Abstract
Age differences in food intake and dietary selection were studied for 8 months among wild male Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) under non-predatory situations. Juveniles' feeding time was longer than adult males' in some months, in particular in mating seasons, but did not differ in the other months. Juveniles' feeding speed was slower than that of adult males. However, the age difference in average feeding speed was smaller (90%) than that in expected daily energy expenditure (62–58%). The extent of age difference in feeding speed varied with the food type: the difference was large for fibrous foods, but small for fruits or seeds. As a consequence of the age differences in time spent feeding and feeding speed, the age difference in daily food intake was smaller than expected from metabolic demands. Thus, the hypothesis that juveniles are more vulnerable to starvation than adults was not supported among male Japanese macaques in predator-free Yakushima. Juveniles ate more animal matter, while adult males ate more fibrous foods.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my friends and colleagues in Yakushima for their hospitality and help. I am also grateful for Yakushima Forest Environment Conservation Center for permission to undertake the research. Sarugoya-Committee and Field Research Center of Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University (PRIKU) offered me excellent facilities. Drs. T. Nishida, J. Yamagiwa, N. Agetsuma, D.A. Hill, H. Ihobe, S. Suzuki, Y. Watanuki, N. Nakagawa, an anonymous referee, and members at Laboratory of Human Evolution Studies, Kyoto University offered me helpful suggestions and comments on the manuscript. This study was financed in part by Cooperation Research Program of PRIKU and the MEXT Grant-in-Aid for the 21st Century COE Program (A2) and for Scientific Research for JSPS Fellows.
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Hanya, G. Age differences in food intake and dietary selection of wild male Japanese macaques. Primates 44, 333–339 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-003-0047-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-003-0047-7