The state of conservation and its threats are analyzed in an international congress held by the Universidad San Francisco de Quito.
In the world there are about 500 species of non-human primates. Just over a third of these species live in the forests of 20 Latin American countries. Primates are a unique group not only because of their diversity, but also because of their anatomical adaptations, social systems, ecological roles, and because of the conservation problems they face.
40% of Latin American primate species, including those of Ecuador, are in danger of extinction and it is estimated that 70% of these species have populations that are declining mainly due to the destruction of their forests, hunting and illegal trafficking.
Its conservation status and main threats are being analyzed in the XXVIII Congress of the International Society of Primatology (IPS) and in the IV Congress of the Latin American Society of Primatologists which are organized by the San Francisco de Quito University (USFQ) and its College of Biological and Environmental Sciences.
We began the second day at the XXVIII Congress of the International Society of Primatology with the keynote address by Karen Strier, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The life and conservation of species such as monkeys depend on the care of their habitat. pic.twitter.com/U8iP6PFqXi
– San Francisco de Quito University (@USFQ_Ecuador) January 11, 2022
More than 600 scientists from various parts of the world have gathered in person and online at this event that has been held at the Quorum Convention Center since last January 9 and will run until next Saturday, January 15.
Every two years, scientists from different parts of the world present the results of their research and discuss important environmental and social issues at these congresses. The host country is assigned through a competition.
This congress, whose local organization is led by the USFQ, is one of the first international scientific events to be held in Quito after the crisis caused by the pandemic. Symposia, workshops, round tables, keynotes on topics as diverse as the use of tools, personality, social behavior, sensory neurophysiology, pathogens, phylogenetics, genomics, ecology, ethnography, conservation and cognition, are part of the event program.
Despite its importance, the diversity of this group of mammals is not yet fully known and is still being studied. As a result, in recent years new species have been discovered, such as the southern Napo River lion, whose presence in Ecuador was confirmed in a study published in 2021 in which researchers from the USFQ, Northern Illinois University and the University of Michigan participated. , Ann Arbor. (I)
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