Title
Nutrient balancing in coexisting colobines (meeting abstract)
Author(s)
Rothman, J.M.;Chapman, C.A.;Raubenheimer, D.
Published
2018
Publisher
American Journal of Physical Anthropology
Abstract
Many primates live with others in communities and niche separation allows for coexistence. To understand the nutritional factors that promote niche divergence, we studied two sympatric colobines in Kibale National Park, Uganda. The diets of these two colobus monkeys, the red colobus (Procolobus rufomitratus) and the black-and-white colobus (Colobus guereza), have been well studied in this habitat over several decades. Both species have a diet comprised almost entirely of young leaves (>85%), and dietary overlap varies from 50-76%. To decipher their nutritional strategies, we estimated nutrient intake of both red colobus and black-and-white colobus females by conducting all-day focal follows (n=50 for each species), collecting foods eaten, and analyzing these foods for their nutritional composition. Red colobus females ate ~15 foods per day, while black-and-white colobus ate ~6 foods a day. Sometimes black-and-white colobus ate just one species of young leaves in a day (~16% of observations). Using generalized mixed models we found that the mean daily dietary ratios of non-protein energy to available protein consumed by the two colobines were different (red colobus 2:1, black-and-white colobus 1:1, p<0.01). Non-protein energy in both colobine diets was obtained through non-structural carbohydrates and digestible fiber, and both consumed very little fat (<2% of dry matter). Compared to published data on frugivorous primates, both species of colobines ate diets that were much higher in protein, and lower in digestible carbohydrates. Our results demonstrate that these two colobus monkeys eat similar foods, but eat them in different amounts, and balance macronutrients in disparate ways.
Keywords
Anthropology;Evolutionary Biology
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