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Seed choice differs by sex in sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys)

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Abstract

The sooty mangabey (Cercocebus atys) practices year-round durophagy. A large part of the C. atys diet consists of the oily nut of Sacoglottis gabonensis, which is accessed by post-canine crushing of the hard, protective seed coat. During a typical foraging bout, some seeds are discarded after initial crushing attempts using isometric biting, but the reason mangabeys reject some seeds and break into others is unclear. Although C. atys is sexually dimorphic, little is known about whether differences between males and females affect the selectivity of mechanically protected foods. We studied C. atys feeding on S. gabonensis in the Taï National Park,  Côte d’Ivoire, in July and August 2016. Nuts discarded after an initial crushing attempt were collected and their hardness measured using a Shore D durometer. Measurements were taken in the region of the nut where monkeys attempted to crush it. Hardness values of nuts rejected by adult male (n = 79) and adult female (n = 104) C. atys were compared to those of a control assemblage of nuts collected randomly on the forest floor (n = 69). Nuts rejected by either sex do not differ statistically from the random sample; however, they do differ from each other, with females rejecting harder nuts. This suggests that males are more effective at broaching harder seed husks, and discard seeds based on other factors.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Office Ivorien de Parcs et Réserves for permission to conduct the work described here. We also thank the Centre Suisse de Récherches Scientifiques for logistical support and the Taï Monkey Project field coordinator, Dr. Anderson Bitty, for support in preparation of and during the fieldwork. The authors are further grateful to the field assistants of the Taï Monkey Project and Alexandra Wilkins for all their assistance and advice during data collection. Many thanks to Paterson Kalo for his vital contributions in the field. Lastly, we also thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, which improved an earlier version of this manuscript. Data collection for this project followed the American Society of Primatologists’ principles for the ethical treatment of nonhuman primates, as well as the guidelines for permit-granting bodies in Côte d’Ivoire.

Funding

This study was funded by the National Science Foundation (BCS 0840110, 0921770, 0922429).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Room 1112, Turlington Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611-7305, 117305, USA

    Elise Geissler, David J. Daegling & Taylor A. Polvadore

  2. Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    W. Scott McGraw

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  1. Elise Geissler
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  2. David J. Daegling
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Correspondence to Elise Geissler.

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Geissler, E., Daegling, D.J., Polvadore, T.A. et al. Seed choice differs by sex in sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys). Primates 62, 361–367 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-020-00863-w

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