Food sharing in lion tamarins: Tests of three hypotheses

Abstract

Jersey Wildlife preservation Trust, British IslesInfant marmosets and tamarins (Callitrichidae) frequently receive food from older group members. Three possible functions of food sharing in lion tamarins were examined experimentally. The first hypothesis, that food sharing ensures that infants receive sufficient food even if it is difficult for them to acquire it themselves, was tested by varying the ease with which infants could reach a food source. When access to food was restricted, infants fed themselves less, received more food from others, and had a higher success rate in begging attempts. The second hypothesis, that food sharing helps teach infants an appropriate diet, was tested by presenting fruits that were novel to infants. Although infants fed themselves less under these conditions, adults were less likely to share novel foods than familiar foods. The final experiment compared food sharing when food was abundant with behavior when food items were presented singly. Infants fed themselves less and received more food from others when food items were rare. These results suggest that food sharing in lion tamarins helps to ensure that infants receive adequate amounts of food which is difficult to locate or acquire, but that it is not involved in teaching infants which foods they should eat. o 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Begging, Stealing, and Offering: Food Transfer in Nonhuman Primates

“…Feistner & Chamove, 1986;Feistner & Price, 1990;Roush & Snowdon, 2001 Black lion tamarin, Leo. chrysopygus C Feistner & Price, 2000 Golden lion tamarin, Leontopithecus rosalia C Brown & Mack, 1978;Hoage, 1982;Price & Feistner, 1993;Rapaport, 1999FR Ruiz-Miranda et al, 1999 Pygmy marmoset, Owl monkey, Aotus trivirgatus father > mother 1, 1 Wright, 1984 Dusky titi monkey, Callicebus moloch father > mother 1,1 Wright, 1984 Yellow-handed titi monkey, C. torquatus father > sibling > mother 1,1,1 Starin, 1978 …”

“…These data support the hypothesis that infant marmosets actively attempt to obtain information about diet by soliciting food from adults. Two earlier studies did not find higher levels of begging with novel food (Price and Feistner, 1993;Rapaport, 1999), although the age differences in subjects used may explain the different patterns of results see Brown et al, 2004). Few data are available to test these predictions in chimpanzees, although one study suggests that the amount of time spent by infants feeding on items transferred from the mother is greater for novel than for familiar foods (Hiraiwa-Hasegawa, 1990b).…”

“…The transfer of food to infants could: 1) increase offspring growth rates, reduce the age of weaning or reduce the age of nutritional independency, and/or 2) increase offspring survival chances during the transition to complete nutritional independence (McGrew, 1975;Lefebvre, 1985;Feistner and McGrew, 1989;Price and Feistner, 1993;Fragaszy and Bard, 1997). By weaning infants at an earlier age, mothers may be able to begin the next reproductive event sooner (Ross and MacLarnon, 2000).…”

“…Two main sets of hypotheses have been put forward for the mechanisms by which infant growth or survival may be enhanced by food transfer (McGrew, 1975;Silk, 1978;Lefebvre, 1985;Price and Feistner, 1993;Rapaport, 1999;Ruiz-Miranda et al, 1999). The transfer of food may: 1) provide nutrients to infants during the period of weaning when they are susceptible to food shortage or, more generally, while they develop as independent foragers -nutritional hypotheses, and 2) play a role in the acquisition of knowledge about diet choices and food processing skills -informational hypotheses.…”

“…to take novel food items from food bowls themselves compared to familiar items (Price and Feistner, 1993) and exhibit higher levels of begging for novel than for familiar food items (Brown et al, submitted). In contrast, older immature callitrichids are willing to eat novel food items in the absence of experienced conspecifics (Vitale and Queyras, 1997;Queyras et al, 2000).…”