PATTERNS OF INGESTIVE BEHAVIOR AND ANTERIOR TOOTH USE DIFFERENCES IN SYMPATRIC ANTHROPOID PRIMATES

Little research has been directed towards the examination of ingestive behaviors in wild primates. This paper describes a naturalistic study of anterior tooth use in four sympatric anthropoid species: Hylobates lar, Macaca fascicularis, Pongo pygmaeus, and Presbytis thomasi. Inst antaneous group scan data were collected during nearly 1,800 hours of observation between August 1990 and July 1991 at the Ketambe Research Station in the Gunung Leuser National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia. Ingest ive behaviors are documented for specific food items and compared amon g the primate taxa. Results indicate significant differences among the species in preferred methods of food ingestion. These differences are related in part to dietary differences, and in part to other aspects of each primate's biology and ecology. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.