Fetal development of the Poeppig's woolly monkey (Lagothrix poeppigii)

The intrauterine development is an evolutionary strategy that prepares the neonate for extra-uterine life, thus providing important information on the life history of species. In this study, we described the external and internal morphology of 25 fetuses of Poeppig's woolly monkeys (Lagothrix poeppigii) by taking advantage of a 10-year participatory collection of biological samples originated from animals hunted for subsistence purposes in the Peruvian Amazon. Logistic regressions estimated the probability of occurrence of each external morphological characteristic in relation to the crown-rump length (CRL). The presence of nails, closed eyelids, differentiated genitalia and formed limbs with separation of the digits were observed in all analyzed fetuses (≥4.2 cm CRL). The other characteristics appeared in the following order: skin with epidermal pigmentation, oral and nasal mucosal pigmentation, tactile pelage and covering pelage. Although advanced fetuses (>15.8 cm CRL) showed most fetal external characteristics, they were not fully developed and no specimen showed tooth eruption or opened eyelids. The growth formula used to determine fetal age was ∛W = 0.042 (t - 45), with a high linear relationship between CRL and gestational age. All associations between the external biometry, absolute volume of internal organs and the CRL had a high coefficient of determination. Advanced fetuses and adults showed similar relative volume of thoracic and abdominal organs, except for thymus and the liver with a higher and lower relative volume, respectively. The relative volume of the tubular gastrointestinal tract and the thymus had a constant increase along fetal development, and the liver showed a significant decrease. This study describes important morphological events for understanding the gestational development in the Lagothrix genus. In addition, these results may be useful to improve imaging techniques, contributing to the in situ and ex situ reproductive management of this highly hunted species in the Amazon.