Ps. Ungar, FRUIT PREFERENCES OF 4 SYMPATRIC PRIMATE SPECIES AT KETAMBE, NORTHERNSUMATRA, INDONESIA, International journal of primatology, 16(2), 1995, pp. 221-245
Recent researchers have drawn attention to fruit preferences in a vari
ety of primates; for instance, in 1998, Davies noted that monogastric
primates prefer the flesh of succulent, sugar-rich fruits, while colob
ines more often consume and digest large seeds of drier fruits. I comp
are fruit preferences in four sympatric primates-Hylobates lar, Macaca
fascicularis, Pongo pygmaeus, and Presbytis thomas-which I studied co
ncurrently at the Ketambe Research Center in northern Sumatra. I colle
cted continuous focal animal data during 40-50 hr per taxon per month
for 10 months and recorded fruit species size, pH, and descriptive att
ributes, including degree of ripeness, hardness, pericarp type, and nu
mber of seeds. The langurs prefer dry fruit seeds while the monogastri
c primates more often consume acidic, succulent fruit flesh. Further H
. lar, M. fascicularis, and P. pygmaeus vary significantly in preferen
ces for fruits vis-a-vis the characteristics examined.