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The sugar composition of fruits in the diet of spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) in tropical humid forest in Costa Rica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2003

Pablo Riba-Hernández
Affiliation:
Universidad de Costa Rica, Escuela de Biología, San Pedro, Costa Rica
Kathryn E. Stoner
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 27-3 (Xangari), Morelia, Michoacan, 48980 Mexico
Peter W. Lucas
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, University of Hong Kong, 1st Floor Laboratory Block, 21 Sassoon Road, Hong Kong SAR, PR China

Abstract

Spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) detect sucrose at a threshold lower than any primate yet tested and prefer sucrose to glucose or fructose in laboratory tests. This preferential selection of sucrose led to the hypothesis that such acute discrimination is related to a diet of sucrose-rich fruits. Furthermore, it has been suggested that fruit sugars may be related to distinct guilds of vertebrate seed-dispersers. The objectives of this study were: (1) to test if spider monkeys select sucrose-rich fruits both within and among plant species and (2) to test the hypothesis that sugar concentration is related to bird, bat or monkey seed-dispersal syndromes. Data were collected from one troop of spider monkeys in south-western Costa Rica. Interspecific comparison of ingested fruits shows that spider monkeys consumed species with significantly higher concentrations of glucose and fructose than sucrose. Similarly, at the intraspecific level, food-fruits had significantly more fructose and glucose than non-food fruits, but no difference was found for sucrose. The three different sugar types were not correlated with the importance of the species in the diet based on the amount of time they spent consuming each species. Although sucrose concentrations were significantly higher in primate-dispersed species compared with those dispersed by other vertebrates, soluble carbohydrates in primate-dispersed fruits were principally composed of glucose and fructose. Neither fructose nor glucose concentrations showed significant differences across the three categories of seed dispersal.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2003 Cambridge University Press

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