FEEDING-BEHAVIOR AND PREDATION OF A BAT BY SAIMIRI-SCIUREUS IN A SEMINATURAL AMAZONIAN ENVIRONMENT

A free-ranging group of Saimiri sciureus was studied in a semi-natural forest habitat in eastern Amazonia, where behaviour patterns were bro adly similar to those recorded for the species in the wild. According to focal-animal samples, the monkeys spent the vast majority of their time foraging and feeding, in particular for arthropod prey, which con tributed almost half of identified food items. The predation of a smal l-bodied bat was also observed, although the study animals did not app ear to forage systematically for chiropterans in the manner recorded f or Saimiri oerstedi.