Abstract
Coprophagy is common in captive primates but has also been reported in the wild. For example, wild apes extract and reingest items from faeces. We term this behavior seed reingestion because the dung matrix is not consumed. We assessed the importance of seed reingestion in a population of savannah chimpanzees at Fongoli, southeastern Senegal, one of the hottest and driest areas of the species’ range, where chimpanzees have a relatively narrow dietary repertoire. We observed habituated chimpanzees on 122 d during 8 mo in 2005 and 2006, employing both focal subject and scan sampling of identified individuals for 1278 h of data collection. Chimpanzees reingested seeds of 2 species: Parkia biglobosa and Adansonia digitata. Both seed species have a hard protective shell, and the embryos are rich in proteins and lipids. Chimpanzees initially ate the fruit matrix pulp and swallowed intact seeds before reingesting and chewing/destroying seeds. Seed reingestion accounted for almost 2% of feeding time. We suggest that at Fongoli this behavior may be an adaptive strategy to maximize food intake, by softening the seed’s shell and making the seed’s content more accessible.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the Republic of Senegal and Department of Eaux et Forets for permission to work in Senegal and D. Kante and M. Camara for assistance in the field. Research at Fongoli was supported by grants to J. D. Pruetz from the National Geographic Society, Center for the Study of Violence at Iowa State University (ISU), ISU Foreign Travel Grant, ISU Faculty Professional Development Grant, and the American Society of Primatologists Conservation Grant. We thank Caroline Phillips, Rebecca Stumpf, William McGrew, Linda Marchant, Susana Carvalho, Kimberley Hockings, Elisabetta Visalberghi, and 3 anonymous reviewers for comments on the manuscript.
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Bertolani, P., Pruetz, J.D. Seed Reingestion in Savannah Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) at Fongoli, Senegal. Int J Primatol 32, 1123–1132 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-011-9528-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-011-9528-5