ANT333Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Mouse Lemur, Spider Monkey, Common Chimpanzee
Document Summary
Many species do not consistently combine same kinds of foods in their diets, as many past characterizations would suggest; they often switch between diet categories (e. g. , fruit, insects, leaves, etc. Thus, many primate species are best characterized as frugivore/folivores or folivore/frugivores. Generally, folivores tend to be larger bodied than frugivores &/or insectivores. However, due to variations in diet, some folivores are relatively small-bodied compared to our preconceived notions of the consequences of body size for folivory. Next semester, we"ll look at relationship between body size & folivory in greater detail. Examples of folivory & body size in primates. Body mass is not correlated to folivory. Factors important in digestion of plant material: capacity of the digestive tract, utilization of fermentation end products and microbes, rate of food passage through digestive tract, digestibility of the food, capacity of the digestive tract. ~ 50% of organic carbon on earth is tied up in cellulose.
