienda La Pacifica that persists because they are leaf-eaters and can thrive on plant toxins.

White-faced capuchin monkeys

A native primate species that was once common in Guanacaste but vanished after the building of the Pan-American Highway in the $1950s$.

Spider monkeys

A native primate species that vanished from the area around Hacienda La Pacifica after land was cleared for cattle-raising.

Pan-American Highway

A highway built in the $1950s$ near Hacienda La Pacifica, contributing to the disappearance of certain primate species.

Windbreaks

Strips of native trees left growing by a ranch owner to protect cattle and food crops from dry-season winds.

Ken Glander

A primatologist from Duke University in the USA studying the relationship between howlers and regenerating forests.

Tropical dry forests

Forests that covered most of Central America in the $18th$ century, of which less than $2\%$ remained undisturbed by the $1980s$.

Leaf-eaters

Animals, such as howler monkeys, that do not depend on large areas of fruiting trees because they can consume leaves for nutrients.

Toxins

Poisonous substances designed to protect plants, which howler monkeys can learn to neutralize and absorb nutrients from over long-term exposure.

Regenerating forests

Forests that are growing anew on disturbed woodlands or at the edges of grazing lands.