Diet of spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) in Mesoamerica: current knowledge and future directions

Abstract

Here we review all published articles and book chapters, as well as unpublished theses and data of Ateles geoffroyi diet to (1) summarize the literature; (2) synthesize general feeding patterns; (3) document plant taxonomic similarity in diet across study sites; and (4) suggest directions for future research and conservation priorities. We found 22 samples from five countries: Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama. Tropical wet forest is the most studied habitat (N=13 samples), followed by tropical dry forest (6) and tropical moist forest (3). Most samples have been carried out in large protected forests. In spite of showing an overall high dietetic diversity (364 species, 76 families), A. geoffroyi concentrated the majority of feeding time on a few species in the families Moraceae and Fabaceae. At all study sites fruits were the most common food item in the diet followed by leaves. Furthermore, a greater variety of food items and less fruit were consumed in forest fragments. These findings suggest that fruit shortage in fragments results in primates using foods of presumably lower energetic content such as leaves. Similarity in diet was higher among groups geographically closer to each other than among distant groups, showing that the floristic and phenological characteristics of the forest can influence diet composition. We conclude that several years of data are required to fully describe the dietary list of A. geoffroyi at any one site, as studies of the same group over different years shared as little as 56% of species. As most populations of A. geoffroyi live in highly fragmented landscapes, it is crucial to carry out studies in these areas to evaluate (1) changes in diet and activity patterns that may negatively affect survival; and (2) habitat attributes that may favor their persistence in altered landscapes.

Differential fruit choice in two simpatric monkey species and frugivorous bats in southern Mexico

“…This preference has been reported for other Mexican southeastern populations of Ateles (Martínez and GalindoLeal, 2002;Ramos-Fernández and Ayala-Orozco, 2002;González-Zamora et al, 2009;Scherbaum and Estrada, 2013) in common and dominant plant families in tropical forests such as Fabaceae and Moraceae (Primack and Corlett, 2005). The diet of Ateles is mainly based on fleshy fruits and a variable proportion of leaves and blossoms (García-Orduña, 2003).…”

“…In another study, Morales (2003) observed that monkeys of the genus Ateles based their diet in B. alicastrum in at least 50 %. Previous information has also suggested this relationship because Brosimum is an abundant and wide distributed genus (Russo et al, 2005;Wallace, 2005;Di Fiore et al, 2008;González-Zamora et al, 2009). Likewise, a similar association has been observed, albeit with spatout fruits in Punta Laguna, Yucatán (H. F. Dzul-Cauich, personal observation).…”

Sleeping-tree fidelity of the spider monkey shapes community-level seed-rain patterns in continuous and fragmented rain forests

“…This primate is a highly specialized frugivore (González-Zamora et al 2009, Russo et al 2005) that defends stable home ranges, within which the spider monkey concentrate its activities in areas of higher quality (i.e. the so-called 'core areas ';Asensio et al 2012a).…”

Availability of two species of fruits and their influence on the social structure of Tayassu pecari and Dicotyles tajacu

“…These species account for 57.10 % of the total species producing fruits consumed by peccaries on the ground (Briceño-Méndez et al 2014). Given the importance of their fruits as a source of food, these species have also been described as part of the diet of primates such as the spider monkey, Ateles geoffroyi, and the howler monkey, Alouatta pigra (Hernández-Sarabia 2013), as well as of other ungulates such as the tapir, Tapirus bairdii (O' Farrill et al 2006(O' Farrill et al , 2011 and the temazates deer, Mazama temama and M. pandora (Weber 2008;González-Zamora et al 2009). …”