Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Mihaminekena, T. Hasimija
• Rakotonanahary, Ando N.
• Frasier, Cynthia L.
• Randriahaingo, Hery N. T.
• Sefczek, Timothy M.
• Tinsman, Jen
• Randrianarimanana, H. Lucien
• Ravaloharimanitra, Maholy
• Rakotoarinivo, Toky Hery
• Ratsimbazafy, Jonah
• King, Tony
• Louis, Edward E.

Titel

Dietary flexibility of the greater bamboo lemur (Prolemur simus), a specialized feeder, in eastern Madagascar

Ist Teil von

• American journal of primatology, 2024-05, Vol.86 (5), p.e23609-n/a

Ort / Verlag

United States: Wiley Subscription Services, Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2024

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The degree of dietary flexibility in primates is species specific; some incorporate a wider array of resources than others. Extreme interannual weather variability in Madagascar results in seasonal resource scarcity which has been linked to specialized behaviors in lemurs. Prolemur simus, for example, has been considered an obligate specialist on large culm bamboo with >60% of its diet composed of woody bamboos requiring morphological and physiological adaptations to process. Recent studies reported an ever‐expanding list of dietary items, suggesting that this species may not be an obligate specialist. However, long‐term quantitative feeding data are unavailable across this species’ range. To explore the dietary flexibility of P. simus, we collected data at two northern sites, Ambalafary and Sahavola, and one southern site, Vatovavy, from September 2010 to January 2016 and May 2017 to September 2018, respectively. In total, we recorded 4022 h of behavioral data using instantaneous sampling of adult males and females from one group in Ambalafary, and two groups each in Sahavola and Vatovavy. We recorded 45 plant species eaten by P. simus over 7 years. We also observed significant differences in seasonal dietary composition between study sites. In Ambalafary, bamboo was the most frequently observed resource consumed (92.2%); however, non‐bamboo resources comprised nearly one‐third of the diet of P. simus in Sahavola and over 60% in Vatovavy. Consumption of all bamboo resources increased during the dry season at Ambalafary and during the wet season at Vatovavy, but never exceeded non‐bamboo feeding at the latter. Culm pith feeding was only observed at Ambalafary, where it was more common during the dry season. We identify P. simus as a bamboo facultative specialist capable of adjusting its feeding behavior to its environment, indicating greater dietary flexibility than previously documented, which may enable the species to survive in increasingly degraded habitats. “Percentage of feeding observations of Prolemur simus on bamboo and non‐bamboo resources across three study sites” Research highlights Traditionally, Prolemur simus are considered obligate dietary specialists, with large‐culmed bamboo species their critical resource, particularly culm pith during the dry season. However, our study found that large‐culmed bamboo consumption varied between sites and culm pith was not even consumed at two of the three sites. Our findings, in conjunction with previous research on the species, indicate that P. simus are better identified as facultative specialists on bamboo rather than obligate specialists.