The Socioecology of Adult Female Patas Monkeys and Vervets in Kenya by Jill Pruetz

Author:Jill Pruetz [Pruetz, Jill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Anthropology, General, Physical
ISBN: 9781317344094
Google: QL86CgAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2015-07-22T05:59:20+00:00

Because monkeys’ feeding bouts on whistling thorn were short, rather than examining feeding rates at the beginning and end of feeding bouts (Chapman 1988), I scored bouts as either long or short, based on median values of bout length for each species (15.8 s—patas monkeys, 13.4 s—vervets). Feeding bout data were analyzed separately according to the different food types (swollen thorns, new growth, seeds, gum, flowers, free-living animals, or non-ant insects). Feeding bout data for flower feeding by patas monkeys (N = 2) and non-ant insect feeding by vervets (N = 5) were excluded from analyses owing to small sample sizes. Analyses of variance tests were used to examine the interaction between bout length, feeding rate, and food type (see Table 4–4). The feeding rate of monkeys during long and short bouts, feeding rates for different food types during long and short bouts, and feeding bout duration in relation to patch size were analyzed to assess whether monkeys were depleting food patches. Results of the analyses showed that patas monkeys fed more slowly during longer bouts on swollen thorns, gum, and new growth. Vervets fed slower during longer bouts on swollen thorns, new growth, gum, and seeds but not on flowers.

Regression analyses on bout duration and patch size (as measured by tree height) were conducted according to food type (Table 4–5). In these analyses, data were pooled for all vervet age and sex classes, including adult males and immature vervets (see Pruetz 1999), because sample sizes regarding individual food types would otherwise be too small. The possibility that such pooling of data would obscure individual differences was tested using data on adult female vervets’ feeding bouts. Individual female vervets did not differ significantly regarding their feeding rates on whistling-thorn foods (ANOVA: df = 7, F = 0.604, p = 0.751) or the average duration of whistling-thorn feeding bouts (ANOVA: df = 7, F = 1.022, p = 0.418). Adult females comprised approximately half of all feeding bouts analyzed (N = 149 of 296). Patas monkeys fed longer in larger patches when all food items were considered, when only non-ant defended foods were included in one category, and when feeding on new growth (see Table 4–5). Vervets fed longer in larger patches when all food items were considered, when only defended food items were considered, and when feeding on swollen thorns, new growth, and seeds (see Table 4–5).

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