Diet and Feeding Ecology of Ateles chamek in a Bolivian Semihumid Forest: The Importance of Ficus as a Staple Food Resource

• Published in: International journal of primatology Vol. 29; no. 2; pp. 379 - 403
• Main Authors: Felton, Annika M., Felton, Adam, Wood, Jeff T., Lindenmayer, David B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01-04-2008; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal behavior; Animal Ecology; Animal Genetics and Genomics; Anthropology; Ateles; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Data collection; Diet; Ecology; Evolutionary Biology; Ficus; Food availability; Food resources; Fruits; Human Genetics; Life Sciences; Monkeys & apes; Myrciaria; Rainforests; Zoology; fig; diet; unripe fruit
• ISSN: 0164-0291; 1573-8604
• DOI: 10.1007/s10764-008-9241-1

We describe temporal patterns of food consumption by Peruvian spider monkeys (
Ateles chamek
) in a semihumid forest in lowland Bolivia. We assessed dietary composition in relation to temporal variation in abundance, duration, and synchrony of different food items in their home range. We collected data from September 2003 to September 2004, in the forestry concession La Chonta, Department of Santa Cruz. Throughout the period of detailed feeding data collection (February-September 2004),
Ateles chamek
used
Ficus
as a staple food resource. Figs constituted almost 50% of their diet in terms of total time spent feeding, and subjects consumed them to a great extent even during times of high overall food availability. This is contrary to the general expectation that for Neotropical frugivores,
Ficus
is a fallback food in times of fruit scarcity, rather than a staple food resource. Surprisingly, despite being considered ripe fruit specialists,
Ateles chamek
spent 18% of their feeding times eating unripe figs.
Ateles chamek
consumed unripe figs all through the year, including periods when ripe figs and other ripe fruit were abundant. We identify other important fallback foods for
Ateles chamek
in the forest, in particular the ripe fruit of
Myrciaria
sp.