Katharine Milton

Professor
PhD  
  

349 Hilgard Hall
Berkeley, California 94720
kmilton@berkeley.edu
office: 510-643-8607   lab: 510-642-8607   fax:  510-643-5438

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I am broadly interested in the dietary ecology of Primates, including human ancestors and modern humans. I have carried out fieldwork with a number of non-human primate species including howler monkeys, spider monkeys and woolly spider monkeys. I have also worked extensively on the dietary ecology of a number of indigenous groups in the Brazilian Amazon to document their uses of forest products. My present research is focused on the study of interactions between wild howler monkeys and their host-specific insect parasite, the howler monkey bot fly. At present, we are in the process of establishing a genetic data base for howler monkeys and bot flies that will allow us to examine novel aspects of the interactive biology of these two populations. I continue to be involved in my long-term project (32 years thus far) on the population dynamics of wild howler monkeys on Barro Colorado Island in Panama. Conservation biology, nutrient and anti-nutrient components of wild plant parts, and digestive physiology are also research interest

At this time projects in my laboratory include:

(1) study of interactions between a host-specific parasite and its primate host in the Republic of Panama

(2) population dynamics of howler monkeys in Panama

(3) study of the spatial foraging patterns and ranging behavior of mantled howler monkeys in Panama

(4) the role of particular plant secondary compounds in primate foraging ecology

(5) ecological endocrinology, particularly fecal cortisol levels of wild primates as an index of stress

2003 Milton, K. Animals: Primate Diets. Scribner’s Encyclopedia of Food and Culture. S.H. Katz, editor-in-chief. New York: Charles Scribners & Sons, pp 83-86.

2003 DeGusta, D, M.A.. Everett, and K. Milton. Natural selection on molar size in a wild population of howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata). Proceedings of the Royal Society, Biological Sciences (Biology Letters) doi 10.1098/rsbl.2003.0001. Later printed as Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences (Biology Letters) 270:S15-S17. PDF

2003 Milton K. Something to howl about: howler monkeys and their bot fly parasites. Natural History October 2003, pp. 20-24. PDF

2003 Milton, K. Micronutrient intakes of non-human primates: are humans different? Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: 136:47-59. PDF

2003 Milton, K. The critical role played by animal source foods in human evolution. Journal of Nutrition 133:3893S-3897S.

2004 Wang, E. and Milton, K. Intragroup social relationships of male Alouatta palliata on Barro Colorado Island, Republic of Panama. International Journal of Primatology.Vol. 24 (6): 1227-1244. PDF

2005 Milton, K. Ferment in the family tree: Does a frugivorous dietary heritage influence contemporary patterns of human ethanol use? Integrative & Comparative Biology 44:38-48. PDF

2005 Milton, K., J. Giacalone, S. J. Wright and G. Stockmayer. Do populations fluctuations of neotropical mammals reflect fruit production estimates? The evidence from Barro Colorado Island. IN: Tropical Fruits and Frugivores: The Search for Strong Interactors. J. L. Dew & J.P. Boubli, eds. Kluwer Publishing, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp.5-37. PDF

2006. Milton, K. and Hopkins, M.E. Growth of a reintroduced spider monkey population on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. In: New Perspectives in the Study of Mesoamerican Primates: Distribution, Ecology, Behavior and Conservation, Alejandro Estrada, Paul Garber, Mary Pavelka, LeAndra Luecke (eds). Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects, Series editor Russell A. Tuttle. New York: Springer Science+Business Media, Inc, pp. 417-435. PDF

2006 Milton, K. Picking up the pace: Nutritional ecology as a necessary research to in primatology. IN: Feeding Ecology in Apes and Other Primates, edited by Gottfried Hohmann, Martha M. Robbins & Christophe Boesch, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 381-396. PDF

2008 Ryan, S., Starks Philip T, Milton, K. and Getz, W. M. Intersexual conflict and group size in Alouatta palliata: A 23-year evaluation . International Journal of Primatology 29 (2):405-420. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10764-007-9172-2

2008 Katharine Milton, Jeffrey D. Lozier, and Eileen A. Lacey. Genetic structure of an isolated population of mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Conservation Genetics. DOI 10.1007/s10592-008-9584-3. PDF

2008 Milton, K. Macronutrient Profiles of 19 Fruit Species from Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Neotropical Primates 15 (1):1- 5. PDF