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Fonseca ML, Ramírez-Pinzón MA, McNeil KN, Guevara M, Gómez-Gutiérrez LM, Harter K, Mongui A, Stevenson PR. Dietary preferences and feeding strategies of Colombian highland woolly monkeys. Sci Rep 2022; 12:14364. [PMID: 35999220 PMCID: PMC9399098 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-17655-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2022] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Primates are very selective in the foods they include in their diets with foraging strategies that respond to spatial and temporal changes in resource availability, distribution and quality. Colombian woolly monkeys (Lagothrix lagotricha lugens), one of the largest primate species in the Americas, feed mainly on fruits, but they also eat a high percentage of arthropods. This differs from closely related Atelid species that supplement their diet with leaves. In an 11 month study, we investigated the foraging strategies of this endemic monkey and assessed how resource availability affects dietary selection. Using behavioural, phenological, arthropod sampling and metabarcoding methods, we recorded respectively foraging time, forest productivity, arthropod availability in the forest and arthropod consumption. Scat samples and capturing canopy substrates (i.e. moss, bromeliads, aerial insects) were used for assigning arthropod taxonomy. The most important resource in the diet was fruits (54%), followed by arthropods (28%). Resource availability predicted feeding time for arthropods but not for fruits. Further, there was a positive relationship between feeding time on fruits and arthropods, suggesting that eating both resources during the same periods might work as an optimal strategy to maximize nutrient intake. Woolly monkeys preferred and avoided some fruit and arthropod items available in their home range, choosing a wide variety of arthropods. Geometrid moths (Lepidoptera) were the most important and consistent insects eaten over time. We found no differences in the type of arthropods adults and juveniles ate, but adults invested more time foraging for this resource, especially in moss. Although woolly monkeys are generalist foragers, they do not select their food items randomly or opportunistically.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel L Fonseca
- Laboratorio de Ecología de Bosques Tropicales y Primatología (LEBTYP), Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia.
- Comparative Zoology, Institut für Evolution und Ökologie (EvE), Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Marcela A Ramírez-Pinzón
- Laboratorio de Zoología y Ecología Acuática (LAZOEA), Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Kaylie N McNeil
- Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - Michelle Guevara
- Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Laura M Gómez-Gutiérrez
- Laboratorio de Ecología de Bosques Tropicales y Primatología (LEBTYP), Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Klaus Harter
- Zentrum für Molekularbiologie der Pflanzen (ZMBP), Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Alvaro Mongui
- Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Pablo R Stevenson
- Laboratorio de Ecología de Bosques Tropicales y Primatología (LEBTYP), Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
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Tabata E, Kashimura A, Uehara M, Wakita S, Sakaguchi M, Sugahara Y, Yurimoto T, Sasaki E, Matoska V, Bauer PO, Oyama F. High expression of acidic chitinase and chitin digestibility in the stomach of common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), an insectivorous nonhuman primate. Sci Rep 2019; 9:159. [PMID: 30655565 PMCID: PMC6336882 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-36477-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2018] [Accepted: 11/23/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Chitin is a polymer of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc) and a main constituent of insects' exoskeleton. Insects are rich in protein with high energy conversion efficiency. Recently, we have reported that acidic chitinases (Chia) act as digestive enzymes in mouse, pig and chicken (omnivorous) but not in dog (carnivorous) and bovine (herbivorous), indicating that feeding behavior affects Chia expression levels, and determines chitin digestibility in the particular animals. Common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) belongs to New World monkey family and provides a potential bridge between mouse models and human diseases. Common marmoset is an insectivorous nonhuman primate with unknown expression levels and enzymatic functions of the Chia homologue, CHIA. Here, we report that common marmoset highly expresses pepsin-, trypsin- and chymotrypsin-resistant CHIA in the stomach. We show that CHIA is most active at pH 2.0 and degrades chitin and mealworm shells into GlcNAc dimers under gastrointestinal conditions. Although common marmoset and crab-eating monkey (Old World monkey) have two CHIA genes in their genomes, they primarily express one gene in the stomach. Thus, this study is the first to investigate expression levels and enzymatic functions of CHIA in a New World primate, contributing to the understanding of dietary adaptation and digestion in this taxon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eri Tabata
- Department of Chemistry and Life Science, Kogakuin University, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0015, Japan.,Research Fellow of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (DC1), Koujimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-0083, Japan
| | - Akinori Kashimura
- Department of Chemistry and Life Science, Kogakuin University, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0015, Japan
| | - Maiko Uehara
- Department of Chemistry and Life Science, Kogakuin University, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0015, Japan
| | - Satoshi Wakita
- Department of Chemistry and Life Science, Kogakuin University, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0015, Japan
| | - Masayoshi Sakaguchi
- Department of Chemistry and Life Science, Kogakuin University, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0015, Japan
| | - Yasusato Sugahara
- Department of Chemistry and Life Science, Kogakuin University, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0015, Japan
| | - Terumi Yurimoto
- Central Institute for Experimental Animals, Tonomachi, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, 210-0821, Japan
| | - Erika Sasaki
- Central Institute for Experimental Animals, Tonomachi, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, 210-0821, Japan
| | - Vaclav Matoska
- Laboratory of Molecular Diagnostics, Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Hematology and Immunology, Homolka Hospital, Roentgenova 37/2, Prague, 150 00, Czech Republic
| | - Peter O Bauer
- Laboratory of Molecular Diagnostics, Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Hematology and Immunology, Homolka Hospital, Roentgenova 37/2, Prague, 150 00, Czech Republic.,Bioinova Ltd., Videnska 1083, Prague, 142 20, Czech Republic
| | - Fumitaka Oyama
- Department of Chemistry and Life Science, Kogakuin University, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0015, Japan.
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