Nutritional Aspects of Fruit Choice by Chimpanzees

Matsumoto‐Oda, Akiko; Hayashi, Yukako

doi:10.1159/000021688

Cited by 32 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Chimpanzees change their diet according to seasonal and annual variations in the abundance and diversity of fruit species [Basabose, 2002;Humle, 2003;Yamagiwa & Basabose, 2006], which is thought to influence their technology in relation to tool-use [Fowler & Sommer, 2007;Goodall, 1986;McGrew et al, 1979]. They have been shown to prefer food items with high sugar content or caloric intake rate, regardless of protein content [Matsumoto-Oda & Hayashi, 1999;Reynolds et al, 1998;Wrangham et al, 1991].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary preferences of a submontane population of the rare Nigerian‐Cameroon chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti) in Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve, Nigeria

Dutton

Chapman

2014

American J Primatol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We investigated the dietary preferences of chimpanzees residing in a Nigerian submontane forest using a combination of fecal analysis, observations of feeding remains, evidence from feeding tools and fruiting phenological data between April 2010 and March 2011. A total of 495 fecal samples were collected in which 52 fruit taxa were identified as having being consumed by chimpanzees, including 22 identified to species level and two identified to genus level. Ficus (seven species) was the most common seed genus identified, occurring in 61.2% of all fecal samples. Based on fecal analysis and phenological data, Ngel Nyaki chimpanzees do not solely consume fruits based on their availability within the habitat; while the proportion of fruit consumed did reflect the relative availability of fruit in the forest for some fruit species, Ficus was a preferred fruit even when scarce. In contrast, the proportion consumed of other fruit species was low relative to the abundance of their fruit available in the forest. Our results from the Rank Preference Index (RPI) suggest that relative preferences in fruit are seasonal. We discuss the role of Ficus in the diet of chimpanzees in Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary preferences of a submontane population of the rare Nigerian‐Cameroon chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti) in Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve, Nigeria

Dutton

Chapman

2014

American J Primatol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, individual trees can bear ripe fruits for an average of 0.8 mo, with individual fruit or young leaves remaining edible for no more than 72 h per year (1). Rainforests are typically characterized by a large biomass of fruit-consuming foragers resulting in relatively high rates of fruit depletion, which further shortens periods of fruit presence in individual trees (15,17).Depending on the nutritional quality or handling time of the fruit, foragers prefer some fruits more than others (18,19). For example, figs (Ficus spp.)…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Depending on the nutritional quality or handling time of the fruit, foragers prefer some fruits more than others (18,19). For example, figs (Ficus spp.)…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Wild chimpanzees plan their breakfast time, type, and location

Janmaat

Polansky

Ban

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

150

141

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Not all tropical fruits are equally desired by rainforest foragers and some fruit trees get depleted more quickly and carry fruit for shorter periods than others. We investigated whether a ripe-fruit specialist, the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus), arrived earlier at breakfast sites with very ephemeral and highly sought-after fruit, like figs, than sites with less ephemeral fruit that can be more predictably obtained throughout the entire day. We recorded when and where five adult female chimpanzees spent the night and acquired food for a total of 275 full days during three fruit-scarce periods in a West African tropical rainforest. We found that chimpanzees left their sleeping nests earlier (often before sunrise when the forest is still dark) when breakfasting on very ephemeral fruits, especially when they were farther away. Moreover, the females positioned their sleeping nests more in the direction of the next day's breakfast sites with ephemeral fruit compared with breakfast sites with other fruit. By analyzing departure times and nest positioning as a function of fruit type and location, while controlling for more parsimonious explanations, such as temperature, we found evidence that wild chimpanzees flexibly plan their breakfast time, type, and location after weighing multiple disparate pieces of information. Our study reveals a cognitive mechanism by which largebrained primates can buffer the effects of seasonal declines in food availability and increased interspecific competition to facilitate first access to nutritious food. We discuss the implications for theories on hominoid brain-size evolution.prospective cognition | flexible planning | ecological intelligence | interspecific competition | foraging strategies T hree decades ago, Katharine Milton hypothesized that the diversity of food and the manner in which it is distributed in space and time have been major selective forces in the development of advanced cerebral complexity (the ecological intelligence hypothesis) (1, 2). Positive associations between a variety of brain size measures and levels of frugivory (i.e., the dietary proportion of patchily distributed and ephemeral food) were found in primates (3, 4), bats, and rodents (5). However, the idea that body size evolves more rapidly than brain size, meaning the small relative brain size of folivores could be a nonequilibrial situation, kept scientists from interpreting these associations as clear support for Milton's hypothesis (6; but see also ref. 7). The ecological intelligence hypothesis was, however, retained as one of the four components of the technical intelligence hypothesis, developed to find evolutionary explanations of great apes' representational skills (6). It was renamed the "cognitive map hypothesis," which unintentionally focused attention solely on the complexity of the spatial mapping of food and largely ignored the potential difficulty of anticipating the time and duration that food is present.With recent comparative studies on brain size evolution, the role of the tempora...

show abstract

“…Other species in CNP that both predate on and disperse seeds of Parkia biglobosa elsewhere are Loxodonta africana (African elephant) and Pan troglodytes verus Schwarz (western chimpanzee) (Hovestadt 1997;Matsumoto-Oda and Hayashi 1999). We suppose that several other primate species are also potential consumers of Parkia biglobosa.…”

Section: Study Area and Focal Speciesmentioning

confidence: 93%

Changes in Baboon Feeding Behavior: Maturity-dependent Fruit and Seed Size Selection within a Food Plant Species

Kunz

Linsenmair

2007

Int J Primatol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite considerable inter-and intraindividual variation in fruit and seed size in many plant species, researchers have given little attention to the relevance of the traits for primate fruit choice within a food plant species and its implications for tree regeneration. We studied feeding behavior and selectivity of olive baboons (Papio anubis) in the African locust bean (Parkia biglobosa, Mimosaceae), via direct observations of habituated groups and indirect evidence from leftovers of pods after feeding events. Olive baboons acted as both seed predators and dispersers for Parkia biglobosa. They fed on and destroyed unripe seeds, and swallowed intact ripe seeds when consuming mature fruit pulp. Predation rate was high, and only 10% of the seeds were dispersed. Predation and dispersal of seeds is linked to seed number and size. Digestible unripe seeds accounted for 10% of the unripe fruit mass, while indigestible ripe seeds made up 28% of the mature fruit mass. With these constraints, olive baboons increased food gain per fruit by selecting unripe pods containing a high number of large and heavy seeds. Consequently, only pods with fewer and smaller seeds remained for maturation. Thereafter, baboons fed on mature pods containing the smallest seeds, and exploited pods with more seeds to a greater extent than those with fewer seeds. Thus, fruits with small seeds and an intermediate seed number contributed the most to dispersal by baboons.

show abstract

Nutritional Aspects of Fruit Choice by Chimpanzees

Cited by 32 publications

References 26 publications

Dietary preferences of a submontane population of the rare Nigerian‐Cameroon chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti) in Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve, Nigeria

Dietary preferences of a submontane population of the rare Nigerian‐Cameroon chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti) in Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve, Nigeria

Wild chimpanzees plan their breakfast time, type, and location

Changes in Baboon Feeding Behavior: Maturity-dependent Fruit and Seed Size Selection within a Food Plant Species

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About